Category: Random Retail

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re starting Part 1 of a Two-Part goodbye for the Wilcrest and W Bellfort, Foodarama. In this series, we’re looking at two sets of photos a week apart. In this post, the photos were taken by me one week before this location’s closing (August 11th). The second post will include photos taken the day the store closed. Before we talk about the going out of business sale, let’s talk about the history of this store. This entire shopping center was built initially for Safeway. The land the store sits on …

Howdy folks, today we’re taking a look at how a tiny abandoned Church’s Chicken in Houston connects to the restoration of the Hill Country. Specifically, we’re looking at the Church’s on Highway 6 in Mission Bend. It’s been an eye-catcher for years for anyone in retail fanning. The itty-bitty store comes in at around 500 Square Feet; this postage stamp of a restaurant was designed for efficiency, and it has an interesting story. To tell it though, we need to start with some history, Church’s was founded in San Antonio in 1952 by Bill Church. The original location was a …

Things are looking down for Fuddruckers in Houston right now. Three locations are temporarily closed, and one looks like it may not return. In our last Fuddsdate, we covered two Fuddruckers locations’ first “temporary” closure. Unfortunately, a third location, the former Fuddruckers adjacent to Luby’s on S. MacGregor, has recently closed its doors, at least temporarily. The Fuddruckers near Greenway Plaza, which has been closed since June, has had its doors and windows boarded up. Large signs have also been placed on both sides of the property, advertising it as “available.” The online listing mentions that a ground lease for …

Before H-E-B, before Randalls, Houston was ruled by a different grocery chain. Even before Kroger or franchises like Minimax and Lucky 7, there was a grocer many of us still know by name, Weingarten’s. Shutting down most operations 40 years ago, it’s incredible that so many still have such a fond place in their heart for Weingarten’s. Why did people love Weingarten’s so much, well, that’s a complicated question, but the answer is mainly in the company’s history. Weingarten’s started out as a local grocer next to Houston’s Market Square in the early 1900s, just as “grocery shopping” was becoming …

Word on the street is that Foodarama has lost its lease in the Wilcrest and W. Bellfort shopping center. Based on a few HHR fans who reached out and postings online, it seems the store’s final day will be this Friday, August 11th. The facility was initially constructed in 1973 for Safeway, who served the neighborhood until 1987. This location was dropped towards the end of the reorganization, which would form AppleTree. It would come under the control of Cox’s Foodarama, reopening by the end of the year. According to permits filed online, a new Star Stop Gas Station is …

Over the past few months, Mississippi-based “extreme value” retailer Dirt Cheap has closed 13 of its 15 remaining Texas locations. In an article released by The Marshall News Messenger back in April, Channel Control Merchants (the owner of Dirt Cheap) informed the employees of their Marshall-based warehouse that the company would shut down its Texas warehouse and all but two Texas stores by May. This news shocked some as Channel Control Merchants was on an expansion kick over the past few years after an investment from KKR in 2015. For those not in the know, Dirt Cheap’s merchandise consists completely …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re discussing the long-departed Venture Department Store on the 30th anniversary of entering Houston. Rarely have things gone worse for a chain than Venture’s disastrous expansion into Texas. A story that’s often misconstrued; while Venture’s time in Texas did ultimately lead to their demise, the pieces which led to the company’s drastic decline were laid years prior. So let’s start off with a bit of Venture history. Venture was an idea born out of the May Department Store company in the late 60s, which wanted to enter the booming discount …

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today we’re taking a quick look at a Randalls, which I never had a chance to explore! This store, located at 2323 Clear Lake City Blvd, Houston, TX 77062, was a quiet closure at the start of 2020. An HHR reader, and former Randalls employee, believed that these cuts were performance-based, possibly in anticipation of the then not know Kroger-Albertsons merger. Randalls closures over the past few years are nothing new to Houstonians. I won’t waste time regaling all of Randalls downfall; there’s a history page for that! However, I will explain that …