Sears Hometown Store at Willowbrook Mall is having its last gasp this upcoming week. While store employees could not provide a final date, they said this week would likely be it for them, as the store slowly runs out of stock. What little remained in the store largely consisted of fixtures and merchandise that had been purchased but yet to be picked up. Many of the items in the store had been shipped in from …
Read moreCategory: Random Retail
Anything related to retail that doesn’t fit anywhere else.
The History of Twistee Treat’s Freeze and Thaw Cycle in Houston
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Ice cream is an essential summer treat, and for such a warm state, we lack a major presence from most frozen dessert chains other than a few ice cream parlors. We do have Dairy Queen, but unlike many other states, which feature mostly ice cream, and little food, our model is flipped. Utilizing an expanded Brazier menu, which became so common, the Brazier moniker was dropped …
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Retail News: Ollie’s Friendswood to open Wednesday
Nearly one year after its debut, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is opening a second Houston area location Wednesday, September 9th. This store located at 18182 Gulf Fwy, Friendswood, TX 77546, has been a long time coming and was part of the reason Houston lost its only Dick’s Warehouse store. As of now, Ollie’s third and only other publically planned Houston store is on the Westside at 1747 Fry Road Katy, TX 77449.
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Krispy Shipley, this doughnut shop had quite the rebellious teen phase
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re at 12403 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77077 taking a look at a doughnut shop that has been host to quite a few tenants in its time. Even now, as a Shipley Do-Nuts location, this store still stands out from others in the chain. This building was originally built by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as their first Houston location. Work started in 1998 on this combo …
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Weingarten’s lives on through Kroger in the Heights!
Weingarten’s was a grocer I never knew, and if I had to take a guess, it’s a store most of my readers never knew either. Even though Weingarten’s was long gone by the time I was around, the name was still eponymous for a grocery store in Houston. As well, despite a less than stellar exit, the opinion most Houstonians held of Weingarten’s was still overwhelmingly positive, with most chalking up those final years to …
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Retail News: Let the Tim Bits flow, Tim Horton’s in Katy finally holds soft-opening
Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Thanks to readers in Katy for keeping HHR abreast of the Katy Coffee Wars and its latest chapter as Tim Hortons has finally opened its first Texas location. The soft-opening took place yesterday, Monday, August 29th, and according to Google Reviews, a full grand opening is planned for September 9th. Canucks may notice two oddities about our Tim Horton’s location. First, our store features the ‘United States …
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Retail News: Gordon Food Stores starts making some real progress!
Gordon Food Service, a wholesale distributor and operator of GFS Retail Outlets, have yet to make any official announcement on their entry into Houston. Although it is quite apparent that their intent is open as quickly as possible. The story behind GFS, first broke here on HHR back in April when initial permits were initially filed by the company. Progress, however, was slow, with construction sites sitting mostly dormant, as behind the scenes, Gordon worked …
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El Rancho-Randall’s, a match made in Boise
Howdy Neighborinos, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re entering new territory and checking out an El Rancho in a former Randall’s. For those not in the know, El Rancho is a Hispanic grocery chain originating out of Garland. An investment was made in the grocer by Albertsons in 2017 while looking to diversify their extensive mainline store operations with something more niche. This began a special partnership, where El Rancho stores would …
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Real Estate News: Apartments to take over 19 story hotel at I-10 and 6
In what would be a scoop for Swamplot if they were still publishing, it seems that Hotel-to-Apartment conversions are back in style again in Houston. Most famously in Houston, the former Holiday Inn at 2100 Memorial Drive, which was demolished just over a year ago, was converted into rent-controlled apartments for seniors, mostly by the City of Houston. Unlike the previous concept, these new hotels to apartments are being developed using private funds. As …
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Scarsdale Safeway The final location to open in Houston
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at the last Safeway to open in Houston. Now, it should be noted that while it was the last store to open, it was not the final location built. Rather, this store has an interesting history tied into larger troubles at Safeway that, other than the creation of AppleTree, had very little direct effect on the Houston Division. Today’s store at …
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