Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Happy new year, Houston Historic Retail readers! Today’s topic is a bit of a random retail post. Those of you familiar with my guest blog posts here at HHR know that while I enjoy discussing retail history, I am not much of a retail photographer. The wonderful retail photographers out there deserve a lot of credit for their skill in …
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Anything related to retail that doesn’t fit anywhere else.
We need to talk about La Michoacana
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into what might arguably be Houston’s largest grocer, La Michoacana El Ahorro, Sellers Bros, Arlans, et al. For those of you wondering why I’m taking on what you might consider a “small fry” in the Houston grocery market, hold on to your butts unless you work for LMM; this company is bigger than you think. Before we start, I have …
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CVS goes on an AARP Approved Diet in Northwest Houston
Howdy folks, Happy New Year, and welcome back to HHR! Today, we have something brand new: the beginning of a CVS experiment in Houston. The skinny on this “CVS Diet” is that it appears to be the first of many planned conversions of CVS stores into Oak Street Health Clinics. The plan’s start in Houston is coincidental, as Walgreens began a similar experiment here in 2019. However, Walgreen’s commitment to the area was more tied …
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2023 The Year of Kroger, and so much more on HHR!
Howdy folks, and welcome to the only publication this week for HHR and the last of 2023. Today, we’re going to take a brief look back at some of the posts we had in 2023 before regularly scheduled programming returns next week in 2024! This was a banner year for Houston Historic Retail. Readership and commenting are up, as is social media engagement. Everything, really! Before we start, I have to give a couple of …
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Retail News: Houston nets two new Asian grocers on the West Side
99 Ranch Market and Seafood City opened new Houston-area locations last week. Both stores are established specialty Asian grocers based in California, with large followings of loyal fans. While they share many similarities, there are some stark differences between the two chains. 99 Ranch Market is a broad Asian market importing products from many different countries and cultures but mostly focuses on mainland Asia. On the other hand, Seafood City primarily focuses on Filipino products …
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Retail News: Arlan’s Markets purchased by owner of La Michoacana
Rafel Ortega, owner of La Michoacana Meat Market, among other grocery chains, purchased the 15-store chain last week, according to the Galveston Daily News. Arlan’s was the brainchild of Ames Arlan, who was already a veteran of Cox’s Foodarama when he set out to open his first store in the Seabrook area. For the most part, Arlan’s focused on smaller communities along the South side of the Houston area, taking over when other independent grocers …
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Pasadena Town Square Mall 2023 Update
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking a final look for the year at the former Pasadena Town Square Mall. These days known as Marcoplaza Mall, after an ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to rebrand the mall. To recap a small amount of a complex history, Pasadena Town Square took years to come to fruition. The mall was anchored by a Foley’s that was freestanding for years. While the mall was planned …
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Retail News: Joe V’s holds Katy Grand Opening
Joe V’s Smart Shop opened its first store since 2018 in Northern Katy last week. This new store marks the start of a new chapter for the discount HEB banner. Joe V’s first hit the Houston market in 2010 and has somewhat filled the void left by the discontinuation of Pantry Foods. Joe V’s has become well known in Houston for generally lower prices than a full-line HEB in exchange for some of the amenities …
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Retail News: Big Lots closing Willowbrook store
Discounter Big Lots has recently announced the close of its 7323 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W, Houston, TX 77070 location. The location represents one of three in a 6-mile stretch of 1960 from Jones Road to Veterans Memorial. The store is the newest of the three, opening in 2011 in a former Toys ‘R Us, which had moved to a larger space adjacent to Willowbrook Mall. According to Big Lots, its recent store closures …
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The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike It is quite hard to believe that the end of the year 2023 is near! This means, of course, that The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail is concluding with this post. I’ll reflect on The Year of Kroger series at the end of this post, but first we’ll discuss the …
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