29 comments

  1. The vinyl signage at the Golf Cars of Houston on 45/beltway 8 was knocked down by the storm which revealed the original sign for Federated that was at that location! What a throwback! Made me think of this site.

  2. I remember a lounge called the aquarium back in the urban cowboy days. also, saw tom petty at buffalo speedway in 79…

  3. We got to talking Christmas night about the Galleria in the ’70’s. There was kind of what we used to call a head shop (papers, bongs, black light posters, etc.) in what’s now called Galleria One. It was on the ground floor and you could get your ears pierced there and it was always intentionally very dark inside with lots of lava lamps. They also sold clothing, I think. Any ideas?
    Thanks and Happy New Year!

    1. Howdy Fred! I unfortunately wasn’t around for the Galleria in the 70s so I don’t have a for sure answer on this. Based on the description of what they sold and the location it sounds very much like Spencer Gifts. However I’m not sure if they were there in the 70s. My buddy Aaron has a very early directory of the Galleria from before the mall was completely open and it is not listed. http://www.carbon-izer.com/retail/hgalleria/galleria-70.html

      1. Thank you, sir. It was something like Norma’s Treasure Chest but that’s WAY not it. 😉
        I appreciate your help. Love the site!

    1. Haha, thanks! If you have anything you want to contribute, I always welcome guest submissions. Leave a reply with your email (it won’t publish) and I’ll get in touch with you.

  4. Hi-
    My son is absolutely fascinated with dead malls. Was wondering if you have any tips on how to get in to tour the northwest mall. Who to talk to.

  5. Both HEB sites in Carthage and Center were former Safeway stores. They were built in 82-83. Both closed with the Dallas division, and were later part of a small 6 store chain called U Save Foods. U Save was a group of former Safeway managers trying to make a go of their former stores. HEB bought what was left of U Save (that Brookshire Brothers didn’t get) in the mid 90’s.

  6. Hello Sir! I was wondering if you could possibly do an article on the Home Depot that is off of the Gulf Freeway and Medical Center Blvd. It’s abandoned and I’m curious as to why it became that way. Thank you!

    1. Hi Christian! I looked into it, and it seems that location was closed after a new one was built a little up the Gulf Freeway. Lowe’s is a nearby competitor, and they were located right on an intersection. It’s possible that Home Depot felt that relocating to and intersection would be the edge they needed. The condition of the building also appears to be very poor. HCAD notes that the building was sold in 2010. It has been vacant since, the condition of the structure is noted as unsound, and poor. The building at the old location is valued at $631,165 versus the new building which is valued over $3.6 Million. Meaning the current owner is likely having trouble finding a new tenant, especially considering the fact they’d likely need to demolish the building. With plenty of vacant land nearby, I would guess this building will stay until the owner demolishes it, or the Gulf Freeway frontage is totally built out in the area.

  7. I used to work at the souper salads at

    2435 Post Oak Blvd. Houston, TX 77056 AND the one on beechnut…. I see that you posted a date about when the one on beechnut closed, but do you happen to know when the one on post oak closed???????? just curious….. I have a lot of good memories of working and eating there…. thanks for any info….

    1. Hi Katie! Unfortunately I don’t really have any information on the Post Oak location, other than that it was open from the 90s to early 2000s. Although that might be stretching the date a little bit.

  8. Auchans was a superstore on Beltway between Bissonnet and beechnut in the 90s.. gone the way of the dodo by 2000 or so i think.

  9. I worked for AppleTree Markets back from 1991 to the end in late 1993. I don’t have a store list, but was wondering if anything was going to be published on your website about that. I can tell you some older stores and store numbers that I remember, and locations. I also have some memorabilia from when I worked there as well. Just wanting to help if you go down that route. Really enjoy your site.

  10. I really enjoy the content on your site. Will definitely be bookmarking it. I’m Josh Jones just moved to Houston about 8 months ago after traveling here often and falling in love with the place. If you ever need anyone to Join you just to explore. I would seriously help just to be able to check all these places out. I work a two week on two week off schedule so I would have plenty of time. Keep up the awesome work!

    1. Welcome to Houston! I’m glad you’re enjoying the site. I definitely enjoy running it. I’ll shoot you an email next time I plan to go out, and we’ll see what we can arrange.

  11. Hey neat site! I was just wondering if you could do a post on the Greenspoint Mall near I-45 and Beltway 8. I’ve worked in the General area for the last 7 years and its been something else to see this mall slowly degrade away. For example when I first went there the food court had a subway, wendys, and about 5 other restaurants. Now this is down to two restaurants including a pizza place and mall chicken place. Also the Macys, Dillards outlet, Radioshack etc have all closed in this time.

    1. Absolutely! It’s part of the overall plan for the website. I actually haven’t been inside of Greenspoint recently.

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