Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re heading back to Almeda Mall, where I haven’t been in a few years. Long-time readers of the blog may remember that HHR’s first “big success” was the Chron republishing some of my photos of Northwest Mall after it had closed. On the advice of readers and my own curiosity, I quickly ventured to Almeda Mall afterward. While I knew the malls were identical twins, this was my first visit to Almeda. Checking out the mall, I was shocked at how similar they were. I knew that Almeda had a …
Keep readingRetail News: Tim Hortons opens second Houston location this Friday
Tim Horton’s plans to open its newest Houston location at 5312 W Richey Rd Houston, TX 77066. This location is the second in Texas to open after the Katy store opened about four months ago. The Canadian Coffee and Dougnut Shop has so far been well received, although those familiar with the chain have noted that the Houston stores are somewhat lacking compared to their Canuck counterparts. Most complaints revolve around our limited menu or different food suppliers. However, when compared to the local competition, Tim’s seems to be well-regarded. Currently, a third location is planned at 13451 Northwest Freeway …
Keep readingVintage Ads: Celebrating the 1971 Grand Opening of Braeswood Square
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston This edition of Vintage Ads will take us back to the grand opening of the Braeswood Square shopping center near Bellaire in Southwest Houston. Braeswood Square’s grand opening was on July 8, 1971 and we’ll be looking at various ads from the July 7, 1971 edition of The Bellaire Texan newspaper which is freely available to read at The Portal to Texas History website. Braeswood Square has been in the news here at Houston Historic Retail in the recent past as the last Belden’s supermarket …
Keep readingHarvest Market a grocery chain in Houston you probably haven’t heard of
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. This week, we’re looking at what could rightfully be considered Houston’s newest Supermarket Chain. Harvest Market stores feature everything you’d find in a standard Supermarket, Perishables, Pantry Foods, Service Departments, and even a pharmacy at some stores. However, they’d prefer it if you called them a “Grocerant” instead. No, a Grocer-rant isn’t a long-winded complaint about customers. Instead, it’s a grocery store that also serves as a restaurant. Harvest Market didn’t necessarily introduce the concept to Houston. That would likely go to HEB’s Chicken Restaurant Concept or maybe even Kroger’s partnership …
Keep readingRetail News: Home Goods come to HEB in Houston
HEB’s new Home by H-E-B lines have started to roll out at Houston stores. Back over 30 years ago, when HEB decided to try and brave the Houston grocery market, the company knew it had to differentiate itself to survive in this overcrowded market. Now, in 2022 the company is again breaking new ground with a selection of Home Goods in their grocery stores. HEB’s first Houston stores were under the guise of their Pantry Foods banner, with selections cut back to the bare minimum of what could be considered a Supermarket. Three decades later, the San Antonio-based chain had …
Keep readingThis failed Hartz’s Concept Restaurant has worn many hats
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR! Today we’re doing a deep dive into a restaurant space on the Westside that can’t seem to keep a tenant. The space started out as the second location of El Papo, a small chain along the Northwest side of Houston. While far from being the first Tex-Mex chain in Houston, El Papo was pretty early on the Northwestside first opening in 1977 and making it up to three locations by 1985. However, around this time, bigger chains like the now-vanishing Casa Ole were taking the area by storm. El Papo would declare bankruptcy …
Keep readingReturn to Food King, one of the last Weingarten’s out there
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! If you’re a longtime reader of the blog, then you might recognize today’s location, Food King! A former Weingarten, still using much of their Grand Union decor update. This store is a gem, locally owned by a Texas City resident, and honestly pretty dang cheap! If you’re interested in the history of this store and more detailed information on decor overlap, then check out my post from earlier this year on the store. Today’s post is going to try and feature some things I missed the first time around. My first …
Keep readingRetail News: Burlington slims down in Houston leaving Almeda Mall
Burlington has recently opened two new locations, both in former Best Buy stores. The two former Best Buys at 13238 Northwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77040 and 24230 Commercial Dr. Rosenberg, TX 77470, closed in 2021 and 2022, respectively, as part of a larger restructuring Best Buy has undertaken over the past two years. The move made by Burlington represents a strategy to ditch their older, larger stores for newer, smaller locations. Burlington in Houston is somewhat tainted by a reputation for messy understaffed stores. The reputation, while fairly earned, was not helped by the fact that Burlington’s major 2000s push …
Keep readingHouston’s Lidl Secret, the German grocer that almost came to town
Gobble Gobble, folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Happy Thanksgiving, today, we’re taking a look at a grocer that you can’t find in Houston, although they once had grand plans for the entire state. I’m, of course, talking about Lidl! What’s that? You’ve never heard of Lidl, or you’ve never heard of their plans to come to Houston? Well, unsurprisingly, Lidl’s underpromotion resulted from larger issues with entering the United States, but let’s take a few steps back and introduce Lidl in the first place. Lidl (actually pronounced Lee-del) is a German deep discounter grocery chain in the …
Keep readingRetail News: Best Buy Outlet Moves into former Willowbrook Toys R Us
Best Buy Outlet’s newest store at 17776 TX-249 Ste 1, Houston, TX 77064 Best Buy Outlet has made its debut in a seemingly more permanent home in Northwest Houston. The “new store,” as it was announced earlier this year, is not truly brand new. As previously, Best Buy Outlet operated across 249, in a former Golf Galaxy location carved out of a mass ex-Venture/Kmart. While it is a bit disappointing that we ended up with a replacement store as opposed to a second location, let it be known that this Outlet store is much more on par with what you …
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