The GFS on Mason Road in Katy

Retail News: Gordon Food Service Stores Open Tomorrow

Tuesday, March 14th, will mark the first new entry of a national grocer into Houston in over ten years. The announcement from GFS confirms some of what HHR had already reported, specifically that six new Gordon Food Service Stores will open in the Houston area. The stores will open in two waves, with the North Oaks, Westheimer, Katy, and League City stores opening tomorrow. Both Antoine at Pinemont and the Braeswood Square store will open …

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Fountains 18 during the Loews Days Courtesy Scott Neff Cinematour.com

A History of AMC Theaters in Houston: Part 2

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is Part Two of a two-part guest submission from HHR’s local A/V geek, Jason McMillon The 1990s, The Digital Sound and Megaplex Era In today’s post, we’re picking up where we left off in Part 1, the 1990s. No other decade saw such a rapid expansion in the cinema industry than the 90s.  With a demand for bigger screens, more spacious stadium seating, more showtimes, more movie choices, and top-of-the-line digital …

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Retail News: Houston to lose multiple Sprouts locations as part of larger cuts

Sprouts Farmers Market has announced plans to close 11 stores in the coming month in multiple states. Thanks to a tip submitted by an anonymous source to Houston Historic Retail, our market can expect to lose three locations by the start of April. Sprout’s official reasoning behind the cuts is under performance, with a focus on closing larger stores in favor of smaller locations. The three locations supposedly on the chopping block include Westheimer at …

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Fiesta #18 The Last of the Neon Kings

Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at the last of the neon Fiestas at 8130 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77054. This Fiesta Mart location opened in the 1980s, during a high of our local international store. First, let’s start with a quick history of Fiesta. The concept behind Fiesta Mart was developed by a group of American-businessmen who had experienced shopping at modern Latin American supermarkets and realized …

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This photo was taken by opening GM Wayne Childers prior to public opening before any movies had been booked

A History of AMC Theaters in Houston: Part 1 60s-80s

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is Part One of a two-part guest submission from HHR’s local A/V geek, Jason McMillon Recently making news for several unusual business decisions, today we’re looking at the long history of AMC Theatres in Houston. While AMC has closed all of its smaller, older theatres, they continue to thrive as a major exhibitor in the Houston market. Their biggest competitor by screen count in Houston is Cinemark. AMC Theatres recently announced …

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Here’s another look at the power alley, but this time we see the Bakery as well. Note that even with the compact installation of Bountiful, the power alley does still have some of Bountiful’s ‘basket’ signs. Also note the checkerboard flooring tiles. Some of those bakery display carts would have been replaced with tables and chairs back when this store was new and still had the fast food food court.

Powerful Kroger Signature Stores Gain A Power Alley

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike In last month’s The Year of Kroger entry, we explored a very early Kroger Signature store built in 1993, the Cypress Station store. In this month’s The Year of Kroger post, we will explore another early Kroger Signature store, Kroger HO-311, the Jersey Village/Steeplechase store located at the intersection of Jones Road & West …

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Tuesday Morning closures include a significant Houston store

Tuesday Morning has recently announced a bankruptcy which of course includes a store closing that has multiple Houston area locations on the list. Today we’re looking at 5442 Weslayan, which has an interesting lineage beyond being Houston’s oldest operating Tuesday Morning. This Tuesday Morning originally opened in 1989, a bit late compared to the first Houston area locations, which opened in 1975, only a year after the chain was established in Dallas. Tuesday Morning’s earliest …

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Harvest Market Sienna another look at Houston’s own Grocerant

Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR! Today we’re taking a quick look at Houston’s own “Grocerant”, Harvest Market. The Sienna location is actually the second Harvest Market we’re taking a look at. For those who didn’t check out the original article, and are wondering what a Grocerant is, essentially, it’s a combination Food Court and Grocery Store. Something that Kroger toyed with in Houston and other places back in the early 90s but never …

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Walmart’s latest round of closures hits Katy

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. I’m here with unfortunate news for residents in the middle of Katy, as the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Westheimer Parkway and Falcons Landing Drive is preparing to close. The news was first leaked on Nextdoor and later confirmed by the store manager to Covering Katy. Walmart regularly eliminates underperforming stores and is closing seven other locations for this year. While Walmart’s claim of underperformance is substantiated by the …

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Big Chief lives on as Arlan’s in Santa Fe!

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re heading back down Highway 6 to the small town of Santa Fe. You may remember our last stop focused on a former Minimax that HEB had purchased and continues to run essentially as a Pantry Foods store, lacking service departments. This Arlan’s nee Big Chief we’re looking at today is actually a larger store than HEB, and more importantly, features service departments (deli, bakery, …

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