Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail, and happy almost Halloween! Today, we’re taking another “stab” at a nearly five-year-old tradition and visiting some “costumed conversions.” These of course, are vacant retail stores that are temporarily “dressed up” as a Halloween pop-up shop. These costume conversions are one of those magical things that have crossed the retail barrier into mainstream pop culture. Tons of different Costume Conversions Memes have shown up on the web within the past two years. Sometimes real-life photos, sometimes photoshopped, they’re always a source of fun. This year, we’re keeping it simple, stupid (talking …
Keep readingHHR’s first visit to a Sellers Bros and the Weingarten’s Gerland’s connection
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! In this episode, we’re going somewhere we’ve never been before, so you know it’s special! Today, we’ll be visiting HHR’s first Sellers Bros. Well, at least, the first full store, as the two free-standing C-Stores were featured on HHR a few years back. This example at 9494 Hammerly Blvd, Houston, TX 77080, originally started life in 1979 as a Weingarten’s, and has a cool story. Weingarten’s #62 was only the chain’s third location in the Spring Branch area. The first Spring Branch Weingarten’s opened in 1956 at Long Point and Wirt …
Keep readingRetail News: El Bolillo comes closer to opening Mission Bend location
Mainstay Panderia, El Bolillo, is coming closer to opening its newest location, at Highway 6 and Bellaire. The Hispanic Bakery, which first opened its doors across from Canino’s Farmers Market in 1998, has become a popular option for many Houstonians, who compliment the small chain’s selection compared to other Hispanic bakeries around town. This new location is using a former Luby’s for its new outfit. While the Cafeteria ceased operations in the early 2000s, Luby’s used the former location as a central Bake Shop until their 2021 sale. While El Bolillo has not officially announced an opening date, they have …
Keep readingHas Farm Stores “bought the farm” in Houston?
Over the last three years, HHR has been keeping an eye on a Florida-based “C-Store adjacent” concept, Farm Stores, which first announced its intent to come to Houston in 2016. While their first planned Katy location would not work out, they would eventually arrive in 2020. Farm Stores isn’t exactly a new idea, with the concept debuting in the late 50s. It’s somewhat reminiscent of a drive-thru liquor store but swaps hard alcohol for an expanded grocery selection. It also adds fresh baked goods, sandwiches, and coffees, making it more akin to a C-Store. The chain’s initial push called for …
Keep readingThe future of the vacant Wilcrest Foodarama
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking what will likely be our final visit to the Wilcrest ex-Foodarama. As is customary, this is a post-closure post taking a look at the remains of the former store. Towards the end of the article, we’ll even discuss what’s upcoming for the corner lot. As mentioned in our first post, this building started in the 1970s as a Safeway. It was a unique pickup for Cox’s Foodarama; as a Safeway, it closed in 1987, seemingly a few months before the AppleTree developments began. While it would not be the only …
Keep readingWith the Hedwig Village OfficeMax Closing Soon, We Remember OfficeMax’s Glory Days In Houston
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike Sometimes retail blog posts just don’t go as planned. This is the case with this post. Only a few weeks ago, Mike and I discussed the possibility of us doing a blog post about OfficeMax and Staples’ small presence in the Houston area in current times. Both names are so rare in Houston these days that many of our readers might have forgotten that they both still exist in the Houston area. So, with that, Mike traveled to Hedwig …
Keep readingRetail News: Whole Foods to close Midtown location
Houston Historic Retail has been informed that the Midtown Whole Foods Market will close by the end of next week. The store, which opened in late 2019, occupies the ground floor of the Pearl Marketplace Apartment tower. The rumor of closure was first spread online and brought to the attention of HHR by a reader. The closing was confirmed by visiting the store and speaking to an employee who confirmed they would close by the end of next week. Supposedly, the store is set to start a deep clearance sale, as it was fully stocked during my visit. The Midtown …
Keep readingSolving a 40 year old Rosenberg retail mystery on the north side, Burger House
I was interested in retail from an early age. While I didn’t start documenting it until recently, I witnessed a unique slice of Houston retail. My formative years in Richmond-Rosenberg provided a strange parallel to the nearby Houston market. Living in what was still “the country” at the time, old names that had mostly disappeared from Houston years earlier remained in the area. For example, Sutherland’s stayed in Rosenberg until 2002. Right across the street, Mr. Gatti’s was a regular birthday spot well into the early 2000s, when it was replaced by Dairy Queen (which kept the arcade and prize …
Keep readingKroger Goes Upscale With The KTRKroger in West U
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike, who has recently published a new page covering the history of Henke & Pillot. In Houston at least, Kroger has long had a reputation as being a ‘middle of the road’ type of grocer. This has helped Kroger in many ways as the combination of good prices and a traditional supermarket experience appeals to many shoppers and, thus, it has kept Kroger at or near the top of the Houston grocery market share list for decades. That said, as …
Keep readingThe local skinny on Boston Market’s downfall
Bad news for Boston Market lovers: the fast-casual rotisserie chicken chain is approaching its demise. This isn’t too shocking for anyone who follows restaurant news. Boston Market has had a difficult history. They first arrived in Houston in 1994, with concrete plans for 17 locations and eventual eyes for 50 total stores throughout Houston at some point. At that time, they were known as Boston Chicken and undergoing a growth spurt, which would land them in bankruptcy by 1998. During this bankruptcy, McDonald’s would pick up the chain to salvage the real estate to lease for new McDonald’s stores. However, …
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