For the past 7 years, a prime piece of real estate just west of the Galleria. The former HEB at Westheimer and Fountain View shut their doors in early 2015, after a replacement location opened on San Felipe. As a grocery store, this location was notable as it was Houston’s first full-line HEB location, replacing the Pantry Foods concept. After shutting its doors 7 years ago, the space has temporarily reopened for pop-ups like Spirit …
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Randall’s Weslayan Remodel brings up traces of a Weingartens past
Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Over these past few weeks, we’ve discussed the slow dissolution of Randalls throughout the Houston area. As of this post, we’re down to 15 Houston area stores and only a couple more over in Austin. As sad as this is, there was a point where Randalls was king of Houston, and as could pretty much do whatever they wanted. By the early 80s, Randalls was becoming a dominant …
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Barnes & Noble booted from Vanderbilt Square, and why this could mean trouble for Randall’s
Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. We’re coming to you today with some sad news, which seems to happen more often than not lately. The second to last Barnes & Noble location inside the loop has quietly shut its doors after a nearly 30-year stay in the shopping center. Located at 3003 W Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77025 along with Randall’s, the stores represent the center’s original anchors. According to an interview with Community …
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Retail News: Tim Horton’s Expansion Plans go beyond Katy
Tim Horton’s is on the brink of arriving in Houston. The Canadian Coffee and Donut Shop marks one of many chain doughnut shops trying their hand in Houston at the present time. Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme still fall second in terms of notoriety to local chain Shipley’s. At this point, Timmy’s has filed permits for three locations in Texas, all located within the Houston area. These stores represent the chain’s furthest Southern stores, outside of …
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Houston’s only Best Buy Outlet comes in under Par at this former Golf Galaxy
Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at a Best Buy with an out-of-this-world past. No, it’s not in a former Incredible Universe, but rather a Golf Galaxy. Although it’s worth noting that this store is a subdivided chunk of a former Venture turned Kmart. There’s something else unusual about this store though. As it’s no normal Best Buy. Rather, it’s Houston’s only Best Buy Outlet store, a concept …
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Final “non-Beaver” Bucky’s disappears from Houston after Star Stop purchase
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we have some surprising news. The Bucky’s Express Gas Stations Houston’s locations have finally crumbled. This should not provide a huge shock to anyone who follows C-Store news, as Bucky’s was purchased by competitor Casey’s just over a year ago. Initially, it seemed the plan moving forward was to convert the locations into Casey’s stores. It would make sense, as Casey’s is now the third-largest …
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Retail News: Gordon Foods takes Belden’s spot in Braeswood Square, and Ollie’s plans for Katy
Gordon Foods will become the “National Grocer” in Braeswood Square HHR was able to break the news a few weeks ago, that a national grocer was making its way back to Braeswood Square. It would mark the first time in nearly 35 years that a national chain had held occupied that space, which most recently served as Belden’s until early 2020. Based on permits filed by the new grocer, it seems that Gordon Food Service …
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Random Retail: Cimarron Pottery, how the second Garden Ridge location became a Broken Chain
Howdy Folks, a quick introduction for some of our newer readers. Sometimes things I come across while researching don’t exactly fit into the purview of a normal HHR post. However, it’s still an interesting enough story, so I publish it under the Random Retail Series. Today we’re talking about how the launch of Garden Ridge accidentally created a competitor via a Broken Chain. Also shoutout to Aaron J. of Carbon-izer who recently reminded me of …
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Eagle Discount Supermarket’s decor is still flying under the radar!
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. We take a lot of time to investigate retail remnants, bits, and pieces of former stores left behind, they’re always interesting to find. Whether it’s an old drive-thru post still in use by Burger King, or the arches of a Safeway store proudly fronting a Fiesta. Finding these retail remnants is almost like finding bits of a story. One of the reasons I so greatly enjoy …
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Retail News: Work underway on transforming 3 former JCI locations to Cabo Bob’s
The former JCI at 1960 and Cutten Road is a bit further along than the Meadows Place location, but Mason will likely open first. Cabo Bob’s the Austin-based California-styled burrito restaurant, opened its first Houston location quietly towards the end of 2019 at Fountain View and San Felipe. The chain’s expansion, however, comes with much more fanfare. Cabo Bob’s first announced these new stores back in April, only a couple of weeks after James Coney …
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