Howdy folks, how many times have you encountered the word “Weingarten” in your life. If you’re a native Houstonian, then you probably know the name, to say the least. Houstonians of a certain era, will obviously remember the J. Weingarten grocery store chain. One of Houston’s first true supermarkets, starting out in the 1930s, Weingartens experienced an explosive growth post World War II. The family, who had initially only built freestanding grocery stores, quickly jumped …
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Safeway, Walgreens, and Kmart One of West Houston’s best preserved shopping centers
Howdy folks, and welcome back! It should be no secret by now, that I have a bit of an obsession with Safeway/AppleTree. While I don’t really remember Safeway’s presence in Houston, I do have lots of distinct memories of AppleTree. In learning about AppleTree, I’ve also learned lots about Safeway. One fact, I didn’t originally know, was that most Safeways in Houston were built with an adjacent Eckerd location. It seems that the deal allowed …
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This Week in Demolition: The Final House on this side of River Oaks!
This Week in Demolition, we see the final house on the South side of San Felipe, along with the last Demolition Post, for now at least. Let’s start with the house, which was originally constructed in the late 30s. However, by 1963 it had been converted to commercial use. One of the first tenants was a Bookstore named The Bookman, run by David Dorman. Eventually morphing into an Art Gallery, it was holding general purpose …
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Sears Marcoplaza Mall location, reopens as a Hometown Store!
Howdy folks! Welcome to a Retail News update, I never thought I’d write about, a Sears reopening. Granted, as stated in the headline it is as a Hometown Store, this is still big news! For those not in the know, the Sears at Marcoplaza Mall, closed in January 2021. Leaving the Houston area without a mainline Sears presence for the first time in nearly 100 years. Sadly, I was unable to capture the closing, however …
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Houston’s oldest TJ Maxx is in a former Weingartens
Rummel Creek Village is a very interesting shopping center. With wooden shingles, ample trees, and vintage facade, you almost feel closer to the Hill Country than Houston here. Despite fitting stylistically with the surrounding Memorial Villages area, Rummel Creek Village is actually entirely within Houston. It’s anyone’s guess as to how it has survived unchanged for so long, but thankfully with age the design has only gained charm. It almost looks like something that would …
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This Week in Demolition: New House, Meet Old House
This Week in Demolition, we find something I’ve never seen before. Meet 9325 Grady Street, a lot containing two homes. One of them is an obvious tear down. It’s in poor shape, and would be a full gutting at the least, likely needing structural reinforcements as it seems to have been sitting for a while. Next to the original house, sits another “house”. Although in reality it looks more like a trailer office on a …
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I know what you were last Halloween, Visiting 3 Costume Conversions!
Checking out costume conversions, is by in far the oldest “blog tradition” here on HHR. If you’re just joining us, I would highly recommend checking out my post from 2019 which explores Halloween pop-ups in a former Palais Royal, Walgreens, and Babies ‘R’ Us, along with last year’s limited investigation of the recently closed Willowbrook Spirit/Sears (Spears?). These posts are always fun, and one of the most popular of the entire year. So this year, …
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Costco’s new Stafford store means (small) Business!
Howdy Folks, welcome back to what will be the closing chapter, for now at least, on Costco’s new Stafford store. For those not in the know, Costco announced earlier this year their intent to build a new location in place of a driving range originally planned in the Grid mixed-used development. Located on the grounds of the former Texas Instruments campus, the Costco is a bit difficult to spot from the feeder. When announced, it …
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This Week in Demolition: Assistance League Buildings on the way out after Thrift Store shuts down
This Week in Demolition, we see the end of a Montrose Area thrifting staple. Based on the final posts made to their Facebook page, the Assistance League of Houston’s thrift store quietly shut their doors this year at the end of August. The Assistance League Thrift Shop at 1902 Commonwealth, was one of Houston’s oldest continuously operating stores, dating to around the 60s. By the 70s, the Thrift Shop had made its way into Montrose, …
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Kids’ Kounty: Goodness Grace-ious, What a Toy Store!
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston If I told you, the loyal Houston Historic Retail reader, that a retailer opened a toy store that made the typical Toys R Us seem quaint by combining the typical big-box toy store with a children’s clothing/shoe store, a youth furniture store, a pet store, a photo studio, a full-service bicycle shop, a hobby shop, and a nationally-known fast food …
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