In late 1982 the Houston Division of Safeway opened a brand-new store to serve the growing Alief, and Mission Bend areas of far West Houston. At the intersection of Bellaire and Synott the modern round edged store opened as the anchor tenant of the shopping center along with an Eckerd. While far from being the last Houston Safeway to open, this would be one of the last built, as most “new” stores going forward would …
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Retail News: Ollie’s holds grand opening, despite hurricane
Howdy folks, welcome to another edition of Retail News, and this week we have some good news! Ollie’s Bargain Outlet was able to hold their scheduled grand opening on Wednesday, September 15th, despite Hurricane Nicholas making landfall just a day before. It seems that so far Ollie’s is a hit! Fellow retail watcher, Anonymous in Houston, noted that nearly 50 photos has been posted on Google Reviews within hours of the grand opening. I had …
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This Week in Demolition: 2 Homes and a Pool, right on Memorial Park
This Week in Demolition, we have two homes, seemingly joined at the hip, with a big pool in the backyard, right across from Memorial Park. This lavish monument to 1990s Houstonian exuberance will soon be demolished for something even more grand. Residential Demolitions 6518 Kury Ln, Houston, TX 77008– Timbergrove Manor, Photos 406 & 412 Crestwood Dr, Houston, TX 77007– Rice Military, Faces Memorial Park, Photos, More Photos 409 Schwartz St, Houston, TX 77020– Barnes …
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Dining Out on Highway 6, a reflection on the dead restaurants near West Oaks Mall
Howdy folks and welcome to a companion piece for the Month of Malls. While not a full mall post, our center topic today are the dead restaurants near West Oaks Mall. These eateries are mostly adjacent to West Oaks Village Shopping Center, as opposed to the mall itself. However, let’s start off talking about full service eateries in West Oaks Mall. While the mall had its fair share of staple food court tenants, up until …
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Happy Birthday First Colony Mall, sorry we sorta forgot!
Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post, written by my favorite scincidae, billytheskink, is part two in our Month of Malls! Be sure to check out Part One! -Mike March 2021 came and went, and we failed to wish First Colony Mall well on its 25th birthday! Sincere apologies for this egregious oversight. Hopefully this belated happy birthday post full of photos and reminiscence (and also more photos!) from a Fort Bend County kid can in some …
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Permit Roundup: Slim Chickens inside the Loop, Taco’s A-Go-Go at Greenway, and a few more Village Medicals
Howdy folks, and welcome to another Permit Roundup! Unfortunately, last week, I ran out of time before I was able to complete the post, and it looks like I’m going to run into a similar issue again this week. While I won’t have time to write a full article, I do still have time to pull the data needed. I’m also included the interesting pieces that were skipped last week. I’m unfortunately going to be …
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This Week in Demolition: Barn Only
Today’s demolition has something special in it. Barn Only, this is a tag that is obviously somewhat special, as I’ve never seen before. The house it applies to is somewhat special as well. 1903 Wycliffe, doesn’t fit in with the rest of the early 60s homes on the block. It’s a beam and pier farmhouse, with a barn to boot! Taking Google Streetview back just a few years, you can even find a matching shed. …
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A Brief History of Wolfe Nursery
Editor’s Note: Today’s post comes to us from long time friend, and all around good guy Pseudo3d best known for Carbon-izer.com among many other great projects In 2021 Houston Garden Centers dominates the regional landscape as far as stand-alone garden centers go, one name has come and gone in Texas, Wolfe Nursery. Some may remember the Helvetica font on the logo, while others may have visited the store and bought plants that continue to grow …
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The best Foodarama I’ve ever been to: Randallasarama!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we begin by adding another definition to the HHR Dictionary, with the new term Randallsarama. Randallsarama- (Noun) A Foodarama location occupying a former Randalls Supermarket. “Great news, the Randallsarama had discounted chocolate cake!” Now that we’ve got the taxonomy out of the way, let’s get into the history of this store. We’re talking about Foodarama at 1603 Cartwright Rd, Missouri City, TX 77489. Originally opening …
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This Week in Demolition: Firehouse Saloon land starts redevelopment and Harris County snipes a few houses along White Oak Bayou
This Week in Demolition, the burnt down, closed down, Firehouse Saloon, is torn down, and info on the low down, shows another gas station for this town! This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post.
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