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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What’s going on at Fuddruckers in 2021?
Howdy folks, and welcome to another entry into what almost became truly “historic retail” in Houston, Fuddruckers! The beloved burger joint was saved at the last minute earlier this year. Luby’s Inc. who announced their intent to dissolve their company over a year ago had looked for but was unable to find a buyer for any of their restaurant chains. Fortunately, at what was truly the last minute, an offer was accepted by the company’s …
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This Week in Demolition: Three more Ranch Styles outta Oak Forest!
When I started doing these demolition reports, I once saw a comment that was along the lines of “I can’t believe they still have any home left to knock down in Oak Forest.” Here we are nearly two years later and Oak Forest has continued to see the most consistent inclusion in demolition reports. This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post. Residential …
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A tiny Target Express living under off-campus housing in San Marcos
I was recently on vacation in San Marcos, and while on the trip had a chance to visit a few interesting retail outlets. One of the places I wanted to stop by was a “Target Express”. Target has since eschewed any sort of designations for their stores. Even if your local store still claims to be a “Super Target”, it’s actually just a Target with “Expanded Grocery”. However, with a miniscule square footage of 18,000, …
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Retail News: Costco Business Center grand opening October 20th
Howdy folks, and welcome back to another edition of Retail News! With the grand opening of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in Houston slowly fading in the mirror, our next big grand opening of the year is coming up. It seems that the Houston area’s first Costco Business Center, is nearly ready to open. We first learned the chain had eyes on Houston in April of this year, and we now have the planned October 20th grand …
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This Week in Demolition: That 70’s Home!
I heard “That 70s Show” is getting another reboot. If they need to do a flash back scene, the crew still has a few days left to get period shots. Oh great, he’s doing “comedy” now…. Well onto the demolitions! Residential Demolitions 11851 Durrette Dr, Houston, TX 77024– Lakeview, Carport Only, 4-Bed 4-Bath, Brady Bunch Special, Photos 921 Highland St, Houston, TX 77009– Woodson Place, 1920s Bungalow, Photo 618 Thornton Rd, Houston, TX 77018– Yale …
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Digging through the Photo Box: 1980s Houston Retail On Vintage Aerial
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Every so often, someone in the retail enthusiast community will stumble upon great sources of retail history in unlikely or hidden corners of the Internet. Loyal Houston Historic Retail readers will know that in just the last few months, we’ve managed to find a large repository of retail news videos clips at The Portal to Texas History website and we …
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So long ThinkGeek, it was nice while it lasted!
To those of you familiar with the mall scene, may be somewhat aware of the sudden closure of ThinkGeek stores all across the country. This has been going on for the past few months in a nationwide and somewhat sporadic manner. In Friendswood, the Baybrook Mall location, “Temporarily Closed” sometime earlier this year, with their relatively active social media going dark in February. The Deerbrook Mall location held a going out of business sale and …
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This Week in Demolition: Retroactive Permits? No Timewise better than the present for Zuma Fun Center!
Howdy Folks, and welcome back to another edition of This Week in Demolition! If you showed up last week wondering where the demo post was, I do apologize, but such are the perils of what is mostly a one-man operation. You can always check Houston Historic Retail’s Facebook page for more information on missing posts. Interesting demolitions this week include the shell station at Chimney Rock, and 59. Originally a Mobil Owned and Operated Station, …
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