Kmart Electronics Alcove, 1987

Through the Annals: A Guide to Retail History in Annual Reports

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Researching the operations of a publicly traded company here in the 21st century is most certainly not a very difficult thing.  After all, there are numerous reports about companies available through their own websites and through various websites that can all be accessed very quickly.  However, those who were around before the rise of the World Wide Web might remember …

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Retail News: Bowling closer to returning to former Palace Lanes, and Taco Bueno is back in Pasadena

Taco Bueno takes over for Krispy Kreme in Pasadena Good Monday to you morning loyal reader! Let’s start off this week off with another edition of Retail News. This first story comes to us from a reader’s tip. Good news to fans of Taco Bueno, if any, because the casual Tex-Mex drive-thru chain is expanding their Houston range even further. Some readers may remember Taco Bueno’s earlier presence in the Houston area which lasted from …

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A gas station will replace this former Foodarama location

This Week in Demolition: So long Safeway, it’s been nice!

Howdy everyone, this week in demolition we’re spoiled for choice! Not only do we have a good number of interesting homes, but a very interesting store to boot! As this is at heart a retail blog, we’ll start off with our retail based demolitions. The main focus of which is 4805 Old Galveston Road, as pictured below. Many readers may recognize this as a former Safeway, and you are quite correct. The even keener eyed …

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Continuing in the area former Midtown Fiesta continues to sit empty, although renovation is supposedly nearly complete.

Random Retail: 4 Gas Stations, and Quite a bit more!

Welcome back to another post loyal reader! Oh man, it’s really been a while since we’ve done a Random Retail post. For anyone new here, Random Retail is essentially me going through my camera roll and posting anything I had a chance to take a photo of but have not had a chance to post. This quite often proves to be a reader favorite since, you never know what you’ll end up with! Well lets …

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Decoding some of the most famous photos of 1980s Wal-Mart on the net!

Welcome back loyal reader, I apologize for the somewhat clickbaity sounding title this time. However, I promise I have not made any false claims! Let’s start out with a trip down memory lane. A recent conversation with a friend on the topic of early retail history on the net, led me to a site I hadn’t visited in a few years. Pleasant Family Shopping. By multiple accounts this is one of the earliest “pure retail” …

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This Week in Demolition: Avalon Place’s finest Gregorian

This week in demolition, not a whole lot is going on! While we have a pretty standard length demolition list, none of the buildings are particularly interesting. Which unfortunately means that I don’t really have a story to tell this week so let’s just get straight into the interesting buildings. First we have this week’s featured home 2515 Reba Drive. This wonderful 1940s Gregorian style two story, has been tastefully updated while keeping much of …

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One of the first hints that something is up with this store is the small, off center facade. Generally Eckerd had very symmetrical buildings.

CVS abandons an Eckerd’s concept

Welcome back loyal reader in this week’s post we’re talking about a CVS location that started out life as Eckerd. Most Houstonians can recall when Eckerd went away and CVS debuted in Houston. Many within our fair city thought that this was a long planned transition and a national phasing out of the chain. It at least seemed that way from the customer point of view. Based on the statements CVS was making it seemed …

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Retail News: Costco’s new Business Center doesn’t quite fit in ‘The Grid’ and My Fit Foods officially returns in Houston

Costco’s Business Center doesn’t quite snap into place in Stafford’s Grid If you’ve been paying attention to any local business news lately you know that Houston’s hottest new mixed-use development “The Grid“, has turned slightly more commercial with the announcement a new Costco location. The Grid was originally envisioned as a mixed used center with a focus on mostly entertainment and multi-family housing. The only retail in the center were some small shops, and a …

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The green continues into the master bathroom, which contains a separate powder room. Check out the gas heater in the wall, remember how bad those things leaked?!

This Week in Demolition: The Sixth Christian Scientist Church, and Grandma’s House

Welcome back loyal reader, to another edition of This Week in Demolition! This week, we have quite a few points of interest to observe. Let us begin with the Sixth Church of Christ Scientist which is located at 2202 Elgin, on a corner lot directly across from Emancipation Park. The church was constructed in 1941 by the first recognized congregation of African American Christian Scientists in Texas. The house of worship was in operation until …

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The soda signage is by far my favorite. The blue tinge on the Coke cans put this photo after the New Coke Scandal, but the Caffeine Free Pepsi means this is likely from the 80s

A 90s Texaco Star Mart trapped inside of a 2021 Exxon

I was recently on my way home from work when I noticed my car was almost completely out of gas. I’m usually pretty good about filling up, but hadn’t driven in a while and needed to quickly refill my tank. It was pouring down rain, and I was not on a major road, so I found the nearest gas station I could and quickly stopped. While filling up my tank I noticed an unusual sign …

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