Houston Historic Retail

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! In this episode, we’re going somewhere we’ve never been before, so you know it’s special! Today, we’ll be visiting HHR’s first Sellers Bros. Well, at least, the first full store, as the two free-standing C-Stores were featured on HHR a few years back. This example at 9494 Hammerly Blvd, Houston, TX 77080, originally started life in 1979 as a Weingarten’s, and has a cool story. Weingarten’s …

Mainstay Panderia, El Bolillo, is coming closer to opening its newest location, at Highway 6 and Bellaire. The Hispanic Bakery, which first opened its doors across from Canino’s Farmers Market in 1998, has become a popular option for many Houstonians, who compliment the small chain’s selection compared to other Hispanic bakeries around town. This new location is using a former Luby’s for its new outfit. While the Cafeteria ceased operations in the early 2000s, Luby’s …

Over the last three years, HHR has been keeping an eye on a Florida-based “C-Store adjacent” concept, Farm Stores, which first announced its intent to come to Houston in 2016. While their first planned Katy location would not work out, they would eventually arrive in 2020. Farm Stores isn’t exactly a new idea, with the concept debuting in the late 50s. It’s somewhat reminiscent of a drive-thru liquor store but swaps hard alcohol for an …

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking what will likely be our final visit to the Wilcrest ex-Foodarama. As is customary, this is a post-closure post taking a look at the remains of the former store. Towards the end of the article, we’ll even discuss what’s upcoming for the corner lot. As mentioned in our first post, this building started in the 1970s as a Safeway. It was a unique pickup for …

I was interested in retail from an early age. While I didn’t start documenting it until recently, I witnessed a unique slice of Houston retail. My formative years in Richmond-Rosenberg provided a strange parallel to the nearby Houston market. Living in what was still “the country” at the time, old names that had mostly disappeared from Houston years earlier remained in the area. For example, Sutherland’s stayed in Rosenberg until 2002. Right across the street, …

Bad news for Boston Market lovers: the fast-casual rotisserie chicken chain is approaching its demise. This isn’t too shocking for anyone who follows restaurant news. Boston Market has had a difficult history. They first arrived in Houston in 1994, with concrete plans for 17 locations and eventual eyes for 50 total stores throughout Houston at some point. At that time, they were known as Boston Chicken and undergoing a growth spurt, which would land them …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today, we’re checking out Houston’s “hottest Kroger.” The store at Sabo and the South Belt which was recently renovated as a Hispanic Concept Kroger. Houstonians are no strangers to Hispanic grocery stores, and in fact, some of us may even remember Kroger’s previous attempt at a Hispanic store in Gulfton. Starting off with a bit of history on this store, it was initially a Grocery Palace-era …