Howdy, and welcome to HHR! Today, we’re looking at what happens when a Houston Garden Center location decides to move. If you’ve lived in Houston long enough, it’s probably something you’ve seen, but if you’re like me, you probably haven’t ever thought about how it all goes down. First off, though, let’s start off with a brief history. HGC is not a terribly old chain, only emerging around 1994, and reestablishing itself after merging the original Chain, Houston Garden & Patio Center, with Wolfe Nursery. Houston Garden Center was somewhat unique in Houston, Rather than purchasing lots and constructing sales …
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The Journey from Fed-Mart to Fiesta!
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re looking at a Fiesta on Houston’s Southeast side with an interesting history. The building this grocery store occupies at 5600 Mykawa Rd, Houston, TX 77033, has an interesting history. The building was constructed in 1958 for the Fed-Mart company. For those not in the know, Fed-Mart was a chain of sores based out of California. In modern times the stores are often compared to Costco, or Price Club, both companies in which founder Sol Price would later have a hand in. In reality, though, the store’s merchandise mix would …
Keep readingPart 2: Auchan tries to build roots, then along comes Food Town
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 3 as well! Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re continuing with Part 2 of a three-part series covering Auchan. Last time, we left off right at the start of Auchan in Houston while taking a look at the mall portion. Today we’ll continue the story and take a look at the grocery side of the store, which is still serving its intended purpose over 30 years later. The fanfare around the arrival (scroll up for a …
Keep readingPart 1: Auchan comes to Texas and brings a Mall
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series, be sure to check out Part 2 and Part 3 as well! Bonjour folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we begin part one of a three-part series on Auchan! Why now you ask? Well tomorrow is the 34th anniversary of Auchan Day as declared by Mayor Kathy Whitmire in 1988! For those not in the know, Auchan is a family-owned French company that operates Supermarkets, Convenience Stores, and Hypermarkets all throughout the world. While Sam Walton would be the first to introduce true Hypermarkets to Texas and, …
Keep readingThe History of Twistee Treat’s Freeze and Thaw Cycle in Houston
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Ice cream is an essential summer treat, and for such a warm state, we lack a major presence from most frozen dessert chains other than a few ice cream parlors. We do have Dairy Queen, but unlike many other states, which feature mostly ice cream, and little food, our model is flipped. Utilizing an expanded Brazier menu, which became so common, the Brazier moniker was dropped in Texas around the 80s. For years, Texas has been the “wild west” for anyone looking to expand the concept. For those not in the …
Keep readingRetail News: Tim Horton’s Expansion Plans go beyond Katy
Tim Horton’s is on the brink of arriving in Houston. The Canadian Coffee and Donut Shop marks one of many chain doughnut shops trying their hand in Houston at the present time. Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme still fall second in terms of notoriety to local chain Shipley’s. At this point, Timmy’s has filed permits for three locations in Texas, all located within the Houston area. These stores represent the chain’s furthest Southern stores, outside of a failed attempt at expanding to Flordia in the 1980s. According to an interview with the Houston Chronicle, the new stores are coming to town …
Keep readingHouston’s only Best Buy Outlet comes in under Par at this former Golf Galaxy
Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at a Best Buy with an out-of-this-world past. No, it’s not in a former Incredible Universe, but rather a Golf Galaxy. Although it’s worth noting that this store is a subdivided chunk of a former Venture turned Kmart. There’s something else unusual about this store though. As it’s no normal Best Buy. Rather, it’s Houston’s only Best Buy Outlet store, a concept that has been bouncing around the area since at least 2016. One of the first locations was leased space in Gulfgate. The Outlet location would …
Keep readingWhat’s up with Goodwill’s new shade of Blue? The cause of all the changes and closings!
Howdy folks, and welcome to HHR. If you’re one of our regular thrifting viewers, then the changes at Goodwill are likely not unseen to you. In case you haven’t been in a bit, things at Goodwill have been changing. One of the most apparent changes with the development of the Goodwill Computer Works concept. Originally debuting in Austin in 1997, the concept would expand to Houston nearly 10 years later. It seems like Goodwill Houston has always been a bit behind, in new concepts, while other Texas-based Goodwill chains began to expand on the outlet concept years ago, our Outlets …
Keep readingRandall’s Going Out of Business Sale in Sugar Land and Why This Time It’s a Little Bit Different
Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Let me offer you a short introduction, as many people will likely find this via Google or Facebook (normal readers just play along). The following is a “Photo Essay”. It’s not meant to answer exactly why the Randall’s in Sugar Land is closing. However, it should offer some insight into how Randall’s got into the shape it is today. If you have an interest in this type of content or Retail News like when HHR broke the story that this location was going to close? Check us out on Facebook for regular …
Keep readingWho killed Greenspoint? A look at the Mall, and a discussion about the community
Welcome back to Houston Historic Retail, where Dead Malls, are a bit of specialty. Chances are you learned about this blog through one of our Mall based posts, dead, dying, or otherwise. Houston’s dead mall problem has never been particularly bad. While we’ve had malls that have been problematic, we’ve usually been limited to one to two malls dying at a time, and in the 4th largest city in the United States, and that ain’t too bad. At the moment the two malls on “high levels of alert” are Pasadena Town Square/Marcoplaza and West Oaks with Greenspoint bringing up a …
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