Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today, we’re taking a look at something unusual! A former Luby’s at 108 W Greens Rd, Houston, TX 77067 that is still selling Fried Chicken, but is also a Shell Station! This isn’t some kind of Krispy Krunchy situation, we’re talking a real Fried Chicken restaurant here. An actual Church’s operates out of the kitchen and to-go portion of this former Luby’s, while the Shell occupies the old serving line, and most of the former dining area. Let’s start off by talking about the history of this spot. Originally a Luby’s-Romana …
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Vintage Texas Retail Videos in 1080p from the Jones Film Collection
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Those who have been reading Houston Historic Retail for some period of time know that I did a two-part series (Part I and II) in early 2021 about the excellent retail videos available at The Portal of Texas History website operated by the University of North Texas Library. Most of the videos at The Portal were supplied by Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KXAS-TV. Well, another Dallas Metroplex university library, the Southern Methodist University Library, also has a collection of videos in their G. William Jones …
Keep readingHappy 40th Anniversary, Willowbrook Mall!
Editor’s Note: Today we begin Houston Historic Retail’s Month of Malls! Our 3 Wednesday posts will feature all new Mall content! Lets start off Part One with Northwestern Houston Resident Expert Anonymous in Houston! -Mike Those who have visited the Willowbrook Mall area in Northwest Houston know that several words can be used to describe the territory, but ‘sleepy’ is probably not one of them in current times. However, prior to the official opening of Willowbrook Mall on September 23, 1981 (though the original three anchors of Sears, Foley’s, and Montgomery Ward had all opened for business by September 2, …
Keep readingWhat’s going on inside the vacant Luby’s and Fuddruckers in Cinco Ranch
Howdy Folks! Today we’re taking a look at a recently closed Luby’s/Fuddruckers Combo. This store at 24033 Cinco Ranch Blvd, Katy, TX 77494 represents the final generation of stores built, and was an older “new” location originally opening in 2014. This store was significant as being the second combo location to open, as the Fuddruckers deal was still relatively fresh at the time. During bankruptcy, this location was put up for sale. While both restaurants continued to operate until sometime around June, it seems that the fate of all the restaurants put up for sale was sealed, as Luby’s likely …
Keep readingAn “after-life” look at a Lubys that was originally called Romana
Cafeterias are a Southern specialty. Born out of the efficiency of self-serve prepared food, by utilizing a limited service concept, they were staples of the 20th Century. The cafeteria allowed families to quickly and cheaply feed an entire family. This was one of the major selling point early on, cafeterias were cheap. The quality of the food was below an average dine-in restaurant of the time, but still far above even the earliest incarnations of fast food. The first Luby’s Cafeteria as we have known them started around 1947 in San Antonio, by Robert Luby. The majority of the existing …
Keep readingRetail News: Wait a minute.. who just bought Luby’s and Fuddruckers?!
Happy Friday to you all dear readers! Hitting the “top of the retail charts” this week has been the sale of both the Luby’s and Fuddruckers brands, in addition to multiple locations. This is joyous news as it means you can continue to stuff yourself silly with hamburgers, and Luanne Platters, and as both chains are slated to live on, it’s even possible that some co-brand locations may remain open. With all this excitement for the survival of both restaurants, it seems little emphasis has been put on the details of both deals, so let’s break that down today! …
Keep readingRetail News: Two more Fuddruckers closer to closing, including one in a former Arbys
So, let’s start off this post with the elephant in the room, Fuddruckers as a chain is not going out of business. Luby’s Inc is in the process of liquidation, but they have yet to announce final closing dates for corporate owned stores. While the sale of any remaining Luby’s Cafeterias is low to unlikely, Fuddruckers locations have been somewhat easier to unload. With the majority going to a company named Black Titan LLC, along with the iconic Memorial City location going to former Luby’s Inc CEO Chris Pappas, and many other locations already under franchisee ownership. As part of …
Keep readingOne last birthday dinner at Luby’s
Welcome reader, this time we celebrate my birthday at Luby’s one last time… geez that sounds a bit morbid does it not? Well for those of you not from the Houston area but happen to read this blog, or those of you who avoid cafeteria food, or you, yes even you, person who accidentally found this post via Google 5 years later, worry not as Luby’s time is up, not mine! It has long been a birthday tradition of mine to eat at Luby’s usually with a grandparent at the Post Oak location. Unfortunately as the years have dragged I …
Keep readingRetail News: Raceway speeds out and 7-11 Zooms In, Luby’s puts locations up for sale, & Randalls leaves Bellaire
Happy chilly Friday to you loyal readers! I hope you are all doing well and managing to stay warm, as power comes back on around the state. This post is coming a bit late due to technical difficulties between myself and the power grid, but I don’t need to tell you about that. So far in February we’ve had a decent amount of retail proceedings develop. First off what seems to have been a quiet deal between RaceTrac and Realty Income Corp. has left us with no more Raceway gas stations but has netted us some new 7-Eleven locations. Which …
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