If you’re a regular follower at all of Houston Historic Retail then at some point you’ve seen our coverage of 7-Eleven’s return to Houston which at some point has been a bit contentious. It all started with a post back in February of 2020 when there was scant evidence of 7-Eleven’s return, which had been in progress since 2014! However, by early 2021 7-Eleven had made great strides in not only converting existing locations but in building their own locations as well as noted in a post from January of this year. Another great stride has been reached with the …
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The not so great, Foodarama Shrinkorama!
Cox’s Foodarama is an independent grocery chain operating out of Houston, Texas, with 8 locations in operation as of this post. The chain simply goes by the name Foodarama in all local matters, but uses their founder’s (Carol Cox) last name to differentiate from the many other grocery stores in the U.S. using Foodarama. During the early days of the net, the confusion mostly came from New Jersey based Foodarama Supermarkets, which has since stopped trading under that name. The chain was founded in 1973, in a building with an already storied history. Having been built by Belden’s when they …
Keep readingRetail News: Foodarama sells another former Safeway, and Village Medical comes closer to achieving goal
Foodarama Sells Another Former Safeway According to the Houston Chronicle, property developer Baker Katz has acquired the former Safeway at 1805 Ella Boulevard, which is currently occupied by Cox’s Foodarama. The building was originally constructed as two separate structures, with Safeway forming the right side, and Eckerd forming the left. (Shout out to Anonymous in Houston for figuring that one out!) As such, the two properties were under separate ownership and have remained as such even when Safeway expanded their store into the former Eckerd. Baker Katz acquired the Eckerd portion of the property in 2016, and in May of …
Keep readingThe Randall’s 1987 Food Fest
Today we’ll be taking a look at the 1987-88 Randall’s Food Almanac. What is a Food Almanac, you might ask? Well, it’s a year round collection of recipes, paired with coupons and vintage advertisements. Using a Food Almanac as advertising was not unique to Randall’s, but its debut was tied to a much bigger event, The 1987 Randall’s Food Fest. This was the third year of the newest celebration Randall’s had to offer. From samples of in store products, to chef created dinners, the Food Fest not only provided a gourmet experience, but for most Houstonians their first glimpse into …
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: 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 the 1970s-1980s fondly. While reporting on Taco Bueno’s return to Houston I found the food to be somewhat appetizing, but for the most part rather …
Keep readingThis 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 reader may remember its stint as an AppleTree, which is also true. However, today’s focus is on the somewhat special role this store took on …
Keep readingRandom 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 go ahead and dive in! Well folks, it’s been a fun one this week. I hope you enjoyed the excess of photos, stay tuned and …
Keep readingDecoding 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” blogs or websites to gain fame. While other sites did feature malls, they were often focused around those in poor condition like Dead Malls.com (yes …
Keep readingTaking a shopping trip to stores of the Past (Part 2)
Editors note: This is a guest post by commenter Anonymous in Houston. Be sure to check out Part 1 here. Welcome back folks! Today we’re finishing up the second part of our journey through The Portal to Texas History. As mentioned in the previous post the portal is a website operated by the UNT Libraries. As the school is in Denton, the majority of material is from DFW. However we have a great shared retail lineage with our neighbors to the North. So much in fact that with the help of Houston Historic Retail, I have compiled a Shareable Spreadsheet …
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