THE HOUSTON HISTORIC RETAIL INDEX

Although much younger than my blog Brazos Buildings & Businesses, Mike's Historic Houston Retail has dramatically grown since 2016 (it really started getting into the swing of things around three years in, but then again so did my blog), but still faces the issue of some spotty navigation. This list is intended to fix that issue by listing every single post that focuses on specific retail institutions (and if more than one, the most recent/detailed one) as well as listing other posts that were made as well. It is listed by address as I felt that was the best way to do it. All addresses are Houston unless otherwise noted. (For Murphy Road in Southwest Houston, see FM 1092).

It covers through July 2024, so the more recent stuff isn't covered.

This former Weingarten still uses Grand Union decor 40 years later! (915 6th Street, Texas City)
The interesting Food Town in the boring Brookshire Bros Building (23221 Aldine Westfield Road, Spring)
Rising water might scare Walgreens, but Dollar Tree doesn't seem to mind (6926 Antoine Drive)
Randallsarama still the nicest grocery store in Inwood (7320 Antoine Drive)
Nutty Monkey Frozen Custard's Last Stand the KFC co-brand you probably never heard of (7211 Atascocita Road, Humble)
This HEB in a former Holiday Foods Minimax has an interesting history (4206 Avenue T, Santa Fe)
HEB's Failed Concept store in Northwest Houston (6960 Barker Cypress Road)
Foodarama's Weingarten redemption at Maplewood Mall (5665 Beechnut Street)
The one where Safeway and H-E-B made the exact mistake 10 years apart (13201 Bellaire Blvd.)
The Mission Bend Fiesta, where neon still reigns king! (14315 Bellaire Blvd.)
The World's Largest Dollar Store, was once located in a former Houston Target (14485 Bellaire Blvd.)
A look at the final Houston Weingarten, and the chain's downfall (15152 Bellaire Blvd.)
This former Safeway #1 in Houston is having a Fiesta of a second life (7510 Bellfort Avenue)
Whos been painting Eckerd? (7215 Bissonnet Street)
Krogertsons — It's My Store! (12555 Briar Forest Drive)
Food Town vs. Albertsons: a Pearland grocery decor showdown (7121 Broadway Street, Pearland)
Kroger Goes Upscale With The KTRKroger in West U (5150 Buffalo Speedway)
The best Foodarama I’ve ever been to: Randallasarama! (1603 Cartwright Road, Missouri City)
Randalls' Very Successful 1980s Store Format Is Still A Success In Galveston (2931 Central City Blvd., Galveston)
Layne's in Cinco Ranch gets a new neighbor, Halal Guys! (23703 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Katy)
What's going on inside the vacant Luby's and Fuddruckers in Cinco Ranch (24033 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Katy)
Randalbertsons: It's Your Boomerang Albertsons Store Because The Locals Rejected Food Lion (18322 Clay Road)
What's going on at the ex-Randalls in Clear Lake? (2323 Clear Lake City Blvd.)
Deauville Mall Spring, One of Houston's first Dead Malls (100 Cypresswood Drive, Spring)
Exxon left this On the Run, now it's time for Star Stop's story (13233 Dairy Ashford Road, Sugar Land)
Arlan's a modern take on the Traditional Independent (4614 E. NASA Pkwy., Seabrook)
Clear Lake's HEB in the old Albertsons finally meets its end! (16811 El Camino Real)
It's your town Boris! A visit to and the history behind the former Iron Curtain Smashing Randall's (570 El Dorado Blvd., Webster)
The not so great, Foodarama Shrinkorama! (1805 Ella Blvd.)
No More Time to Dine at the 59 (3801 Farnham Street)
A closed remnant of Gerland's you've never heard of, Ziegler's Foods (2308 FM 517 East, Dickinson)
Pearland's Kroger Has an Unexpected History of Innovation (3245 FM 518, Pearland)
A Spec's in a former Randall's? Robert Onstead must be rolling in his grave! (3126 FM 528, Friendswood)
Speckerd's Part Two, Fun Size Bottles (17996 FM 529)
The final "old" Fiesta from 2015 (20331 FM 529, Cypress)
What was Ashcraft European Bakery? (220 FM 1092, Stafford)
A former Hartz Chicken in a former Burger King (439 FM 1092, Meadows Place)
There's a dead mall in Stafford you probably didn't know about (445 FM 1092, Stafford)
Adiós to Casa Olé in Stafford (12203 FM 1092, Stafford)
Food Town Albertsons New Caney (20851 FM 1485, New Caney)
A Sign of the Future: Kroger's Dominating Signature Format Turns 30 (360 FM 1960 West)
North Houston's Remarkable Handy Randalls in Champions (5219 FM 1960 West)
Happy 40th Anniversary, Willowbrook Mall! (7925 FM 1960 West)
Deseret Industries Houston: When the Osmonds met Goodwill (8625 FM 1960 West)
Walgreens carved a tiny store out of this old Eckerd
(12620 FM 1960 West)
The Deerbrook store that Fiesta and Randalls couldn't handle (9805 FM 1960 Bypass Road West, Humble)
Return to Food Town: Revisiting the former Kosher Albertsons in Meyerland (9725 Fondren Road)
This former TJ Maxx was once Jumbo! (9750 Fondren Road)
Bed Bath & Long Gone: The Story of The Fountains Shopping Center (12520 Fountain Lake Circle, Stafford)
Why did Safeway close the Fuqua and Sabo Randall's? (11021 Fuqua Street)
It's been how many years since Circle K bought our Corner Store?! (5101 Gulfton Street)
HHR's first visit to a Sellers Bros and the Weingarten's Gerland's connection (9494 Hammerly Blvd.)
Safeway, Walgreens, and Kmart One of West Houston’s best preserved shopping centers (4705 Highway 6 North)
SpEckerd either way you've gotta show ID to buy stuff! (4820 Highway 6 North)
This failed Hartz's Concept Restaurant has worn many hats (4992 Highway 6 North)
A "Sketchy" former Walgreens, where you can only get shoes! (6107 Hwy. 6 North)
What happens when a Houston Garden Center packs up and moves? (20080 Holzwarth Rd., Spring)
Arlan's attempt in The Woodlands, a history of "Food Basket" (26824 Interstate 45, Oak Ridge North)
Powerful Kroger Signature Stores Gain A Power Alley (9330 Jones Rd.)
Here Everything Was Remarkable: Remembering The Jones & West Randall's (9503 Jones Road)
A look at one of Houston's Former Food Lion Locations (9520 Jones Road)
Visiting the 99 Cent Only Store all these years later (10787 Jones Road)
Whatever happened to Sweet Tomatoes? (8775 Katy Freeway)
Why Gorman's Cleaners is sitting abandoned in Hedwig Village (8901 Katy Freeway)
Bed Bath & Bankruptcy 2019 vs 2023 (10515 Katy Freeway)
This HEB was an Albertson's Grocery Palace, not so much lately though (10251 Kempwood Drive)
Fiesta #18 The Last of the Neon Kings (8130 Kirby Drive)
Midtown Randalls, it's the closest thing you'll get to a Safeway down here! (2225 Louisiana Street)
My Summer Vacation: A CVS on the Riverwalk (211 Loyosa Street, San Antonio)
South Shore Harbour Randalls Gets A Colorful Remodel (2951 Marina Bay Drive, League City)
Eye on "The Ion" an inside look at the former Midtown Sears (4201 Main St.)
Katy Mills Walmart goes on a fulfillment diet! (25108 Market Place Drive, Katy)
Handy Randalls, the store that killed an HEB still here 50 years later (14610 Memorial Drive)
The Journey from Fed-Mart to Fiesta! (5600 Mykawa Road)
Costco's new Stafford store means (small) Business! (12717 Network Drive, Stafford)
Over 50 Years Later, Baytown's Kroger Family Center Is Still One Of The Houston Area's Most Unique Kroger Stores (1700 N. Alexander Drive, Baytown)
Joe V's in Katy shows how the concept has grown (4107 North Fry Road, Katy)
A former Safeway with a split personality (2028 N. Main Street, Pearland)
The best Food Town I've ever been to: The Grocery Palace (2770 North Sam Houston Pkwy. W.)
Archie's Food Basket & Taxidermy Hall of Fame (14560 Old US-59, Splendora)
The Texas City Kroger's Golden Anniversary (3541 Palmer Hwy., Texas City)
MacroPlaza Polo or whatever happened to Pasadena Town Square Mall? (171 Pasadena Town Square Mall, Pasadena)
Why is Pearland's newest HEB already getting a remodel? (2710 Pearland Pkwy., Pearland)
Headline News: Houston's newest CVS moves into old Houston Post Building! (2410 Polk Street)
4000 Polk, Houston's 90+ year old Henke & Pillot Kroger location (4000 Polk Street)
Scarsdale Safeway The final location to open in Houston (10902 Scarsdale Blvd.)
Krogering is a Vacation in Galveston (5730 Seawall Blvd., Galveston)
Love thy HEB Neighborhood Market (5417 South Braeswood Blvd.)
Eagle Discount Supermarket's decor is still flying under the radar! (5708 South Gessner Road)
All quiet at the Taco Cabana (2535 South Highway 6)
This decor still provides service "Merchandise", at American Freight (2665 S. Highway 6)
Wienerschnitzel's tiny Houston return (3538 S. Highway 6)
Church's Chicken and restoring the Hill Country (6810 S. Highway 6)
A Return to Mercado 6 (7355 S. Highway 6)
What's Going on at the former Fuddrucker's on Kirkwood (2475 S. Kirkwood Road)
Slim Pickens at this former Carl's Jr. (9599 S. Main Street)
Katy Supermarket how many tries does it take to get an old Randalls running again? (1525 S. Mason Road, Katy)
Checking out a former Cici's Pizza in the shell of an old Burger King (10601 S. Post Oak Road)
Checking out the 'newest' Krogertsons in town the concept Hispanic Kroger (11701 S. Sam Houston Pkwy. East)
James Coney Deserted Island, a Meadows Place Story (11940 Southwest Freeway, Meadows Place)
Fishing Tackle Unlimited closing means the end for this historic former Sugar Land Grocery Store (13833 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land)
Happy Birthday First Colony Mall, sorry we sorta forgot! (16535 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land)
Burger House Episode 2: The one in Spring (1609 Spring Cypress Road, Spring)
Finally visiting the Pasadena Food Lion after all these years via Sellers Bros (2311 Strawberry Road, Pasadena)
A Speedway Gas Station in Texas? It's more common than you think! (2501 Texas Avenue, Texas City)
Walgreens as a Family Dollar, now that's more like it! (3403 Texas Parkway, Missouri City)
Half Price Books has left The Village (2537 University Blvd.)
A Warm Greenhouse Welcome to the Year of Kroger here at HHR! (13133 Veterans Memorial Drive)
The History of Houston's Bakery Thrift Stores (3000 Washington Ave.)
Weingarten's lives on through Kroger in the Heights! (239 West 20th Street)
Check out this "Shell" of a Luby's that still sells fried chicken (108 West Greens Road)
Checking on a former Minimax nearly 70 years after it opened (512 Morton Street, Richmond)
A&W and Long John Silvers, a match made in Louisville but now found in Austin (1910 W. Ben White Blvd., Austin)
Randall's continues to thrive in this former Austin Safeway (2025 West Ben White Blvd.)
Demolition Update: Game over for Garden Oaks Family Bingo, and the strange former Kroger it occupied (641 West Crosstimbers Street)
Blue Ridge Blight, a 42 year old Kroger only open for 7, finally has a promising new future (7115 W. Fuqua Street, Missouri City)
Barnes & Noble booted from Vanderbilt Square, and why this could mean trouble for Randall's (3003 West Holcombe Blvd.)
HEBway a Rare Example in 2021 (200 West Hopkins Street, San Marcos)
Weingarten's Food Fair is over, now it's Lewis' Food Town (6470 West Little York Road)
Former Venture/Kmart preserved as Viet Hoa for over 20 years! (8300 West Sam Houston Pkwy. S.)
The time that Rax came to Texas (1222 W. Southwest Loop 323, Tyler)
Tuesday Morning closures include a significant Houston store (5442 Weslayan Street)
Randall's Weslayan Remodel brings up traces of a Weingartens past (5586 Weslayan Street)
The Randalls that helped rewrite two corporate histories (1804 West 43rd Street)
The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger (1938 West Gray Street)
This Universe used to be Incredible (5601 West Loop South)
Antique Pavilion in 1960s Randall's to soon come down (2311 Westheimer Road)
CVS to close this former Westheimer Eckerd, tomorrow (9292 Westheimer Road)
A Haunted H-E-B (11815 Westheimer Road)
Krispy Shipley, this doughnut shop had quite the rebellious teen phase (12403 Westheimer Road)
Houston's rogue Denny's the tale of Steve's Kitchen (12604 Westheimer Road)
Safeway, to David's, Come in Gerland's, Do you read me? This is Food Town! (1455 Wilcrest Drive)

The following are "other" posts of a mixed quality. Some of them merely explore updates in Houston's retail landscape, while others are generalized histories of that particular chain or group of stores. They outnumber the posts that focus on specific stores by a factor of nearly 3x.

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