Several readers have written in to report on the apparent demise of the Octane Coffee and Wine Lounge at the corner of 34th St. and North Shepherd. “As of Sunday,” says one correspondent, “the place was shut with a computer-generated ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ sign taped to the door, and a Pink’s employee next door said the owners had been carrying stuff out all day.” The morning and night spot opened almost exactly a year ago, one of the first tenants in the renovated but still-modern Garden Oaks strip center.
- Previously on Swamplot: Shock of the Redo: The Garden Oaks Strip Center Miracle on 34th St.
Photo: Candace Garcia
A Woodlands entrepreneur plans to open one of those beer bars where the prices fluctuate like a stabilized stock market — near Hubbell & Hudson at 24 Waterway Square next month. Owner Steve Jackson got the idea after he visited the Berliner Republik bar in Germany about a decade ago. But his description makes it sound like prices at his new establishment, which he’s calling The Exchange, will only be adjusted every 20 minutes: “We’ll have monitors and a ticker throughout the bar with a countdown clock,” he tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam. “Our patrons will have to decide if they want to buy the beer before the 20-minute mark, or take a chance to see if the price will go up or down.” If all goes well, Jackson says, he’s going to want to open five additional locations elsewhere in the Houston area. [Houston Business Journal] Photo of pricing screen at Die Berliner Republik: 
