Retail

77008, Housemoving, Houston Heights, Parking, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Strip Centers

Openings and Closings

11/10/08 11:21am

Circuit City Shorts Out

Quicklink, Retail

Bankruptcy, Openings and Closings, Retail

CIRCUIT CITY SHORTS OUT Last week Circuit City announced it would close 155 stores nationwide, including its Sharpstown and League City stores in Houston. But this morning the electronics retailer announced it is filing for bankruptcy too. “‘This is a major positive’ for Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Costco Wholesale Corp. and others, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter said in a note. ‘We have not seen a consumer electronic retailer successfully reorganize in Chapter 11 in our 24 years in this space. Should (Circuit City) ultimately close all of its operations, we assume there’s roughly $10.5 billion of annual domestic sales up for grabs. Best Buy should take a disproportionate share of that business.â€™” [Marketwatch]

Malls

11/05/08 7:14pm

The Fairy Dust Was Real

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Retail

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THE FAIRY DUST WAS REAL It’s going to be tougher for 4- to 12-year-old Houston girls to find makeover parties once the Club Libby Lu stores in the Baybrook Mall, Deerbrook Mall, Galleria, First Colony Mall, and The Woodlands Mall all close. Saks has announced it is shutting down all 88 Club Libby Lu locations nationwide by the first part of next year. “In an effort to fully comprehend just what has been lost, let us now read from Club Libby Lu’s explanation of their services. ‘At the party, girls arrive at the Club. They are all greeted by a fairy and make a wish on her fairy dust. Each girl then creates her own secret Club name. Then their Libby Dusâ„¢ comes true. After dressing up and playing games, they visit our Goodie Shop and make their own Goodie Bags. Singing and Dancing, all the girls celebrate the guest of honor.’ This is the part of the post where we’d write something to sort of wrap up, but we’re too busy laughing and have decided to quit while we’re ahead.” [Consumerist]

Malls, Openings and Closings, Retail

Demolitions

11/05/08 12:14pm

Buffalo Pharmacy Is Toast

New Constructon, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University

4 Comments

Buffalo Pharmacy at Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway, West University, Texas

Earlier this year, Buffalo Pharmacy announced it would leave its soon-to-be-demolished digs at Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway and move inside the new H-E-B under construction just behind the store. In the interim, Buffalo Pharmacy was set to operate out of a trailer on the site.

But those plans have changed: Buffalo Pharmacy will close for good this Saturday, November 8. The pharmacy opening in the trailer 2 days later will be called H-E-B Pharmacy.

The new supermarket, meant to be a cross between a Central Market and a typical H-E-B, is scheduled to open next year. And it’ll have an H-E-B Pharmacy inside.

Pharmacy moving, but not far [West University Examiner]

Photo of Buffalo Pharmacy: Flickr user Kevin Trotman [license]

77005, Demolitions, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University

Development Strategy

10/28/08 1:38pm

More Shopping Centers Lie in Wait for the Grand Parkway

Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing, Retail, Shopping Centers, Spring

MORE SHOPPING CENTERS LIE IN WAIT FOR THE GRAND PARKWAY Under previous owners it was going to go residential, but now all the site at the southeast corner of Kuykendahl and Spring Stuebner in Spring needs is an offramp: “Steve Gregory, president of Hopkins Commercial, said the site is a long-term investment for a retail center that will be built, possibly in one to three years. The site is attractive to the company because a leg of the Grand Parkway that will start construction in late 2010 will go by the 56 acres. The site is just north of a big collection of retailers at FM 2920 and Kuykendahl, including Wal-Mart SuperCenter, Loweâ€™s Home Improvement, Kroger, Palais Royal and 24 Hour Fitness.” [Houston Business Journal]

77389, Development Strategy, Freeways and Toll Roads, Grand Parkway, Real Estate Investing, Retail, Shopping Centers, Spring

Commercial Real Estate

10/27/08 11:15am

Costco Greenway Commons Sidewalk Obstacle Course: Fun!

Greenway Plaza, Mixed Use, New Construction, Retail, Shopping Centers, Sprawl, Strip Centers

16 Comments

Sidewalk Along Weslayan St., Greenway Commons, Houston

The wise folks behind Greenway Commons — the new shopping center replacing the old HISD headquarters building at the corner of Richmond and Weslayan — have apparently taken some extra-special steps to make sure the new development (which includes a brand-new Costco) is super-friendly to pedestrian visitors!

Making everything welcoming to people arriving on foot makes sense — the project had been criticized for exhibiting suburban-style development patterns in a location that some dreamers had imagined would be a street-fronting mixed-use center. It’s already a busy corner, and Metro’s new University Line will have a stop only a short walk away.

But “easy to access” can also mean “boring.” So it’s comforting to see these pictures of the project’s street edge sent in by a reader, which show a gentle, fun infrastructure-themed obstacle course taking shape along the new Weslayan and Richmond sidewalks in front of Trammell Crow’s grand development:

77027, Big Box Stores, Commercial Real Estate, Greenway Commons, Greenway Plaza, Mixed Use, New Construction, Retail, Richmond-Avenue, Shopping Centers, Sprawl, Strip Centers

Commercial Real Estate

10/21/08 2:46pm

Circuit City Threatens To Pull the Plug

Leasing, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Retail

Commercial Real Estate, Leasing, Openings and Closings, Retail

CIRCUIT CITY THREATENS TO PULL THE PLUG “One out-of-court solution the company is studying would likely lead to the closing of at least 150 stores and the elimination of thousands of jobs, said people familiar with the company’s plans. This would let the retailer liquidate about $350 million in inventory, which it could use to pay off certain real-estate costs, such as leases on abandoned sites. It would then hope to press existing landlords to renegotiate leases, many of which Circuit City regards as overpriced. Circuit City’s investors have homed in on those leases as a threat to the company’s health. Many were negotiated when real-estate prices were booming earlier this decade. Roughly 90% of the leases don’t expire until 2014 or later, and about 80 are for vacant locations.” There are 714 Circuit City stores in the U.S., 15 of them in Houston. [Wall St. Journal]

Openings and Closings

10/21/08 2:21pm

Linens-N-Things White Flag Sale

Quicklink, Retail

Openings and Closings, Retail

LINENS-N-THINGS WHITE FLAG SALE Yes, all 600 Linens-N-Things stores nationwide are shutting down — for good: “Employees were notified of this development by store management on Thursday, October 16th, after a last-ditch attempt to sell the company on the prior day failed and Linens-N-Things was forced to liquidate its remaining stores. The stores are expected to be completely gone by the end of the year. The ten stores left in the Houston area are currently holding liquidation sales, with items marked down 10% to 30% and the shelves are already becoming bare.” [Houstonist]

Green Design and Development

10/20/08 9:58am

Organic Pizza, Made To Order for Houston

Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail

6 Comments

ORGANIC PIZZA, MADE TO ORDER FOR HOUSTON How perfectly in tune with Houston is this? The first-ever certified organic restaurant in the city will be . . . a franchise pizza chain! And it’s going into a European parking lot style shopping center — in the far northwest part of town, beyond FM 1960: “There’s even a gluten-free pizza crust option. But it’s not just the food that’s special; Pizza Fusion also carries a wide array of organic wines and a gluten-free beer made from sorghum. While the location may seem baffling to some — progressive, eco-friendly businesses and restaurants don’t tend to thrive in Houston, much less in our decidedly un-eco-friendly suburbs — there’s no denying the fact that Pizza Fusion is an exciting new restaurant to have on the scene. Want a Pizza Fusion in your own neighborhood? Good news: they’re looking to open a whopping 75 more franchises in Texas alone over the next five years.” [Houstonist]

77070, Green Development, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

Downtown

10/17/08 9:20am

A Soft Opening for Houston Pavilions

Malls, Mixed Use, New Construction, Nightlife, Office Space, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers

6 Comments

House of Blues at Houston Pavilions, Downtown Houston

Walkways at Houston Pavilions, Downtown Houston

At the new House of Blues last night: Jay-Z. And three blocks away, Books-A-Million and a roman-numeral flagship version of Forever 21 are now open! But between them in Downtown’s brand-new mixed-use street-hovering mall? Not much going on . . . yet:

The developers of the three block long Houston Pavilions said the pavilions will be the place to go, but for now it’s mainly a lot of space.

“It’s different because you don’t have a lot of nightlife down here. But with the restaurant, the Foundations Room, and the music hall at the House of Blues, we are going to bring people to the Pavilions,” [said] Deb Eybers, President of the House of Blues.

They wonâ€™t just bring people. Tenants will also be coming to the area. But for now there are just a handful of businesses.

More are slated to come on line in December and even more in the spring. Then the complex will be at 60 percent capacity.

The complex extends from Main St. to Caroline between Dallas and Polk — only a few surface-parking-lot blocks from the Toyota Center and Discovery Green.

77002, Downtown, Houston Pavilions, Malls, Mixed Use, New Construction, Nightlife, Office Space, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers

Commercial Real Estate

10/15/08 6:20pm

Extremely Well Furnished in Katy

Homes for Sale, Katy, Mixed Use, Retail

No Comments

Entry to Living Space, 2006 Fry Rd., Katy, Texas

Dining Room, 2006 Fry Rd., Katy, Texas This place is huge! 6000 sq. ft. of living space, reads the listing:

Includes 4 Big Bedrooms, 2 full baths, Large Formal Dining, Huge kitchen w/gas cooking, Granite Counters, Porcelain sink, walk-in pantry, breakfast bar, serving bar and tile floor. Living/Family area w/gas fireplace, wood laminate floors. large inviting entry. Study or 5th bedroom.

That’s a lot of home! How could anyone furnish it all?

Not a problem!

77084, Commercial Real Estate, Furniture, Homes for Sale, Katy, Mixed Use, Retail

Freeways and Toll Roads

10/10/08 4:39pm

Packing Them in at the 99 Ranch

Leasing, Parking, Retail, Spring Branch

3 Comments

Former Fiesta Mart at I-10 and Blalock, Houston Fiesta Mart closed its I-10 and Blalock location when the Katy Freeway was expanded because too much of its parking got eaten up by the wider freeway. So how is the new 99 Ranch Market going into that space going to deal with the parking problem?

Suzanne Anderson, a regional leasing director with Weingarten, says the parking lot will be restriped to maximize the number of available parking spaces.

â€œWeâ€™re going to have to re-lay out the parking,â€ she says. â€œItâ€™s still going to be under what the typical grocery store might have.â€

99 Ranch Market is owned by Tawa Supermarket and is the largest Asian American supermarket chain, with 25 stores in California. The 84,000-sq.-ft. store opening on Blalock next summer will be the company’s first store in Texas.

99 Ranch Market hitches Asian post to Houston with first store in Texas [Houston Business Journal]
99 Ranch Market
99 Ranch Market [Wikipedia]

Photo of former Fiesta Mart at 1005 Blalock: Weingarten Realty

77055, Freeways, Leasing, Parking, Retail, Spring-Branch, Supermarkets

Galleria

10/08/08 11:34am

No Bice: Still Behind on the Rent

Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

5 Comments

Bice Ristorante, Houston Galleria

An austere bit of stationery is taped to the door of Bice Ristorante in the Galleria, indicating that mall owner Simon Property Group has changed the locks until Bice comes up with $164,731.37 in rent. The letter is dated from mid-July. And somebody has finally noticed!

“Seriously, how do you fall this far behind on rent?,” asks Tasty Bits author Misha. A few pix below:

Galleria, Galleria Mall, Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Uptown

Fraud

10/02/08 12:30pm

Bill Heard Chevrolet: Nothing Must Go!

Openings and Closings, Retail, Sugar Land

1 Comment

Bill Heard Chevrolet Dealership, Sugar Land, Texas

Security Guard, Bill Heard Chevrolet Dealership, Sugar Land, Texas On the lot at the shuttered Bill Heard Chevrolet off the Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land Saturday: a couple of armed security guards, hired by GM to make sure nothing leaves the lot.

Inside the dealership’s main offices it looks as though the entire showroom floor was frozen in time. Deflated balloons hang off of cubicle corners and showroom models. A loan application sits on a desk, unfinished. A framed picture of a family going down a roller coaster at Sea World hangs above an uncleared desk, one of many family photos that indicate the suddenness of the announcement.

If you’re to believe one of the managers of this particular dealership, the employees stayed late into the night helping customers get their plates processed and out the door. Contradicting this is an article from Wednesday in the Houston Chronicle in which the operations manager of Bill Heard Sugar Land, Linda Patterson, claimed they were selling vehicles into the night and would continue to stay in business. But by the next morning it was announced they would be closing, possibly for good.

After the jump: More on Bill Heard’s collapse, plus photos from Jalopnik’s (how’d they get?) behind-the-scenes report!

77037, Fraud, Openings and Closings, Retail, Sugar-Land

Openings and Closings

10/01/08 12:05pm

Uptown Park Does Barbershop

Quicklink, Retail