Retail

Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Upper Kirby

7 Comments

Avalon Drug Store and Diner, 2417 and 2427 Westheimer Rd., Houston

No word yet about the diner next door, but the West U. Examiner reports that the Avalon Drug Store on Westheimer just east of Kirby will be calling it quits in 2 weeks:

Pharmacist Bill Morris, who has run the independent pharmacy for 36 years, said â€œa confluence of eventsâ€ prompted his recent decision.

Morris is 67 years old â€” for one thing â€” and insurance â€œhas made it harderâ€ on independent pharmacy operations, which have low profit margins.

He also pointed to leasing rates that are rising due to the plethora of new construction in the Upper Kirby area.

Update: As owner Coy Ramsey notes in the comments, Avalon Diner is not going anywhere. More from the River Oaks Examiner and Houstonist.

Avalon Drug closing in 2 weeks [West University Examiner]

Photo: Flickr user Houstonian [license]

77098, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Upper Kirby

Openings and Closings

07/29/08 3:17pm

Bennigan’s Rides into the Sunset

Bankruptcies, Franchises and Chain Stores, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

Restaurants, Retail

5 Comments

Benniganâ€™s Sign, Houston

In one fell soup, Bennigan’s has apparently shuttered all of its U.S. locations. And the store is taking its sister restaurant, the ailing Steak & Ale, along with it. The chains’ are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Both are subsidiaries of Metromedia Restaurant Group, based in Plano.

Over at Houstonist, Katherine Shilcutt Gleave surveys the confusion resulting from the unannounced overnight shutdowns:

Houston is home to at least 20 Bennigan’s restaurants in the city and surrounding metropolitan areas. Calls placed this morning by Houstonist to the locations netted the same result each time: a phone ringing off the hook and no answering service. Only one location answered the phone when we called: the Bennigan’s in Greenspoint off Beltway 8. The befuddled-sounding manager at that location politely told us that they were, in fact, closed. He further confirmed that all other Bennigan’s in Houston were closed as well.

Steak & Ale had 6 Houston-area locations.

Bennigan’s: Erin Go Broke [Houstonist]

Photo: Flickr user alex_user

Malls

07/28/08 3:42pm

Pearland Town Center Ready To Open: Pull on Up!

New Construction, Openings and Closings, Pearland, Retail, Shopping Centers

10 Comments

Plan of Pearland Town Center, Pearland, Texas

The drive-thru mall with extras known as Pearland Town Center opens this Wednesday, at the intersection of 288 and FM 518! But it’ll be so much more than just a collection of chain stores arranged neatly in a giant parking lot:

Sixty-two apartments rest on top of retail stores, giving residents a downtown feel without the hassle of daily traffic. Granite countertops complement the kitchen of each unit along with stainless-steel appliances.

The above-retail units will be available for leasing July 30 while another set of 238 freestanding residential units will be accessible in late 2009. One-bedroom apartments will lease for $1,300 per month, and two-bedroom loft apartments will lease for $1,900 per month.

75-percent of the 85-percent-leased mall will be open Wednesday, reports David Kaplan in the Chronicle.

Pearland Town Center ready for grand opening [Brazosport Facts]
Macy’s makes its way to Pearland [Houston Chronicle]
New shopping mecca set to open [abc13]
Pearland Town Center (with sound)
Pearlandâ€™s New Drive-Thru Mall [Swamplot]

Plan of Pearland Town Center: CBL & Associates

77583, Malls, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Pearland, Pearland-Town-Center, Retail, Shopping Centers

Highland Village

07/25/08 10:55am

Highland Village Sprinkles

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail

5 Comments

HIGHLAND VILLAGE SPRINKLES “Sprinkles Cupcakes, The Original Cupcake Bakery, opens in Houston this winter at 4010 Westheimer in Highland Village. Let’s see, we have Sugar Baby’s, Crave and Ooh La La Dessert Boutique (they’re actually in Katy, TX, but it’s a suburb of Houston so we’ll count it) and now Sprinkles, the one who started the cupcake craziness in 2005 in Beverly Hills.” What’s next — Pinkberry? [Cleverley’s Blog]

77027, Highland Village, Restaurants, Retail

Furniture

07/16/08 1:36pm

The Furniture Bank’s Upscale Neighbor

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Retail, Senechal

1 Comment

THE FURNITURE BANK’S UPSCALE NEIGHBOR The home-furniture-for-the-furnitureless nonprofit has opened a new store called the Bargain Bazaar — on the north side of I-45 near Scott, down the street from its new warehouse on Hussion Street — to sell “slightly used” furniture to the public. If all goes well, the Furniture Bank will buy the building someday. [Greater Houston Weekly]

77003, Furniture, Openings and Closings, Retail, Senechal

Demolitions

07/09/08 11:13am

Hot Bagel Shop: Not Going Too Far Away

Openings and Closings, Retail, River Oaks, Strip Centers

New Strip Center Under Construction at 2318 S. Shepherd Dr., the Future Home of the Hot Bagel Shop

Bagel addict Charles Kuffner reports that the famed Hot Bagel Shop on Shepherd will be moving across and down the street in the fall, into this expanded strip center now under construction on Shepherd just north of Fairview. The new strip center has already swallowed the Houston Shoe Hospital location next door.

The Hot Bagel Shop’s current building — already bleeding tenants — will be torn down, Kuffner reports.

New Hot Bagel Shop Coming [Off the Kuff]

Photo: Charles Kuffner

77019, Demolitions, Openings and Closings, Retail, River Oaks, Strip Centers

Greenway Plaza

06/26/08 4:13pm

59 Feeder AT&T: A Starring Role in the iPhone Ecosystem

Retail

2 Comments

Appleâ€™s Where To Buy Page for the iPhone, Showing the AT&T Store between Edloe and Weslayan

A Swamplot reader who’s been itching for one of them new 3G iPhones points us to this page on the Apple website, designed to show where you’ll be able to buy an iPhone. On July 11th, the new phones will be available at Apple Retail Stores and at AT&T outlets.

Naturally, Apple illustrates the two store options with photos of the most glamorous examples of each type. The Apple Store shown is the famous glass cube on 5th Avenue in New York City. And the AT&T store is . . . the AT&T Experience Store on the side of the Southwest Freeway between Edloe and Weslayan!?

Our reader comments:

And no, it doesn’t look that good in person. It’s on at least its third incarnation as a cellphone store: first it was a pretty boring two-story concrete box for Houston Cellular, then it got some outlandish rooftop decoration with a rebranding to Cingular, and then it changed brands (and colors) to ATT.

Where to buy iPhone [Apple]

77027, Greenway Plaza, iPhone, Retail

Furniture

06/24/08 2:14pm

Putting the Bed in Bedroom Communities

Quicklink, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

3 Comments

PUTTING THE BED IN BEDROOM COMMUNITIES Mattress Firm celebrates the opening of its 500th store. You keep building those strip centers, they’ll take care of the rest! [Houston Business Journal]

Franchises, Furniture, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

Proposed Developments

06/20/08 7:30am

New HEB at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet: Not as Bad as It Looks

Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University

2 Comments

Buffalo Pharmacy at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet, Houston

Those drawings some of you have seen of the new HEB shopping center coming to the corner of Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet? Pay no attention to them, says the West University Examiner:

Rare sightings of renderings depicting the H-E-B grocery store development at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet Street are not an indication that construction is pending, a company spokeswoman said.

â€œNothing is final,â€ said Cyndy Garza Roberts. â€œThe real estate division is working with architects.â€ . . .

There is no start date and no project particulars to share, she added. . . . most tenants vacated the property in May.

Buffalo Grille and Buffalo Pharmacy, however, will remain in business at the site during construction.

Hey, if you’ve got a copy of these renderings, why not share them with Swamplot, so we can all ignore them together?

After the jump: An aerial view of the site!

77005, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University

Koreatown

06/11/08 11:09am

Super H Mart: So Good It Hurts

Long Point, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

3 Comments

Super H Mart Korean Supermarket, 1302 Blalock Rd., Houston Some rather positive reviews for the 53,000-sq.-ft. Super H Mart now open in the former Randall’s on Blalock at Westview, a few blocks north of I-10. Yelp user Therese S. calls the big Korean chain‘s Houston store an

Awesome, awesome Asian grocery store. They have pretty much almost everything. . . . I saw wansuy (cilantro), (Philippine–the best) mango juice, calamansi juice, halo-halo ingredients, even fish sauce, oyster sauce (albeit in HUGE bottles), sinigang mix, prawn crackers, mochi(!), kimchi (a whole chiller section), chopsticks, Yan Yan, Pocky, Koala, and on and on.

And this from the Food in Houston blog:

If you walk inside and don’t look too closely, you might think that you are in a state-of-the-art Whole Foods. Super H Mart has that same bright, cheery, contemporary feel. But instead of a cheese counter, Super H has a whole wall devoted to kimchi. . . .

The produce section includes fruits and vegetables that are rarely seen in Houston — even at Hong Kong market. The quality of the produce looks as good as Central Market or Whole Foods.

The seafood section may have the broadest, and most interesting, selection of seafood in Houston.

After the jump: A look at that wall of kimchi! Plus: a food-court surprise!

77055, Koreatown, Long-Point, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Supermarkets

Airline

06/09/08 4:46pm

Why the Auto Salvage Yards Like Airline Dr.

Hazards, Retail, Shopping Centers, Streets

Corner of Airline Dr. and Hill Rd., Houston

Fox TV reporter Isiah Carey breathlessly describes the scene yesterday at Airline Dr. and Hill Rd. — “probably one of the most dangerous areas in our city” — where he had stopped to plug a leaky tire:

In the 15 minutes I was there I witnessed 2 hit and run accidents. One truck hit a car and then drove off. The other was a car slamming into a SUV and the driver of the car also took off. In both cases the victims pursued the drivers who hit them. Then there was almost a third accident but the drivers managed to avoid hitting each other. But the fun didn’t end there. There was another instance where two people were driving down Airline and arguing from car to car. One passenger was hanging out of the window yelling at the other driver while pointing his finger very angrily. I asked the tire repair guy what was going on. He immediately blamed the flea markets just down the road. I still don’t get how the flea market can affect how adults behave on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, when I left the tire repair shop there was like bumper to bumper traffic in front of those flea markets along Airline. I have never seen so many people out and about without a major concert. I almost hit a couple of them who just walked in front of my moving car to get from one side of the flea market to the other.

Now This Is a Dangerous Part of Town! [InSite]

77037, Airline, Flea Markets, Hazards, Retail, Shopping Centers, Streets

Galleria

06/05/08 4:16pm

Galleria Whole Foods Parking Puzzle Solved

Parking, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers

Proposed Whole Foods on Post Oak Blvd., Blvd. Place, Galleria, Houston

Yesterday’s brief Uptown Whole Foods parking mystery has been solved by one of our most helpful tipsters . . . who points to an older but more complete set of Boulevard Place plans. Shoppers, there is no need to worry. You will be able to park above, below, near, or yes — right in front of Whole Foods . . . and you won’t get stuck having to sneak your whole-grain-laden shopping cart past HermÃ¨s. Just imagine what awkward social situations that would have caused!

Below: 5 levels of out-of-date Blvd Place site plans explain it all!

77056, BLVD Place, Mixed Use, Parking, Parking-Garages, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Whole Foods

Apartments

06/04/08 3:08pm

The Sleek Strip, the Ritz Tower, and the Path to Whole Foods: A Closer Look at Boulevard Place

Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

7 Comments

Post Oak Blvd. Parking, Blvd Place, Uptown, Houston

Sure, the super-Mod architecture, elevated sidewalks, artistically moistened streets, and glistening rotunda in the new Boulevard Place renderings make the place look pretty swank, but what’s with the token strip of parking spots out front? Is this gonna be pay-to-display valet? Some kind of shopping-center twist on a velvet rope line? Or just a stab at maintaining Houston street cred: Sure, Post Oak Blvd. might be going urban upscale, but this is one development that won’t be forgetting its strip-center roots!

Updated views of Blvd Place, including the new Ritz-Carlton and Hanover towers — plus a site plan and a Whole Foods puzzle! It’s all below:

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Condos, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Uptown, Whole Foods

Commercial Real Estate

05/29/08 1:06pm

Highland Village: Work Above Waterworks, Filling the Gap Gap

Highland Village, Hotels, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers