An employee confirms to Swamplot this afternoon that the Kroger at 1990 Old Spanish Tr. will be shutting down on January 24th. The formerly 24-hour grocery store (referred to previously as Slow Jam Kroger in Jeff Balke’s 2010 Inner Loop Kroger census, though arguably having earned the nickname Bank Robbery Kroger in the years since) has already reduced its hours and is closing up at midnight these days. Readers report low morale among car-less residents of the nearby apartments; they also report a few slightly mismatched rumors that the land has been sold to a big name in the Medical Center.
- Previously on Swamplot: Kroger Says It Has ‘No Plans’ To Close Signature Store on OST; The Kroger on OST at Cambridge St. Is Closing
Photo of Kroger at 1990 Old Spanish Tr.:Â Edgar V.
Slow Jam Countdown
There goes the only grocery store within walking distance to me. There are seriously a lot of car-less residents in the apartments down Cambridge who are now food stranded. The bicycle, bus and foot traffic to this location was as greater than any other place I frequent in Houston.
This store was disgusting and I am glad that its closing. It was old and nasty. The nearby car-less residents can start using online grocery delivery service (i.e. InstaCart or Shipt) instead. Or, they can go to the newer Kroger’s down the street by Metro or Uber.
agree with K-man, distribution of people utilizing this location were decidedly less mobile (physically/economically). Land is far too valuable for what it is. Between the proposed expansion of BCM/CHI campus across the street and the proposed shift of the TMC in a more southerly direction (see links below) this was bound to happen.
http://swamplot.com/injecting-420-more-beds-into-baylors-once-catatonic-mcnair-campus-south-of-the-tmc/2015-12-21/
https://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu/2015/11/20/the-texas-medical-center-has-ambitious-plans-for-a-new-houston-campus/#.WHTtFlUrLYU
I used to visit a girlfriend down off Cambridge and we’d walk to this Kroger. It was the saddest Kroger ever, nothing was ever new or updated. Felt like I walked straight into my childhood as part of some weird 80s TV show.
@ MedCntrResident I agree the store is in desperate need of updating but your solutions (spend more $$ and more time/effort) are insensitive at best…but may be the only options when this grocery store closes.
The closing of this store will definetly not help the food desert situation, but there is that nice Randalls not too far from it.
I remember going in there when I first moved to Houston about 5 years ago. It was jarring as I felt like I had just walked into the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mostly empty shelves with the suspect single jar of pickles remaining (I figured there must be something wrong with them). Employees with a harrowed look in their eyes. I can’t remember what I went in to get but I am pretty sure I did not find it.
Hopefully something good happens with the space.
Read closely, and let’s be honest about this… If somebody is incapable of making it to the Kroger Signature on Main Street on their bicycle or in an Uber, the HEB on Scott or the Walmart on Wayside (Bus Routes 028 & 060), they don’t have or can’t afford a Sam’s membership or to shop at Phoenicia downtown (the 011 route), and they can’t walk or ride a bike to the Holly Hall LRT station to access the Sam’s, the Fiesta on Wheeler, or the Randall’s in Midtown…honestly, that person needs social assistance well above and beyond what proximity to a tiny crappy Kroger that isn’t even open 24-hours anymore can offer. I say that as someone who shopped at this store pretty much exclusively for several years as a college student.
No one is entitled to a grocery store within walking distance.
It’s a shame this store would be closing. It’s was a big help to all those that financially could not afford a car. Or travel a longer distance and pay cab fares.
This Korger location has,had the most unfriendly employees . of all the korgers I been to in Houston . I ‘ve shopped here off an on over 5years . an was never pleased with the customer service . I will not be missed this korger.
^^^^^^Korger? Don’t remember it. Was it near HBE or Adli on TSO?
Goodbye slow jams Kroger. I remember all 3 incarnations. It originally opened as a Safeway in the 80s, then became an AppleTree before operating as a Kroger. It wasn’t the flashiest Kroger and they let it wither on the vine when compared to the nearby Kirby store, but it served a purpose for those of us in Riverside Terrace who wouldn’t dare go to HEB on Scott and OST. I hadn’t done full grocery shopping there in a while but it was convenient when I needed something in a pinch. Hopefully, they’ll build that HEB at N. MacGregor and 288 sooner than later.
Thank goodness they are closing! The produce here is trash. They run out of the necessities. Their shopping carts are left all over the medical center by the Car-less people. And bc it was 24 hours, it attracts a lot of sketchy people at night. The closing of this store will definitely be an improvement for the community.