How long can an old-timey Wabash Feed & Garden Store hold out on a totally transformed Washington Ave.? Until the 25,551-sq.-ft. site stretching between Birdsall and Malone gets snatched up. A new commercial listing for the property at 5701 Washington Ave. was posted recently by Boyd Commercial. (Wabash was the voted recipient of the Washington Ave. Award in the 2010 Swamplot Awards.)
- 5701 Washington Ave [Boyd Commercial]
Photo: Boyd Commercial
Feeding Time
Re-name it “Wabash Provisions” and get that TABC application started baby!!!
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope they are just relocating to less pricey real estate nearby and not closing. This is my go to garden shop. The cucumbers in my salad tonight are from Wabash.
Every time I go there I wonder to myself how long they’ll be able to stay. This was inevitable unfortunately. A staple in the neighborhood, soon to be another watering hole for the kids from suburbia.
j, don’t you mean Wa+Bash Provisions?
I used to have a pet bunny named Flubby. He lived on my patio. I used to buy him 50 lb bags of rabbit pellets at Wabash for $18. Lasted for ten months. What a deal. Much better than the $6 per pound bags for sale at Krogers.
I think Washington Avenue used to be full of places like this–a friend who went to Rice during WWII (with so many of he young men away, it wasn’t difficult to convince her parents to let her go) and got a degree in chemistry. She worked on Washington Avenue at a feed store/manufacturer testing animal feeds to make sure they had the correct nutritional balance. A train ran through there too, wasn’t there a big station–long gone of course?
Well, a bit more westward, in Katy or even Brookshire, there’s probably another very much like Wabash only more “country”. Of course you’d have to get off the interstate.
@ matx, perhaps your friend worked at Roberts Feed, on Center just a block east of Houston Avenue. Raised above the ground by a good six steps, it backed up to the train tracks. They used to unload big sacks of feed, seed and flour directly from the boxcars. The front porch ran the length of the building and had signboards for customers to post notices of all sorts — equipment for sale, birds and animals for sale or breeding, barns or pasture for rent, etc. Right now the land is bare but townhouses are coming fast.
@ Old School, if Wabash goes away, try Quality Feed & Garden on North Main. Ken and Chris know everything, and they carry anything you’d need.
matx, there used to be a fairly large feed store on Center St near Houston Ave when I moved to the 6th Ward in the late 80s. Train tracks were right behind it. I think it closed in the mid 90s.
Oh wow, how cool……….low they can build ANOTHER douche bag bar …..yah!!!
Its not like the area needs a feed and seed anymore. 15yrs ago it fit the area when it was little mexico, time to move on.
that site would support one hell of a mattress store.
@Miss B. I do go to Quality too. I got my Big Texas Tomato cages there. But Wabash has much better transplants. They stock the tomatoes, squash, cucumber and other veggies that really work well in Houston.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for free market capitalism and the inevitable change to our urban landscape it brings, but between the loss of Los Dos Amigos and now this going up for sale (and it will trade quickly), my old Sunday hangover ritual of Mexican breakfast into shopping for random stuff is totally shot to hell. This stings.
Their plan is to relocate to a site they’ve identified near Oak Forest so that they can grow their plant business, so don’t despair.
maybe they can start a Kickstart campaign and be saved. I used to buy my rooster food there. And I still take friends by there who have never seen it. It’s sad to think Wasbash would go away. I’m with the others, just get a licenses and let’s drink amongst the critters.
Well we can rest easy knowing that whatever hipster restaurant that goes there will make good use of the Wabash’s ampersand.
@Miz Brooke Smith, the place you describe sounds very familiar to Rogers Grain, which was somewhere in the same general proximity. My Grand Father used to sell them supplies, used to go in there with him.
@Miss B, Old School: I’m a longtime customer of Quality Feed. I got a scare a few years ago when Chris and Ken attempted to sell the land because their taxes were so high…but after looking around, they couldn’t find a comparable tract for a good price. Quality Feed has been around since 1928. Here’s hoping it sees its 100th birthday!
When I saw this horrible post, I clicked through to the 2010 swampie award. I was the “reader” who said: “I actually go there with my kiddo, it is like the zoo, but free! Plus, they are able to accurately diagnose problems with my lawn from a few grass clippings and vague descriptions.†Same is true five years later. What a loss.
When did a bunch of town home farms become a neighborhood?
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It sounds like Wabash is moving to an area better for their business and cashing out (hopefully) on the property value.
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No one living in post-2006 construction can claim that Washington was not a party district when they moved in. For everyone else, the bars just replaced an empty urban waste-scape that you just ignored in favor of Memorial Drive.
Gaah! Just as I started my real garden this year. I’ve gone there for 15 years for everything from container gardening to small raised bed gardens. They’re the only place I trust to have a wide variety of organic supplies plus Houston-specific plants.
I bet they’re going to cut down the tree, too.
Similar sentiments were aired when Tea’s Nursery closed a few years back. (I’m still in mourning). At least that property is slated to be a park. As it is, about half the property was developed into residences before the owner died.
@Bill B Where near Oak Forest might they be moving? Thanks
Even the days of the Pig Stand now seem so long ago.
Never fear, there are plans by the owner to re-locate the store to a larger property a bit north of 610. And I did hear that increasing property taxes were a factor in the decision to sell.
wabash and the pig-stand were icons that kept this hood real. It’s sad to me it has been reduced to townhomes and cheesy bars. At least there’s still the antique shops on Yale and the Mexican food on airline. Thank god I live in o6w where we keep it real.
I love Wabash. Why? Why?Why? Must make a stop by the store to see what is going on. :(
Well..let’s see…25,000SF @ $125/PSF? approx. $3.0MM..time to cash out specially since Wabash is moving to a much larger location north of 610..so fret not..
I don’t know if anyone will read this, but they’re moving to 4541 N Shepherd Dr. :) you’re welcome!
@Acd, I read it, thanks!