A reader reports that the long-shuttered and fallow former Target store on the northbound 59 feeder just north of Bellaire Blvd. (and across the freeway from the Sharpstown Mall) will finally be used for something productive — though it’s “probably not the kind of use the Greater Sharpstown Management District had in mind.” What’s that?

The new owner, Golden Sharpstown Inc, is reportedly in the process of turning the 160,000 square foot building into the new home of Texas Jasmine, “the leading wholesaler for C-Store Owners.” (That’s Convenience Store, for the uninitiated.) Texas Jasmine is out of space at their old location [at 7800 Harwin near Fondren, pictured above], and does a thriving business supplying gas stations and convenience stores throughout Houston with everything from dill pickles-in-a-bag to pipe tobacco.

Well, who doesn’t need a dill pickle in a bag now and then? How convenient for the convenience-store owners, no?

Sure, says our tipster, but:

***

Although Texas Jasmine runs a very professional operation, it does seem a shame that the new use will be non-retail, of no interest to the residents [of the] Sharpstown community, and of no benefit to the other businesses at the location (like Kiva Kitchen and Bath Gallery, which would normally benefit from a retailer’s traffic). And, since Texas Jasmine is truly wholesale only, no sales tax will be generated at this prime retail site. Nonetheless, it will be nice to see the lights on again in an empty building.

Photo of current location of Texas Jasmine, 7800 Harwin Dr.: Texas Jasmine