STAG’S HEAD PUB CAN’T RENEW ITS LEASE, IS CALLING IT QUITS FOR NOW 
The Stag’s Head will be closing later this month, the owner of the Shepherd Plaza pub at 2128 Portsmouth St. reports. “The Landlord has decided not to renew our lease,” writes Michael Holliday on the 15-year-old establishment’s Facebook page. Attempts to negotiate something short term, he indicates, were not successful. “I have been looking to move The Stags to another location for some time but have been unable to find a suitable site.” Holliday says he isn’t giving up on the search, though. [The Stag’s Head on Facebook] Photo: Marc Brubaker
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HEB owns this property. Wonder if they have decided to move forward with building a HEB in the near future at this site.
Nice neighborhood bar, so sad to see it go. On the other hand, this suggests that some sort of redevelopment of Shepherd Plaza may me in the mix. Long overdue. I still remember it’s heyday back in 1996 or so — good times.
I wonder what happened? It’s not like Shepherd Plaza is 100% leased.
CB has it right. HEB owns the entire plaza and they seemingly don’t care about occupancy or renewing leases. Something is definitely up…
HEB has 2 stores within a mile and a half of this location.
and both stores are so packed there are people circling for parking spots.
Maybe they’ll build another Central Market …
Great bar – sad to see it go.
Their line of container plants reminds me of one of those artsy, temporary street reclamation gigs we have around town from time to time.
Uh-oh! …now it’ll be gone. It’s replacement will probably sell half the meal at twice the price!
Two HEBs within a mile and a half, and this would be a good spot for a Central Market…
*Purely speculation, I don’t know nothin’ about nothin’
HEB bought this land before either of the other stores had been built. What they did do was throw out all the existing shops and restaurants – do you remember Mykonos on the west end? …that became a dance studio? They obviously didn’t want anything in there that couldn’t be moved out quickly. Now the bulk of the property has languished for the past 10 years. I’d be surprised if they built another store there – there isn’t enough room for parking, no matter what. A year ago I would have suspected more yuppie warrens, but now I’m not so sure. I lived down the street for nearly 40 years and no one know what to do with all these little retail shops. Thankfully they won’t be putting in another damn CVS! …hmm…maybe a mattress store!
Yes, both nearby HEBs are always packed, and moreover, they serve different communities. The one on Buffalo Speedway has a distinct West U flavor, with a soupçon of River Oaks. The Alabama store is the gentrified Montrose location. What community would a Shepherd Plaza HEB serve?
Spring Branch has lower real estate costs than River Oaks and a really big customer base that would appreciate the Stag’s Head. There are plenty of locations that could accommodate this.
It would definitely be strange if HEB put up another store here, although it would be great for the walkability of the area. It just seems like it would be cannibalizing the sales of their other stores. Maybe a Montrose/West U/Southampton Central Market? Still seems a bit of a stretch since the Dunlavy HEB is already pretty upscale and the Afton Oaks CM isn’t THAT far away.
Please put a new HEB in the Heights. What the hell do we have to do to get one???
It would be great if The Stag’s Head resurfaced somewhere on the Near Northside. Just saying.
I’ve thought it weird, too, that they seemed for some time in the last few years to only want short-term leases. I agree I bet HEB is itching to (more likely) develop the property into a store; or, sell it to someone they know wants to re-develop…
.
But recall when it was Cent Ani before “The Ale House” relocated. We used to go there and Mykonos– and Le Peep, too. So what else next? Freebirds? Amy’s?
Yes, please — come to Spring Branch!
Last time I walked in there I sat down at the bar and was ignored by bartenders for 10+ minutes. I think it was dying anyway.
The realtor sign ironically says “Shepherd Plaza is open for business!” In front of an almost entirely empty center. They should return the name to Greenbriar Square.
Pretty sure it’s owned by a reclusive European not HEB who methinks just has a long master lease on the site but I could be wrong…
Stag’s Head: Move towards the HEB Montrose. Considering all the new apartments coming up on Richmond and Alabama plus the available retail space, there is a opportunity to become a walkable spot for locals.