Apple fans, don’t be distracted — as Swamplot was earlier this week — by the construction being set up on the west side of the newish Highland Village Shopping Center building that houses Sprinkles Cupcakes at 4012-4018 Westheimer. Unless, of course, you’re wanting to know where the new Restoration Hardware will go once it relocates from across the street. The newly expanded housewares store will take up all of the space on the Galleria side of Paper Source.
Meanwhile, here are your verified coordinates for Houston’s first non-mall Apple Store: After a little bit of demo work, it’ll go on the east side of the same building (shown above), at the Drexel driveway. Across the street, there appears to be less urgency now that Tootsies has fled to West Ave, but the shopping center’s management still plans to tear down the stylish but now-vacant building the women’s clothing boutique occupied at 4045 Westheimer:
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Its reported placement: A 2-story retail building with underground parking.
Here’s that view from earlier this week showing the space Restoration Hardware will move into:
And another view of the future Apple Store on the opposite end:
- Previously on Swamplot: The New Apple Store on Westheimer: Where the New iPads Will Hit the Street in Highland Village, Tootsies Beats Back the Landlord: The Sale Must Go On!, Highland Village Lockout Drama: Step Away from the Tootsies!
Photos: Jenny Staff Johnson (Restoration Hardware), Candace Garcia (all others)
Where are all of the customers supposed to park once Restoration and Apple move in? Currently, it can be hard at times to find a spot in the front, back, or the side of that building just to go to Sprinkles.
Agreed. Although I despise going to the Galleria, at least I know I’ll be able to find a spot relatively close. The new Apple Store is going to have to be pretty nice for me to voluntarily deal with the parking nightmare that is Highland Village
Can anyone confirm if the Tootsie store is still to become a Gym> I recall reading an article in the Houston Cron- suggesting the building would become a green certified gym.
The people that are complaining about parking are the people that think they should be able to park right by the store. Just park in the garage or at the parking lot behind the LazyBoy store and walk. The distance is about the same as going to any any mall.
I think what frustrates people who would potentially park and shop at Highland Village is that looking for a spot in the narrow parking aisles there is just plain annoying. It’s very tight over there and you have to look and look and look.
And if you choose to park in the garage or lot behind LazyBoy, it’s treacherous walking through the hot, gross parking lots to get to the store, Heaven forbid if you have to cross the street.
It’s just extremely busy, not pleasant to dodge cars coming from every direction and it’s HOT 85 percent of the year.
Bottom line, that place is just not a pedestrian-friendly environment. It’s like a hot maze like you’re walking through a kids video game.
They could at least try to plant some trees in the middle of the lots and create some sort of a winding sidewalk through the middle of the lots, or something.
First of all, folks, the Lazy Boy Store has been gone for years.
Secondly, there are cops who stop all the traffic on Westheimer to allow one car or pedestrian to cross on weekends.
Thirdly, there is no room to add trees, meandering walkways, etc…If they did do it, you’d be complaining about the loss of parking spaces.
Parking is a problem on weekends generally not during the week. They also have a customer shuttle running continuously on weekends to transport consumers from one part of the center to the next.
The City keeps issuing permits so all the griping about parking should be directed at
Annisetown cuz they approve all the variances.
Thanks for the insight. I’m just saying, there are other places to shop where it’s not so crammed. Rice Village is the same way.
It’s a shame it hasn’t been better planned, really. I remember shopping at Banana, Cole Haan, Tootsie’s and Pottery Barn in Highland Village in the late 90s and the luxury was that it was never packed. Now it’s a warzone.