tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.comments2024-03-18T13:21:30.834-05:00The Louisiana and Texas Retail BlogspotUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6329125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-22776568910922410602024-03-18T04:57:29.467-05:002024-03-18T04:57:29.467-05:00The immediate closure of the entire Fry's chai...The immediate closure of the entire Fry's chain came as a huge surprise. I remember the Discord deadmalls chat rumor mill going crazy that night before the news was finally confirmed. I was especially nervous since I needed more Covid supplies, and they had them. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the decision to close the stores the way they did it. <br /><br />As you know, the inventory situation at this Fry's was really bad towards the end. You saw it after the Christmas shopping season. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the same products I saw in November were sitting in the back area when I went back in April. That outrageous Covid aisle was the only fully stocked area of the store. Fry's always had some oddball items, but that aisle took the cake. I was really hoping that Fry's could have morphed into a Supercenter type of place with a huge focus on electronics. In some ways that happened, but it was never fully executed. They were just hit by several things all at once. Declining physical media sales, declining prices for electronics for lower profit margins, oversized store size for the demand, inventory stock issues going from bad to worse. Even the store computer systems being outdated could have caused some havoc with customer sales. Inventory issues leaving many areas of the store mostly empty. Computer parts were hit or miss. Many items were replaced by lower tier product. The weekly doorbusters were gone, one of their biggest tools to bring shoppers in the store. And then Covid hit, at the worst possible time for the company. Fry's was one of the weakest stores before Covid hit. There was no saving the business without a major cash injection to refill the store with good merchandise, not the downgraded crap that was their consignment items.<br /><br />MicroCenter has the stuff people need. Fry's was just throwing out stuff hoping it would sell. MicroCenter just did everything better. Better location, full stores, name brand items for sale, minimal inventory items that are not electronics. Microcenter was fast to stop selling physical movies and other dying product lines. <br /><br />As for the trips to the store, I did not know when the last time I would have been able to make it back, so I made the most out of my opportunity to pick around the store and do a final documentation. I still have my video footage from the trips to post on Youtube. Sadly, Youtube video creation is very time consuming. I just saw that my last video was over a year ago. Looks like I have a few more things in my backlog to post, lol.jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-89866601729289580082024-03-18T03:52:02.488-05:002024-03-18T03:52:02.488-05:00I can't say that I remember hearing about the ...I can't say that I remember hearing about the Montgomery Ward roof collapse. The roof has been an issue at Greenspoint for at least a decade now. Who knows in what condition the metal is at this point. If anything does happen, that will shut the mall down completely. There is no way any maintenance is being done on the property at this point. I am guessing the only reason the food court entrance is still open is because of the need to keep the bathrooms open to the public. <br /><br />I managed to get lucky with my Macroplaza Mall timing. In late 2018 the Macy's corridor was partially closed. In 2019 the corridor was reopened as the mall seemed to be on the verge of coming back to life. <br /><br />I appreciate what you are working on with Mike. I am just glad ya'll keep the blog lively and active. Since my schedule can keep me away for long periods of time, ya'll have continued to support me. As for now once I catch up the backlog, I still plan on updating my old posts. <br /><br />Man, I really feel old with those anniversaries coming up. A few years back, I saw a black and white photo of Deerbrook Mall under construction. As for the Woodlands Mall, there is a neat line of businesses on the second floor of the Dillard's corridor. A tattoo shop, record shop, and retro video game and toy store all bunched together. In addition, the pet store was recently completely remodeled. I don't remember seeing a single empty space in the Woodlands Mall, but I may have missed some. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-84784055561626157402024-03-18T03:32:02.538-05:002024-03-18T03:32:02.538-05:00We went through Cleveland back in December and the...We went through Cleveland back in December and the Radio Shack was no longer open. I don't know if they moved elsewhere, but it looks like they ran a going out of business sale. Cleveland has an Ollie's that took over the vacant Palais Royal, so the retail scene is recovering. Who knows what will replace the old Sears space. As far as the Radio Shack company, I haven't seen anything new since the last time we talked about Radio Shack. The Ashtabula Town Square Mall continues to be one of their most visible stores still left. A lot of people have recently documented that mall with Radio Shack always showing up. <br /><br />Inventory was better here than at the two Sears Hometown stores in Willowbrook and Pasadena. The inventory at the Sears Hometown in Nacogdoches was the best that I had seen out of all of the stores I visited. <br /><br />It is a shame that Kenmore products are gone from the Sears website. A lot of the remaining Sears stores have complaints about shoddy appliance quality as well as the big box hardware stores. It seems like refurbished appliances are the way to go these days. My last round of Sears appliances all suffer from various issues. Oven needs 2 starts to heat up, washer has a rusted top tray, dryer constantly has failing belts, and the refrigerator has cracked internal plastic, along with a failed water pump. All of these issues can be fixed, but why spend the money at this point. All but one of those items are more than 5 years old. <br /><br />When I bought the tool set in Lafayette, I put in my SYWR info with the purchase. It was not like I was going to get a ton of points, but I wanted to at least put my number in one last time. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-7161783668895107752024-03-17T22:07:01.986-05:002024-03-17T22:07:01.986-05:00Wow! These are some amazing photos! It is really...Wow! These are some amazing photos! It is really interesting to see the last days of the NASA Fry's Electronics. I made my last trip to Fry's in late January 2021 at this exact location and the chain didn't last for much longer after that. It was not a surprise at all to see Fry's close as they were just barely hanging on for the last couple of years. Even still, I did get some great deals on CD-R discs and envelopes during my last visit. Fry's didn't have much left at point aside from Covid supplies and blank optical discs, oddly enough. I kind of wish I had bought more CD-Rs from there as I'm getting close to using the last of the discs I bought from there. Many stores still sell CD-Rs, but they all charge a lot more than what Fry's was at the time.<br /><br />I'm glad you were able to get a few souvenirs from these highly memorable stores. It is too bad an employee got mad at you during your last visit, but it does look like you got some good footage anyway. As for what happened to the inventory, I guess some of it ended up on Facebook Marketplace. Maybe they figured it was cheaper to liquidate stuff that way than to do it through the stores especially since so few shoppers actually visited these stores down towards the end. I know Fry's was selling some items on consignment down towards the end so those were probably returned to the vendor. I feel sorry for the employees who had to sort and pack all this stuff up, it was probably a pain especially since they were losing their jobs anyway.<br /><br />It looks like Fry's was running an unlicensed version of Windows 7 on that POS computer. I saw Fry's using some Windows XP computers down towards the end as well. Both Windows 7 and especially XP were out of date by 2021.<br /><br />As we can see from these photos, Fry's was selling a lot of random junk down towards the end. Some may consider CD-Rs to be that, but that was useful junk to me at least, lol. As for the corn dog makers, yeah, I don't think there was high demand for that, lol. I'm sure a lot of that stuff ended up at Ollie's and other closeout stores. As we all know, Fry's was famous for selling a lot of Covid supplies and even body bags down towards the end. It was a very strange mix of stuff they had for sale.<br /><br />When I first visited Fry's when they opened near Greenspoint Mall in around 2000, it was hard to even find a parking spot because the stores were so packed with shoppers and in-demand items. By the 2020s, when I would go in, I was often the only shopper in the entire store and the inventory was truly pathetic. MicroCenter still sees large crowds, but MicroCenter actually has the inventory, prices, and service that people want. It is interesting to see Fry's become irrelevant the way they did, but at least we got to experience the really neat NASA and Greenspoint stores.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-76623102345461152652024-03-17T21:33:43.581-05:002024-03-17T21:33:43.581-05:00It sounds like Greenspoint Mall may need buckets o...It sounds like Greenspoint Mall may need buckets on the floor to catch the overflowing water from the buckets hanging from the roof! Given the rustiness of those ceiling beams, I would be concerned with them hanging water buckets from those beams because who knows if the rusty beams can even support that weight. I'd hate for a bucket, or beam, to fall on a shopper...not that there are many shoppers at Greenspoint Mall these days.<br /><br />Speaking of collapses at Greenspoint Mall, do you know much about the Montgomery Ward roof collapse at Greenspoint Mall about a year or so after the Wards opened? I found a little something about it in the Houston Chronicle and Post archives, but neither covered the story as well as you figure they would have given there was a major roof collapse at a mall as big as Greenspoint would have been at the time. Maybe it was covered in more detail and I just have not found much about it. It did look like a significant roof collapse from the single photo I've seen of it. Fortunately, nobody was hurt unlike what happened at Northline Mall with that wall collapse many years later.<br /><br />I am looking forward to seeing those new Greenspoint Mall photos, they look really awesome. Those photos peeking inside the Macroplaza Mall were a big hit in the Houston retail community, we were all pretty shocked about that Macy's being cleared out like that.<br /><br />I am looking forward to the 500th post/15th anniversary celebration post! As a heads up to your readers, Mike and I have something planned over at HHR to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this blog shortly after your 15th anniversary post goes live. I think you're really going to like what we have planned.<br /><br />I can understand the point about the well running dry with new blog ideas. There really isn't a lot going on in the retail world around this area which is really blogworthy. You might enjoy covering those old Kroger Family Center stores which started out as Kmart-like discount stores in Baytown and Orange. The Orange one dates back to 1962. These are just regular Krogers now, and Mike and I already covered the Baytown one last year on HHR, but these stores have a lot of history behind them.<br /><br />Also, the 40th anniversary of Deerbrook Mall and the 30th anniversary of The Woodlands Mall are coming up this year. I think these would be interesting topics to cover on the blog. Well, the Deerbrook topic is far more interesting than The Woodlands Mall one, but there are some similarities between the malls.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-68014539673727142582024-03-17T21:06:13.318-05:002024-03-17T21:06:13.318-05:00Cleveland had some interesting retail with both Se...Cleveland had some interesting retail with both Sears Hometown and that RadioShack Dealer store being there even after both companies left Houston itself. I think the RadioShack Dealer is still there, but RadioShack is undergoing a corporate transition themselves so we'll have to see what is going on with them. It is really strange to see a Sears Hometown with the Kmart HVAC vents! This store is giving off some strong Kmart vibes.<br /><br />That Big Mart/Small Mart poster is quite interesting. That was a good find. I'm guessing it is from the 1990s, so pre-Lampert, but they did somehow manage to misspell Craftsman on the poster since they called it Craftsmen. <br /><br />As thin as the inventory is here, it is still better than what I remember the Sears Hometown at Willowbrook Mall having in 2022. It seemed to me that the best stocked Sears Hometown Store in Houston was actually the Humble location which is strange since that was smaller than the mall-based locations in Pasadena and Willowbrook. There are many things about Sears Hometown which didn't make sense.<br /><br />I wonder if those Craftsman and Kenmore stuff were brought in from closing Sears full-line stores. I'm guessing the Craftsman stuff especially wasn't being manufactured anymore given how few Sears and Kmart stores there were at the time. Those Craftsman garage door openers were quite good so at least they were selling good stuff at the end. Some of the stuff being sold at the Willowbrook Sears Hometown looked a bit dubious.<br /><br />I had to buy a new water heater recently to replace an old Sears Kenmore one. I did look at Sears' website and noticed they stopped selling Kenmore water heaters and were selling the GE ones like in the photo here. It seems GE just started making their own water heaters again in the last handful of years and I suppose Sears was the only 'big box' store they could get into since Home Depot and Lowe's have their exclusive items. For what I can tell, the GE water heaters are built to be pretty good and they don't use misleading capacity sizes like a lot of the water heaters sold at Lowe's and Home Depot. It is too bad that most of the country won't buy those water heaters from Sears since Sears is completely off the radar for most people since the stores have closed. I guess most people will just deal with Home Depot and Lowe's with their misleading products (I didn't realize that some water heaters had fudged capacity ratings) and poor service.<br /><br />I'm not surprised that Sears was having operational issues with credit cards. I was halfway surprised that I was able to buy something without running into issues when I bought something from the Willowbrook Sears Hometown Store. They were even able to find my SYWR account. I guess I still have one, but that SYWR account has become truly useless now. Oh well, I guess I got a lot out of that in the 2010s at least.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-7464243472864489182024-03-17T20:02:07.021-05:002024-03-17T20:02:07.021-05:00Macroplaza Mall is in really good shape despite so...Macroplaza Mall is in really good shape despite some roof leaks in the Sears corridor. Greenspoint has leaks everywhere, I even noticed a few buckets attached directly under the ceiling. Not sure if that is the best idea since the bucket will fill up and be even more difficult to drain out. I have a few photos of the different buckets I saw throughout my visits to the mall.<br /><br />I am not going to lie, I am really curious to see the inside of that old Foley's building. The video was hard to follow since he didn't have good lighting. The old restaurant neon sign was an awesome find, I hope that can be saved somehow. That was the first place I tried out a Nintendo NES system as a kid. A very special memory that started a lifelong hobby of video games. I guess I could have tried the NES out anywhere else, but that is where my first experience with the system happened. <br /><br />The Auchan connection to the Uniform Superstore is pretty cool. The Uniform Superstore has been in business for a long-time and they have multiple locations around town. <br /> <br />Bag-n-Baggage did relocate in the same corridor near the Finish Line with the same old school sign. I bet it was a real pain to move all of that stuff that they have in there. <br /><br />You are going to really enjoy the more updated photos of the mall. There are lots of things I discovered while roaming around the mall. The food court is especially sad, I remember when it was full, and more spaces were added for more restaurants in the Sears corridor. Exxon leaving the nearby towers was definitely the nail in the coffin for the food court. The shutting off of climate control and most of the lighting throughout the mall is really hurting the remaining businesses. When we went there during the Summer of 2023, the temperature inside of the Finish Line was 85 degrees and they had a large fan running. Every other store we went into had a large fan as well and we were covered in sweat by the time we left. Not exactly a good shopping environment. <br /><br />I am glad that I realized the Sears tiles were the red ones when I saw a pile of them sitting on the ground. I may go back for a few more. I am sure the owners of the Sears property got tired of waiting for the mall redevelopment to start that they kickstarted things. Once people start moving into the buildings, I am sure that they will pressure management to get rid of the old Sears. Maybe the owners of the old Sears are going to use money from the residential development to fund the demolition of the Sears building. <br /><br />I have one more article under construction of the Fry's NASA post closure in April 2021, and I will post it later tonight if all goes well. This will put me up to 498 posts. Post 499 will be the Music City Mall in Lewisville Texas and Post 500 will be the Deerbrook Mall Sears on the 15th Anniversary of the blog on April 24. After that I have another 20-25 posts in my backlog, but nothing really groundbreaking. My remaining Houston area malls that will be new to the blog, Sears Willowbrook and North Shepherd, more neon Fiesta content, and a few revisits. There is one last new Louisiana mall Bon Marche to add, but that one if not very exciting since the property was completely redeveloped. San Jacinto will be a multi-post article since I have several years of photos. The well is running dry of new ideas. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-39153399739836836192024-03-17T19:23:50.133-05:002024-03-17T19:23:50.133-05:00The mall at night really looks so weird with very ...The mall at night really looks so weird with very few lights going. If you go across the street to the flea market, it is a much different story. That place is very busy, and most spaces are filled. If you drop by to check the place out at night, I advise you don't go alone. Security seems to be cut back to the minimum. I have a lot more coverage of the mall from my 2023 visit so stay tuned. <br /><br />I noticed the lights are now on at the apartment building directly next to Sears. The construction workers were actually using the old Sears as storage, so I got to peek inside one day when they had the doors open. That building reeks of mold and mildew. In fact, certain spots inside of the mall have that odor but not nearly as strong as the Sears building. <br /><br />I blame ownership for the current state of the mall. With all of the issues going on with the different owners, the mall has sat in limbo. It is good that the owners of the Sears site finally decided to start their project. Fitness Connection definitely needs to be a part of the redevelopment of the property. They may need to move into a different building since they are located almost right in the middle of the property. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-47373360545454441282024-03-17T19:12:29.747-05:002024-03-17T19:12:29.747-05:00Pasadena Town Square has been more of a neighborho...Pasadena Town Square has been more of a neighborhood mall for quite some time. We went to the Dillard's and really enjoyed that store before they closed. Prior to the Dillard's closing, a lot of chains were still present in the mall. There have been a few attempts to revive the property prior to the name changes. Each attempt has pretty much gone the same, a few Mom and Pop stores open and then disappear. It is a much different outcome than the Montgomery Ward redevelopment not too far away on Spencer. That redevelopment has been so successful that the flea market was shrunk to make way for larger businesses. The area near the mall has also turned into a ghost town with several structures abandoned and demolished. Two failed hospitals (one demolished), a massive tower (demolished), and the now mostly abandoned mall have really hurt this area. Even the once-strong shopping center across the street now has a large vacancy. With the nearby industrial plants, this area will probably continue to struggle.jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-87197301137970699322024-03-17T19:00:31.295-05:002024-03-17T19:00:31.295-05:00I definitely saw the Greenspoint video and his par...I definitely saw the Greenspoint video and his part 2 where he got into the old Dillard's. Speaking of Greenspoint, I just finished up my 2021 update post and made it live. I think security at Greenspoint is getting a bit lax with the recent videos and my own experience at the mall. I will just leave it at that for now.<br /><br />Macroplaza ownership really hit a wall with their plans. It was so crazy how fast things declined in 2020. I think only 5 businesses are left in there now. I need to go back soon.<br /><br />I did an unofficial walkthrough of the Macroplaza Sears Hometown, and into some of the unused areas of the store when it was still open. I was able to make it to the last two days when the full department store was still open as well. Between Willowbrook, Deerbrook, North Shepherd, and Pasadena there are well over 1,000 photos to post.<br /><br />Looking through the gate from the mall entrance shows a pristine Sears store just ready to reopen, but it will never happen again. Even the Sears signage is still illuminated.jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-30643236781571158652024-03-16T15:08:15.445-05:002024-03-16T15:08:15.445-05:00The third to last photo of the current state of th...The third to last photo of the current state of the food court looks really dystopian. <br /><br />It's unfortunate to see to Greenspoint in the state that it is in especially since it was built to as prosperous as the Galleria. I remember that old Foley's/Macy's store was enormous and it was built to be a really nice store.<br /><br />I pass by Greenspoint when I go to work, and they are really progressing on those apartments in the old Sears parking lot. I think if those apartments were built a few years earlier, the tenants would have helped keep businesses in the mall afloat. <br /><br />Seeing how the Fitness Connection always looks busy and the carnival does well when they bring it around, I think the area still has a chance to turn around, just without the mall. I think the best outcome is to tear down the mall except Fitness Connection and redevelop the lot as a mixed use area. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-70836856817541593502024-03-15T22:23:13.173-05:002024-03-15T22:23:13.173-05:00It is hard to tell which photoset is more sad, thi...It is hard to tell which photoset is more sad, this one or the Macroplaza Mall ones from earlier in the day. Greenspoint Mall has more stores which are still open, but the condition of the buildings at Greenspoint are often in sad shape. At least Macroplaza looks a bit more solid even though it isn't that much younger than Greenspoint Mall. Greenspoint Mall has been neglected for a very long time though.<br /><br />I guess you've seen those urban exploration videos of Greenspoint Mall which I mentioned in my reply about Macroplaza. That Foley's building is in really sad shape. It is easy to tell how it is crumbling on the outside, but the state of the interior was even worse off than I was expecting. That place was left to rot. I remember how fancy that Foley's was at one time, but Macy's really let it go and it was starting to rot to a certain degree even when it was still open.<br /><br />Mike from HHR has researched the topic, so he'd be the expert on this one, but there is a connection between that uniforms store and Auchan. I think the local managers of Auchan ended up starting those uniform stores. I think the story was that school uniforms were a hot seller at Auchan and so the managers thought they'd do well to sell uniforms on their own. I think that's the story behind the French Toast brand of uniforms as well. So, anyway, I guess that explains the Auchan baskets. Mike will know more of the story, but I guess that is a good Cliff Notes version of it.<br /><br />It is sad that the Montgomery Ward mall entrance area is closed off. That's usually where we entered the mall, if not from the Wards itself. I wonder if that knockoff Bag-n-Baggage store is still around elsewhere in the mall. That really dusty closed eating area was there as well. It has been 6-7 years since I've been to Greenspoint, but it was in sad shape then and I can only imagine what shape it is in now.<br /><br />Exxon closing their offices really finished off that food court. It is hard to imagine how busy that place used to be especially when Brother's Pizza was around at the mall.<br /><br />I was surprised they even built that theater there and I was not surprised when it closed. It is a sad situation, but at least they tried. I'm glad you were able to rescue some red tiles from the Sears, those were a distinctive feature of that store and auto center. That will make for a great reminder of the mall's better days...and crumbling days.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing the newer photos from the mall. It sounds like things are going downhill faster than even I thought at Greenspoint. It isn't shocking, but I suppose the sadness will continue until someone has a good plan for redeveloping the land. The apartment idea next to Sears seemed to be short-sighted in many ways, but welcome to Houston I suppose. I hope that doesn't hinder the redevelopment of the rest of the lot.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-87419662262432383562024-03-15T20:21:32.614-05:002024-03-15T20:21:32.614-05:00Wow, these are some great photos chronicling Macro...Wow, these are some great photos chronicling Macroplaza Mall's struggling era of optimism about the redevelopment turning into the despair that the mall is stuck in today. I didn't know that the old Foley's was gutted like that. I was surprised to see that, but it is neat to see just how different that place looks gutted than it did when I visited that very, very retro Macy's a few times before it closed. Maybe it is a good thing it was gutted, some urban explorer got into the Greenspoint Mall Foley's about a year ago and the images from in there make it look like that building had been abandoned for decades rather than just a handful of years. I'm sure if the Pasadena Foley's wasn't gutted, it would look about the same, or worse, since I know that second floor had problems with leaks before they even closed the second floor. Anyway, here is that Greenspoint Foley's video if you have not seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTKPoJBZy7U<br /><br />It is interesting to me that those 2018-2019 Macroplaza sketches show the Sears being remodeled/redeveloped when the Sears had not closed yet and presumably Sears still owned/controlled that building. Perhaps they were anticipating the Sears closing, it was hardly far-fetched to think that in 2019. I'm certainly looking forward to the photos you have of that Sears, not only was it the last full-line Sears, and one of the strange Hometown stores, but it was also the last new full-line Sears built in the Houston area.<br /><br />The fact that Sears Hometown was celebrating their grand opening and their liquidation sale at around the same time pretty much sums up the Sears Hometown experience both here and at Willowbrook Mall. It was certainly a strange situation.<br /><br />Macroplaza Mall is certainly Houston's most endangered mall, if we say that West Oaks Mall is already closed as a mall, but it is neat to see their last gasp effort to redevelop this mall even if it ultimately failed in 2020. I think even without the pandemic, the redevelopment would have been a long shot especially when the full-line Sears closed. Even when Macy's was still open, it was mostly Sears which seemed to bring shoppers to this mall.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-39531705971186523022024-03-15T18:53:48.879-05:002024-03-15T18:53:48.879-05:00I only visited PTS for the first time after they c...I only visited PTS for the first time after they changed names. I was alerted by an early reader, and visited the mall to make comparisons to West Oaks. At the time, it seemed like both malls were hobbling, but neither would die. Now both on are on deaths doorstep. I think you're right that COVID killed off lots of the small shops in PTS, and I think it had a similar effect on West Oaks.Houston Historic Retailhttps://houstonhistoricretail.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-87730259912951879152024-03-15T17:56:18.365-05:002024-03-15T17:56:18.365-05:00I don't know how this mall continues to surviv...I don't know how this mall continues to survive with all of the newer shopping centers in the area. Downtown Huntsville is also an antique and local retail hotspot. The mall doesn't really have much to offer at this point. The few businesses that remain must have loyal customers. The empty JCPenney with the logos still intact is the first thing most people see when pulling up to the mall. <br /><br />JCPenney seems to have the same vibe as Sears did towards the end. I have been to Deerbrook a couple of times recently and JCPenney seems like a dead spot now. Deerbrook has filled a lot of vacancies between the Macy's and the Dillard's/JCPenney anchors, but the Sears corridor on the second floor is dying out. The old Palais Royal and a couple of small stores are the only other vacancies outside of the Sears wing now. Eyeglass shops were a great fit for malls because you could place an order and wait for an hour like you mentioned. <br /><br />Sadly, the Hats and More has left the mall per a recent comment on my Youtube video at the mall. I just posted a 2019-2021 update at the mall, but I am saving my 2023 and future 2024 visits for a later post. I just happened to notice a remnant of the old mall right up against the old Sears building. I saw the Macroplaza article as well. The site was sold back in 2022, but nothing new has happened since then. <br /><br />Almeda was the Macy's store that I thought about initially as well. I think we will see a few surprises in the store closing list. The Men's store at Willowbrook seems like another candidate for closing. The floors were in bad shape when I went to Almeda in late 2022, sounds like things haven't gotten better. It is crazy that it has already been about 15 years since that store reopened after Hurricane Ike. I wonder if the issue is with the foundation or did the contractors do a terrible job of installing the new floor. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-23457043856428613402024-03-15T17:23:16.413-05:002024-03-15T17:23:16.413-05:00It is crazy to think that this is the only interio...It is crazy to think that this is the only interior retail mall that survived in Corsicana. Even though it is limping along, there is a decent variety of clothes available here. There were a couple of items I almost bought. This was my first visit here despite the numerous times we passed through the area going to Dallas. I don't know how the property will survive as it though, it looks dead from I-45.<br /><br />We never went to the Hempstead Outlet Mall, but I remember passing by. This mall is pretty much a twin of the Livingston Outlet mall that appears to have closed. The Iowa Louisiana VF Mall was larger with two corridors that connected in the center of the mall and room to connect a third corridor which was never built. <br /><br />I guess the Corsicana area is ripe for development with the continued growth of Dallas. Some new home communities are going up near the old Super Kmart site and the College Park Mall has been nearly completely redeveloped. The RV storage lot was just a temporary tenant that didn't actually use the old Kmart building. I guess since the inside of the old store was gutted already it makes it easier to redevelop the old structure. You have to wonder how sound the building is after being vacant for nearly 20 years. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-89923335581259161162024-03-15T17:07:08.433-05:002024-03-15T17:07:08.433-05:00Yes it does, especially with the pace of life sinc...Yes it does, especially with the pace of life since the 1,000,000th click. Thanks for keeping the blog lively as well.jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-30405758904199788722024-03-15T17:03:38.358-05:002024-03-15T17:03:38.358-05:00I appreciate the links to the old Sears tours. It ...I appreciate the links to the old Sears tours. It is pretty cool to see the inside of the store looks the same as when it was open. I have seen some videos of Mall St. Vincent, and it appears to be a dying mall now. The other major indoor mall in the area (Pierre Bossier) is dying as well. I will check out the Northwest Retail blog post as well. There are a few newer Sears videos on Youtube that I watched, but none of the big retail vloggers have been covering these stores as they get harder to find. I guess the only realistic way to shop at Sears or Kmart these days is online.<br /><br />This Sears trip was faster paced than my previous visit. I arrived a couple of hours later than anticipated and the store closed an hour earlier than the mall. I had less than 2 hours to explore the store and I really wanted to get as much as possible for the blog. I also wanted to get a few more relics so that takes a bit of time away to poke around the store. This Sears store was probably one of the least interesting stores to me. Maybe I was feeling Sears burnout at this point, but I really wasn't too excited for this store. I guess once our local stores closed, it changed my outlook for the remaining stores. <br /><br />Living Spaces will be a great fit for Baybrook. The empty Sears anchors with the exception of Willowbrook Mall are really starting to look aged. Even though Sears wasn't much of a draw, the second-floor corridor leading to the old Sears at Deerbrook Mall has 6 vacancies now. Baybrook doesn't have this issue, but filling an empty anchor is a must for any mall.<br /><br />Joe V's is probably one of the better options for the Fry's site. Fiesta would have been another, but they recently remodeled their nearby store and will stay there. Coincidentally, I have my Fry's NASA post under construction to post by this weekend. I also have a newer Greenspoint Mall update almost finished with teasers to my 2023 and future 2024 visits to the mall. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-53991752866570145552024-03-15T16:42:20.044-05:002024-03-15T16:42:20.044-05:00I appreciate the link, is it okay for me to add yo...I appreciate the link, is it okay for me to add your photo link to the article? I bet the mall looked much livelier when that place was open. I passed by this mall a bunch of times over the years and never stopped. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-87473294379753019972024-03-15T16:40:40.928-05:002024-03-15T16:40:40.928-05:00Unfortunately the CiCi's closed several years ...Unfortunately the CiCi's closed several years back. It was located in between the former Montgomery Ward and Macy's.jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-32309757097728511332024-03-14T15:30:52.322-05:002024-03-14T15:30:52.322-05:00Where is cicis pizza in greenspoint mallWhere is cicis pizza in greenspoint mallAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-52387768951427562432024-03-11T01:02:18.139-05:002024-03-11T01:02:18.139-05:00Just a quick addition, I just saw that the blog re...Just a quick addition, I just saw that the blog recently topped 1,500,000 views. Congrats on a major milestone! It seems like just yesterday that you were celebrating 1,000,000 views!Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-41416414682602434572024-03-10T19:10:35.823-05:002024-03-10T19:10:35.823-05:00I was able to take a photo of the mall interior of...I was able to take a photo of the mall interior of when VF was still operating: http://www.carbon-izer.com/photoessay/corsicana/corsicana.htmlPseudo3dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-34660287253736917762024-03-10T04:39:01.245-05:002024-03-10T04:39:01.245-05:00The topic of Sears came up recently at another blo...The topic of Sears came up recently at another blog, Northwest Retail's blog, since he recently posted a set of photos at a currently-operating Sears store near him at Southcenter Mall in the Seattle area. With that, it was hard for me to believe that it has been four years since I last shopped at Sears...not counting Sears Hometown, but maybe I should count that. I don't know, the fact that Sears Hometown even existed here still seems hard to believe, lol.<br /><br />This is surely one of the newest Sears stores you've covered on the blog aside from the Sears Grands and The Great Indoors stores. Even with that, this store looks pretty rough in some spots. I'm thinking the Willowbrook Mall Sears and some of the other Sears around here were in better shape at the time they closed. That said, it is interesting to see some of these fixtures. I knew that cardboard box addressed to the electronics department manager must have been quite old and, indeed, it looks like it is from 2013. I guess the electronics department managers only lasted a year or two after that.<br /><br />Those door handles are quite interesting, I wonder if those existed anywhere in Houston. I suppose if they did, it would have been at Pasadena Town Square, but I can't say I remember those. Granted, perhaps I always entered that store through the mall. The cash registers and mutilated mannequins are certainly an interesting sight. I'm surprised that Simply Styled got such a large banner, that brand was Kmart grade stuff and probably wasn't something worth promoting. Sears sold a lot of good house brand clothes even towards the end, but Simply Styled wasn't one of those!<br /><br />I'm not sure if you've seen these, but the company who is listing a number of Sears properties for sale/lease in this area for TransformCo, including the Willowbrook and Deerbrook Mall Sears, has posted some videos from inside the empty Mall St. Vincent Sears. If you have not seen these, you'll certainly want to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/@Ntpre/videos<br /><br />In local Sears news, it appears the Baybrook Mall Sears is currently undergoing a remodel so that a furniture store, Living Spaces I believe, can move into the spot. I wish it was something more interesting than that, but oh well, at least the spot is getting something.<br /><br />I'm not sure if you saw Mike's post about this, but it sounds like the Greenspoint Fry's is getting a new tenant for at least part of the space. It looks like Joe V's will be moving into that spot. We'll see, Joe V's has announced new locations and then they never materialized so maybe we shouldn't count on this actually happening. It certainly seems plausible though. Obviously, the Joe V's won't be even remotely as nice looking as the Fry's was. I guess it'll be back to looking like a Builders Square like what the building was originally. Even then, it was a Builders Square II so I doubt the Joe V's will even look that nice.<br /><br />Anyway, it was nice seeing three new posts on the blog today! I'm glad to see the blog alive and well again. I'm glad there is still some Sears content left as those Sears and Kmart posts were really the backbone of this blog for quite a while. At this point, it has been such a long time since I've shopped at a 'real' Sears store that I'm having to dig a bit deeper into the memory bank to try to visualize these stores. Like you, I've likely had my last Sears B&M experience unless Eddie Lampert has something up his sleeve. Even then, I'm sure any possible shenanigans Lampert might have left will hardly remind us of the prime era of Sears.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028753244746628643.post-26426871262694194732024-03-10T04:12:49.539-05:002024-03-10T04:12:49.539-05:00It certainly would have been nice to see West Hill...It certainly would have been nice to see West Hill Mall doing better, but given the loss of anchors, I suppose it is fortunate that the mall is even still around. While not everything at Lee Baron looks bad, some of those suits "for the modern man" certainly would not be my first choice, lol. Oh well, I guess it is good to have options.<br /><br />It is interesting to see the independent eyeglasses store hanging around at a mall. It seems that eyeglass stores have started to become less common at malls around Houston. I had to take a family member to Willowbrook Mall recently to buy new glasses and the options are far less than what used to be the case a few years ago. The family member used to get her glasses at the Sears Optical, but obviously that is no longer the case. TSO and the independent shop at the mall have closed along with Visionworks (there is still a Visionworks across FM 1960 at The Commons). LensCrafters is still around, but they apparently stopped doing 1 hour glasses several years ago. Who knew?<br /><br />The family member ended up buying her glasses from JCPenney's optical center. They were about $100 cheaper than LensCrafters without LensCrafers offering anything more or being any faster. I wouldn't be surprised if JCPenney's optical center and LensCrafters are owned by the same company, it seems one or two companies run most of the optical stores including the old Sears Opticals. Anyway, said family member was happy with the end result. I'm glad at least one department store still sells glasses and seems to be a decent value.<br /><br />Speaking of malls which are just barely hanging on, did you see the recent Houston Chronicle article about Macroplaza Mall? It was interesting to see the interview with one of the remaining tenants. It sounded like the tenant admitted there was no logical reason to stay at the mall.<br /><br />I'm sure you saw the news about Macy's and their plans to close stores. Sadly, that may lead to similar results like what we see here. I'm not sure if any Houston locations are especially endangered, but Almeda Mall might be on that list. The store still seems to draw a crowd, but Mike from HHR was there recently and the store has some maintenance issues with the flooring especially. That is strange since it is new flooring that was put in after Hurricane Ike so it is not like it is a 1960s relic or something.Anonymous in Houstonnoreply@blogger.com