Send me your link!

If you have a retail page or blog that is not on my ever growing link list post a comment on this post and I will add it. All I ask is that my page is added to your link page also. There are a bunch of new blogs opening up so let's help get our readership up!

Mall of the Mainland Update

I visited this mall last Saturday July 18 with two of my sons. The mall was very empty as usual between Dillard's and the food court. There were some spots that were blocked off because of roof leakage. There have been some heated debates on the labelscar web site at www.labelscar.com about this mall that should be checked out in addition to my articles.

Affordable Furniture



Sears



Macy's



Palais Royal



The former JCPenney that reopened two years after closing four miles away near Santa Fe.



Dillard's now closed; you can see a light labelscar on the top left corner of the building.



Here are some interior photos. I apologize for the poor quality of my phone camera.

Dead retail near Almeda Mall

The area around Almeda Mall has really declined. Only the shopping centers fronting I-45 are successful and doing well. The retail district behind the mall has been forgotten and is nearly abandoned.

Target finally left the area to a new location off of Sam Houston Pkwy. I was hoping to see Target take over the old JCPenney anchor, but Burlington will be there now.





After the rainstorm yesterday a faint labelscar was revealed on the side of this shopping center (2nd photo).




Here are some extra abandoned buildings; I only know that the restaurant was a Burger King.

Big news at Almeda Mall!

I am happy to report that the Almeda Mall is about to get a big shot in the arm. We already knew that Macy's is coming back in September. Now the old JCPenney anchor is being reconstructed to become a new Burlington Coat factory! This is great news for the mall since there are currently no large anchors open there. In some malls Burlington spells doom, but the investment that Macy's is making to reopen here is tremendous and will pay off. I have also included some indoor phots of the mall for the first time on my blog. Sorry about the quality; I forgot my good camera today and used my phone.





Notice the similarities to Northwest Mall; this mall is nearly identical.

Westheimer Square at Hillcroft Updated 10/16/09

Update 10/16/2009; the Wherehouse Music is now closed. Sketchers and Souper Salad are the two anchors left here. The former gas station site has been paved over and it looks to be additional parking for now.

This is an interesting shopping center located at the corner listed in the title. This is the only Wherehouse Music that I know still exists in Houston. Since F.Y.E. took over the remaining Wherehouse stores this one will not be here too much longer. This space was a Blockbuster Music before the change in name and may have possibly been another record store beforehand. Spec's and a Sketchers outlet are also here in the center. The Tweeter closed a couple of years ago with their bankruptcy.

Welcome to West Oaks Mall

Okay so my updates have been as rare lately as a rainstorm this summer in Houston. I bought a house in early June and most of my time has been spent doing repairs to the house. I go to school and work also, so I am very limited with my time. I will try to get at least two self posts every month to keep the blog going, so be patient. As always feel free to submit your original articles to me. (See post below). Now onto the post of West Oaks Mall.

West Oaks Mall is located at the corner of Highway 6 and Westheimer Road in West Houston Texas. West Oaks Mall is the second of two malls in Houston that are not located next to a freeway (Pasadena Town Square is the other one). This mall opened two years after Foley's opened up in 1984 (Wikipedia, 2009). The mall had Foley's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, and Mervyn's as original anchors (Wikipedia, 2009). Dillard's was added later to the mall. The anchors now are Dillard's, Macy's and Sears, so the mall has changed anchors completely since opening. The best way to describe the state of the mall is to split it in half. The west side of the mall is emptying out as JCPenney and Steve and Barry's have closed. A restaurant opened up just after renovations to the mall and only lasted about six months, so the renovation in the mid 2000's did not help. The outside of the mall is very dated with the exception of the mall entrances pictured below. First Colony Mall in Sugarland opened in 1995 and Katy Mills really hurt this mall when it opened in 1999. Both malls are around ten miles away and closer to new home development. The East side of the mall is doing well with very little vacancies, but that may change as the economy slows down. Outside of the mall Toys R Us, Circuit City and several other big box stores have closed. Of particular interest is a retail power center across the street that lost Service Merchandise, Builders Square, and K-Mart to bankruptcies, but acquired new tenants to replace those losses. This mall is nothing special and may tred water for a few more years, but it will more than likely continue to empty out. Another item at this mall is the research office located near the Steve and Barry's shell. I have not seen these people in any other malls but this one because most malls will not tolerate harassment of their customers. Remember the people holding the clipboard that step out in front of you and try to get you to do a survey of a product? Yes they are still here and they will get you by the food court. I learned the hard way that these surveys are a waste of time that you will not get paid for your time. This is a mall that I will continue to update as it changes one way or the other, but the mall has been financially destroyed by the previous owner.




Here are a couple of entrances that demonstrate the interior design of the mall. Most of the signage of the mall was updated to the new look after the renovation and looks relatively new.





Alamo Drafthouse Cinema; this was brought in around the time of the remodel to help drive traffic to the mall.




Fine Interiors and Designs; obviously a former Linen's and Thing's. This location closed way before the company went into bankruptcy. The furniture store that is here now is very similar to the furniture store that took over a Circuit City shell at Deerbrook Mall.




Dillard's




Sears; this was a Saks Fifth Avenue anchor before it was Sears. What a downgrade of quality!




Macy's; this location is a converted Foley's from the acquisition.




This anchor was most recently a JCPenney, but they did not invest much money to change the building. The location was moved to a free standing building off of I-10 to the north near Katy. Lord and Taylor originally built and occupied this anchor.





Steve and Barry's closed in early 2009 with the bankruptcy. This anchor was formerly a Mervyn's





The interior was remodeled a few years ago to resemble an old western type of setting. The mall has wood accents and Texas designs all throughout.

Sharpstown update 07/01/09

On my visit today the mall had a carnival in the parking lot and many more people than my last few visits. Three new inline stores have opened up since my last visit in May. While I was in the JCPenney corridor taking pictures; an employee of the mall gave me some weird looks. Better her than mall security though.

Finally I got a clear photo of a directory and some extra pics of the JCPenney. The inside of the JCPenney has not been used since 1998, so it is in terrible condition.