Circuit City Then and Now West Oaks

This Circuit City store closed in 2009 along with the rest of the company. Here is how the store looked in 2009 just before the store closed. 

The Circuit City store at 2680 Highway 6 Houston, TX 77082 is under reconstruction for a new use. I did not see any signs up for the upcoming new development. Loopnet has not been updated for nearly 6 months and still shows the property as it was before the construction started, but says the property has been sold as of April 2012. This was one of the last untouched former Circuit City sites left in Houston. If anyone knows what is going up here please comment below.

You can see the front of the building just over the Car Toys sign.

The labelscar at the back of the building from the recently removed signage.

I-10 Outlet Mall Iowa LA

The Iowa Louisiana Outlet Mall was opened in 1988 as a Factory Stores of America outlet mall. The mall is located near Lake Charles Louisiana in Iowa LA off of I-10. In the late 1980's and early 1990's several of these small town outlet malls were built as tourist destinations. The Mills and Tanger Outlet centers are the preferred outlet malls that are larger and closer to larger cities than many of these smaller outlet centers. Many of these outlet centers did not live up to the expectations and have struggled to compete. Here is an outdated listing of the stores in this mall. Most of the current stores are local businesses.

This is the main entrance to the mall; there is also an open entrance facing I-10.

This is the entrance to the closed off portion of the mall.

An entrance facing the ramp to I-10 which is part of the closed section of the mall.

This is the North-South corridor of the mall and contains the VF outlet store which is the main anchor to the mall.

Located next to the I-10 entrance and next to the VF outlet anchor.

The entrance to the VF factory store.

A Burke's Outlet labelscar.

The back of the mall facing the VF outlet store.

As you can see the mall comes to an abrupt end. Several stores remain in this section of the mall despite the dead end corridor. About 40% of the available mall space was cut off by the wall at the end of this hallway. When I last visited this mall several years ago there was only one store in the section of the mall that is now closed off.

Goodbye Macys at the Mall of the Mainland in Texas City

I had a chance to visit this store in February of 2012 as the store was being closed. This was one of five Macy's stores closed to start 2012. The Macy's closing announcement came in the middle of a busy January for the mall. On January 5 the Macy's closing was announced, and on January 9 the mall was damaged in a heavy rainstorm with the Sears getting clipped by a tornado, the food court flooded out, and a part of the wall near the former Tilt collapsed. The mall was quickly cleaned and reopened after the storm. This is the third anchor to close at the Mall of the Mainland. JCPenney closed in 2005 and Dillard's closed in 2008. Currently the bank owned mall is for sale and is listed by Jones Lang LaSalle representing the lender. A new outlet mall is opening in October only two miles away from the Mall of the Mainland and will bring many new outlet stores to the area.

The Macy's was a converted Foley's that was added onto the mall in 1994. The store was in really good condition and was only slightly modified when Macy's took over.

This is the first level looking towards the middle of the store.

Near the middle of the store facing the main outside entrance to the store.

Second level childrens department.

Second level Men's department.

Second level The Cellar and glassware department.

Second level bedding, bath, and home decor department.

The Men's department again.

Luggage near the Men's department.

Back to the first level Ladies department.

Facing the mall entrance to the store near the main entrance.

Facing the mall entrance from the middle of the store.

Northway Retail Center Orange TX

Northway Retail Center is located in Orange TX which is located around two miles from the Texas border with Louisiana. Northway is located at the corner of 16th Street and the north corner of I-10. This shopping center is anchored by Palais Royal and a Market Basket Grocery store.

A three story clock tower is the centerpiece of this shopping center and can be seen from the Interstate. Not many shopping centers are made these days with this kind of detail.

As you can see the clock tower is much higher than the shopping center. This is the north side of the center.

The south side of the center with Market Basket located to the right of the tall sign.

Inside view of the old Subway location; the new one is across the street. I have not seen a Subway interior like this for years.

One of the many unique features of the center is an office park.

A look down the halls through the entrance doors of the office park.

One of the corridors of the shopping center from looking North.

The storefronts of this shopping center have many different styles which appear to be from the 1980's when the center was built.

I am not sure what this space was but it may have been a department store at one time. There are a few store spaces hidden behind the clock tower.

The inside of the possible former anchor behind the clock tower.

Wood panel storefront; I am not sure what this was either.

The corner was more than likely an Eckerd Drug store.

The inside of the possible former Eckerd.

This security camera label and some blue stickers on the door are my only clues to the former life of this end cap.