Here is the most modern Kmart location left in Louisiana. This store opened in the late 1980's early 1990's to replace the Kmart in Lakeside Mall. This location is at 2940 Veterans Boulevard near the Causeway in Metairie La. The land this store is one was recently sold to company with ties to a Hawaii hotel owner.
We start with the back of the store in the sporting goods section.
The middle of the store, housewares.
Looking from near the pharmacy to the back of the store. There is no vintage blood pressure monitor at this store.
This store has a Sears appliance and furniture section. The Kmart is about 2 miles from the nearest Sears at Clearview Mall.
The back corner of the store near the hardware section.
The same section of the store, looking towards the Sears appliance section.
The electronics section from 2 slightly different angles.
Looking towards the front of the store near the electronics section.
The grocery section.
The front aisle of the store near the pharmacy.
The garden shop.
The CD aisle in the electronics section, these are disappearing in Kmart stores across the company.
The clothing aisles in the back of the store.
The clothing aisles in the front of the store near the checkouts.
The main entrance to the store.
More clothing departments near the front of the store.
A couple of exterior views of the store.
We still have more Kmart stores on the way, look for them soon.
Thanks for the photos of this Kmart. It's certainly newer than most of the Kmarts covered on this blog. I figure that it is probably from the 1990s. Although it's newer than other Kmarts you've covered lately, it may not be in the best condition. It looks like the store has removed some lightbulbs throughout the store in an alternating pattern. Perhaps the camera is making things look worse than they really are, but it looks like there are some dark spots in the store. Also, although there aren't vintage HVAC vents at this store, the ceiling tiles and the HVAC vents look pretty dirty. The store seems to have some newer signage in the clothing department, but some older signage lingers on in other areas.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the electronics department still has a CD aisle at this Kmart. It looks like there is some visible labelscar in the electronics department. I'm guessing that this Kmart had the tiles like the Walkman woman at one point before being removed. I'm not so sure if this store needs a Sears section given the closeness of a regular Sears store, but at least it's an alternative to having empty space.
It'll be interesting to see if this Kmart survives with the change in ownership of the property. The parking lot looks pretty full in your picture, but maybe those shoppers were shopping at other stores in the shopping center. It's hard to say. I'd imagine that this Kmart, like all the other LA and TX Kmarts, must do at least decent business to stay around in an area where there aren't many other remaining Kmarts.
You are right, both of the Kmart stores on Veterans in Metairie had lighting issues for some reason. I am not sure if they are saving electric costs or they only get to change out the lights once a year. This and a few other Kmart stores have new signage in the clothing departments that is less than 2 years old. It makes the clothing departments look similar to a department store and not like a discount store.
DeleteThis was actually my go-to Kmart at one point, but I can't remember if they ever had the tiles like at the other stores. This Kmart and others with the Sears appliance section will have an better time as the electronics departments shrink. They can just add more appliances and mattresses to the floor space.
The Kmart was actually pretty busy which explains the small amount of photos I took. The Houma store was much easier to get photos of. I do my best to keep people out of my photos and I edit out anyone who manages to get in my shots.
Did the Big Lots at Jones and 1960 in Houston used to be a Kroger? If so, when did Kroger open and when did Big Lots close?
ReplyDeleteThe Jones Rd. and FM 1960 Big Lots is still open as far as I know. The building did start out as a greenhouse style Kroger store that opened around 1977-1979 as far as I can remember. The greenhouse entryway still exists, but it is slightly obscured by the new facade that Big Lots built. The Kroger really did not last long. It was closed around the mid-1980s. The store was replaced by a newer style greenhouse Kroger at Jones Rd. and Cypress-N Houston. That store itself was replaced with a Kroger Signature store that opened around 2001-2 at the same intersection. Another Kroger Signature was built and is still open on Jones Rd. and West Road.
DeleteI remember a furniture store opening up in the old Jones and 1960 Kroger for a short while. Then, a Pic-N-Save closeout store opened in around 1988 or 1989. That became a MacFrugals in the early 1990s. Then, that became a Big Lots in the early 2000s. In case anyone is wondering, the current Hobby Lobby and Walgreens used to be a Kmart and the King Dollar was a Weiner's clothing store.
Jones Rd. had many short lived grocery stores. The 24 Hour Fitness across from Big Lots was an Eagle grocery for a short time in the 1980s followed by something called King Saver and then Freshville Foods. Those were all discount grocers and all three combined lasted around less than 10 years. There was a Weingarten I believe that opened in the ex-Target shopping center across Jones. That became a short lived Safeway. The building was vacant for many years before TJ Maxx opened there in the early-to-mid 1990s. Goodwill took it over a few years later until Goodwill moved down the same shopping center. I believe a dd's just opened in that spot or will open soon.
Next to the Target shopping center on Jones was a short lived Albertson's that opened in around 1997 and closed around 2001 when Albertson's opened a new store at 1960 and N. Eldridge. The Food Town at Jones and West was briefly a Food Lion during their short stay in Houston in the mid-1990s. There was a Randall's at Jones and 290 that didn't last long before relocating to Jones and West. That store was around for a while, but it closed a few years back and is now a HEB.
Thanks so much for all this info! I do have a few other questions about Houston retail:
Delete1. Isn't it odd that Kroger missed the opportunity to move their 80's greenhouse on Sawdust in The Woodlands to the former Albertsons nearby? Randalls (under Safeway ownership) moved to the former Albertsons instead, and eventually the Kroger closed without replacement. I don't get why Kroger gave up on such a competitive area to be in. And I really think if Kroger had moved to the former Albertsons, the original Randalls on Sawdust would have closed, perhaps in 2005 when Safeway was seriously considering axing both Randalls and Tom Thumb (and closed a number of Texas stores that year).
2. Why did Walmart relocate their original Sawdust store (from 1984, in the Kroger plaza) in 1991 to a new store across the street, but this new store wasn't a Supercenter? Eventually in 2008 it relocated to a Supercenter. And I'm amazed anyway that Walmart thought a 1984 store was obsolete in 1991. They at least could have waited until 1992 to replace it, after their logo changed its hyphen to a star (in honor of Sam once he died).
3. Why did the Albertsons at Jones and Bridgedown (built in 1995) move in 2000 to the store at 1960 and Eldridge, now a Kroger? Could the first location have gotten a lot of shoplifting that made them need to move?
4. Why did the Randalls in the former Safeway/AppleTree on 249 between Jones and Louetta close sometime in the mid 90's, after a very short life as a Randalls? It was definitely gone BEFORE the Safeway/Randalls merger. Also, why did H-E-B Pantry Foods at this site (opened around 1998) close years before the current H-E-B across the street opened?
5. Why did the Randalls in the former Woolco/Fiesta building at 1960 and Kuykendahl close so soon after opening? This Randalls opened I think only months before Safeway took over, and I forget exactly when it closed, but it definitely closed at least a year before Albertsons left the area.
6. And one more question (sorry for such a long post) could the "Thang Hung" supermarket at Veterans Memorial and Gears Road be a former Safeway? I know it was a Kroger until around 2006, but looked nothing like either a Kroger greenhouse or a Kroger superstore. Or perhaps it was once an A&P? That Northeastern chain was once in Houston, but pulled out over 40 years ago. They however stayed in New Orleans, where they had almost no competition (in fact, Albertsons failed miserably in New Orleans, even worse than they did in Houston, and was gone before A&P) until sometime after 2000. However, Albertsons is still elsewhere in Louisiana, including Lafayette. And ironically, Kroger left Baton Rouge in the early 80's, but bought a former Albertsons in Sulphur.
Sorry for such a long post! I would much appreciate any help with these mysteries.
Part I:
DeleteI don’t have any inside information about these store locations, but I’ll try to give my best guesses. I’ll answer each respective question.
1. The Woodlands retail scene is not my area of expertise for sure even though I worked there for a handful of years relatively recently. I never did much shopping in Montgomery County, but two of the places I did shop at were the used bookstore (I don’t remember the name) which was/is in the same Kroger shopping center that you’re talking about and the Goodwill thrift in the former semi-circle facade Kmart on Sawdust. Anyway, I’m not sure why Kroger did get try to get the former Albertson’s. Perhaps they were locked into a lease at their current location and they didn’t want to pay two leases for one store. Maybe Randall’s just valued that location more and offered more money for it. It’s really hard to say.
2. It was not unprecedented for Wal-Mart to replace their ~1984 stores with new stores in the early 1990s in this market. One example that comes to mind is Texas City which we recently discussed on the Pasadena Montgomery Ward post. Wal-Mart opened up two stores in the early 1980s in Texas City and Dickinson. Those two locations were replaced by one new Wal-Mart in Texas City near the Mall of the Mainland. That location itself was replaced by a Wal-Mart Supercenter in La Marque. I believe Wal-Mart replaced a fairly young store with another one in Tomball in the early 1990s that is now a Supercenter. The old 1980s Wal-Marts in Texas City, Dickinson, and in Tomball all became Wal-Mart’s Bud’s Discount City stores, but the Bud’s concept was short lived.
I don’t believe Wal-Mart pushed the Supercenter concept here until the mid-1990s at least. Thus, most/all the stores that opened in the early 1990s were regular Wal-Marts (some have since been converted into Supercenters). I don’t know why Wal-Mart wanted to open new, non-Supercenter stores in the early 1990s. Some of the older stores were smaller though and maybe they wanted more room. The newer stores added things like McDonald’s instead of the smaller snack bars. Sometimes Wal-Mart relocates due to local areas competing over tax breaks/subsidies for Wal-Mart, but I’m not sure how much of a factor that has been in the Houston area.
3. I doubt shoplifting was a factor in the relocation. The Steeplechase area was, and still is, a pretty nice place to live. Albertson’s made a lot of puzzling decisions during their short stay in this area and the relocation of this store might be one of them. Perhaps the biggest factor why they did it is because the FM 1960 retail scene in that area was shifting from Jones Rd. to N. Eldridge Parkway at that time. Target moved to that intersection in 2006 and Wal-Mart opened up a Supercenter around the same time that the Albertson’s opened. Perhaps Albertson’s wanted to be on the leading edge of the retail shift. Also, the N. Eldridge and FM 1960 Albertson’s was a lot more fancy looking inside than the Jones Rd. one.
Part II:
Delete4. Randall’s did operate some short lived locations over time. One is the FM 1960 and Kuykendahl location you mention below and another is the Texas City Randall’s which was open for less than two years I believe. Perhaps they were willing to take chances on certain areas, but were quick to get out when stores didn’t perform. Also, it was a big deal for a shopping center to land a Randall’s at that time so maybe shopping centers offered Randall’s (and HEB for that matter) big incentives to try out the location.
On the surface, it seems like the 249 and Louetta Randall’s should have been a strong location. The Lakewood Forest demographic should have been a good fit for Randall’s and there weren’t a lot of competitors in the area at that time. Perhaps the store was too close to the Grant Rd. and Jones location. It’s hard to say.
HEB was close to phasing out the Pantry concept around the time that the Louetta and 249 Pantry store opened. That may have something to do with the store not lasting long, but some former Pantry stores still carry on to this day as small HEBs. They built a new Pantry store at FM 529 and Barker-Cypress and closed it pretty soon after. Tomball got one of the area’s first regular HEBs IIRC in the early 2000s at 2920 and 249. HEB tore down a former Pantry store and a Safeway (probably an AppleTree too) turned Academy to build that store. Perhaps HEB figured that the Tomball store would be enough for the area until the Vintage HEB opened a handful of years later.
5. Fiesta itself didn’t last long in that location, but Fiesta has also had a few short lived locations. I believe that Randall’s relocated from I-45 and FM 1960 W., but maybe not. That part of FM 1960, that intersection in particular, has had trouble retaining retail. There has been issues with changing demographics in that area especially with the abundance of apartments in the area and retail was seriously overbuilt in that area during the 1970s and 1980s. It’s actually not too surprising that the Randall’s didn’t last too long. FM 1960 construction may have been another factor in the closing. An underpass was built at that intersection around that time to relieve traffic. There were a lot of access issues during the construction period. The underpass, along with other traffic calming features added to that part of FM 1960, has made left turn access very difficult at that spot. Perhaps Randall’s didn’t want any part of that.
6. Although I used to drive past the Veterans Memorial and Gears intersection a lot in the 1980s and 1990s, I don’t remember what was in the spot before. I believe Randall’s had a location in The Commons shopping center across Veterans Memorial, but I seem to remember that shopping center being pretty desolate so I don’t know how well it did.
Anyway, I hope these responses helped you. I know they aren’t the exact answers you wanted, but it’s hard to know the real reasons why things happen unless one has inside information. The newspapers don’t always cover things like suburban grocery stores unfortunately. As for the length, no need to apologize to me. If length is a problem, I'd have to apologize for almost all of my posts!
Thanks so much for taking a crack at all of them! I should add a few follow up points:
Delete1. Walmart had a 1984 store at Highway 6 and Beechnut that was both expanded and remodeled in the early 90's, but relocated in the early 2000s to a Supercenter.
2. Two early PA (1992) Walmart stores relocated very soon but both due to strange circumstances. One moved to a Supercenter in 1997, due to being on a mountain where boulders had started hitting it! The other 1992 store became victim to a bad area around 1998, so Walmart in 2000 moved to a Supercenter, in what was a much more desirable location anyway (more visible and accessible).
3. I think the McDonald's/Walmart bond began 1993. Ironically in 1994, McDonald's banned smoking in all its US corporate locations (which included the many McDonald's at Walmart), even though Walmart was still putting its own snack bars (some of which had the "Radio Grill" name and 50's diner theme) into new and remodeled stores until around 2000. Walmart had smoking areas in their snack bars until at least 2000.
4. The Walmart in Tomball (built 1994, became Supercenter in 2000) had a Radio Grill at first. I found it odd that smoking was suddenly banned there right BEFORE the Supercenter expansion/remodel started, even though the store would then get a brand new, larger Radio Grill in a new spot anyway, which opened as 100% non-smoking. Less than a year later this new Radio Grill also closed and McDonald's opened.
5. The 1991 Walmart in The Woodlands had a snack bar, but it also closed around 2000 and was replaced by a McDonald's. This store always had the hyphen non-star logo on the front, which served as a hint the McDonald's wasn't there from day one. The slight logo change was in 1992, right after Sam died.
6. The Walmart on 290 opened 1995 (McDonald's included) but was not a Supercenter until 2005. The one at 1960 and Cutten store opened 1994, with McDonald's, which was moved and made more inviting (just like Radio Grill in Tomball was) for the store's big transformation. The 1960 and TC Jester store opened in 1987 but was remodeled in 1993 while being given a Radio Grill, but not expanded. Smoking persisted at this Radio Grill until the store moved to a Supercenter across the street in 2002, which had a McDonald's.
7. Even though it entered the Safeway chain fresh and new, I wonder if Safeway dreaded the 1960 and Kuykendahl Randalls because it was in a poorer area than the Randalls Flagship at 1960 and Champions. Safeway I figure thought the store they closed would hurt the Flagship. Also, there was a Rice Epicurean also at 1960 and Champions that opened 1990 but closed 2000. Perhaps Flagship cashed in on Rice's death.
8. I know an Acme (this chain was bought by Albertsons in 1999) in NJ opened 1995, same year as the Jones Albertsons. Albertsons remodeled some 1995 Acme stores in 2000 to make them upscale. This Acme had Starbucks added but no remodel until 2005. So Albertsons gave some slightly obsolete stores a minor remodel, but both neglected other stores of the same age AND relocated others of the same age that only needed a minor remodel.
9. The former Albertsons at Spring Cypress and Kuykendahl closed in 2002, but was empty to 2012 when a DMV opened. What a waste Starbucks didn't reopen with the DMV!
10. The current Randalls in The Woodlands (a former Albertsons) has a Starbucks franchised by Safeway, ironic considering this Albertsons was one of their earlier Houston stores which had no Starbucks. I do know the one on Jones had no Starbucks but its replacement, now Kroger does. The second Woodlands Albertsons on Research Forest now is a Kroger, but not a replacement for an older one as the smaller Woodlands Albertsons could have become.
Thanks for the information. I do remember some of these Wal-Mart openings that you mention. I'm not a smoker so I guess I didn't notice that smoking was allowed in the Wal-Mart eateries as late as it was. I remember the old Wal-Mart snack bars in the older stores (I ate at them during more than a few visits to those stores during that time) and I also remember the early days of McDonald's at Wal-Marts, but I don't really have many memories of the Radio Grills except for the one at the N. Eldridge and FM 1960 Wal-Mart. It was open for about a year or so before McDonald's came in. The McDonald's was/is much, much more busy than the Radio Grill was. The N. Eldridge Wal-Mart also opened with a GE appliance showroom near the in-store bank that was very short lived as well.
DeleteI have heard that the Baybrook Mall Sears had a McDonald's in it at one time around 1990 or so. I don't know if that was true or not, but it would have been interesting it it was true. I don't know if you know anything about that.
As far as I can remember, the Champions Forest Rice Epicurean was only open for a short time before it closed. Perhaps it opened in around 1997-8 and then closed in 2000. I could be wrong about that, but I'm pretty sure that it was a short-lived store. Perhaps you can double check that. Randall's at one point had a pretty strong hold on the desirable Champions Forest grocery market with their stores at Louetta and Champions Forest (which closed around 2012 or so) and the 1960 and Champions Forest Flagship store that still exists. Kroger opened a Signature location between those two stores on Cypresswood in the mid 1990s or so. I'm sure the 1960 Randall's Flagship does decent business though as it is the only non-Walmart grocery store on 1960 for a pretty long stretch. It's a bit surprising that nobody else has challenged Randall's on that stretch aside from short lived efforts like the Rice one and Randall's own try on Kuykendahl. As I mentioned in another reply on a different post, I noticed today that a new Circle K opened up on land that used to be a Checker's Hamburgers years ago in front of the building that used to house the Kuykendahl Woolco/Fiesta/Randall's. I had not seen a Circle K in Houston since the late 1980s so that was a real surprise.
Thanks. I never did make it to that Walmart at 1960 and Eldridge, but I remember when it opened. For some reason I assumed it had McDonald's from the beginning but of course I was wrong. The Walmart Supercenter in Conroe (I forget what street it's on, but the one next to a Sam's Club with its back to I-45) has been a Supercenter for at least 20 years, perhaps making it the first in Greater Houston. And it had a McDonald's from the beginning.
DeleteAs for Baybrook Mall, I really know nothing about it except that it once had a Lechters Housewares (which I read about online years ago) as did Willowbrook Mall and Woodlands Mall. Lechters grew rapidly in the late 80's and throughout the 90's but went out of business at the end of 2001. It's a real shame because their "Cooks Club" store brand of kitchen devices was really good and now is extinct.
it makes me sad that Kmart is gone from Houston I hate Walmart and target is over priced. some reason biglots reminds me of kmart. I hope sears converts some stores in Houston to Kmart.
ReplyDeleteThat would be good, there are many people who are tired of Walmart. I read they are focusing on checkout line wait times and staffing, but on the few trips I have made they are still making people wait with only one lane open in the late evening. The self checkouts are a hassle during off-peak hours, you will have to track someone down who will call the cashier to help you if there is an issue. There should always be someone at the self-checkouts because you get held up by issues with product weight, an ID check for cough syrup or super glue, and printer problems.
DeleteA nice new Kmart store would be a breath of fresh air for us in Houston. I do like Target, but I have been sticking to Kroger and other grocers for most of my shopping needs.
Big Lots are kind of like Kmarts in many ways. In fact, Eddie Lampert was part of the ownership of Big Lots at one point a couple of years ago, but I believe he sold off his interest in Big Lots. Kmarts aren’t closeout stores so that is the big difference between the two, but Big Lots are mostly in older locations like Kmarts. In fact, almost all Big Lots are in former retailers. Some Kmarts are in former retail spots, but most were built new. Big Lots sometimes does not maintain their locations as well as other retailers ala Kmart. The closest Big Lots to me, the Jones Rd. and FM 1960 store, is in a shopping center that used to have a Kmart (now Hobby Lobby and Walgreens). In fact, I remember walking between Kmart and MacFrugal's, Big Lots' predecessor, when I wanted to shop at both stores.
DeleteI don’t think I’d like it if Sears converted any of their stores into Kmarts because Sears is a more unique type of store, but I would like to see Kmarts return to Houston for sure. I don’t think that it’ll happen anytime soon since Kmart has not opened new locations in a very long time (not counting Kmarts that were turned into Sears Essentials and then turned back into Kmarts), but maybe it’ll happen someday. Sears/Kmart seems to be moving to an integrated retail design that is mostly e-tailing based but with some retail locations to help things along. Based on that, I don’t know if Kmart will really expand any in locations with a strong Sears presence like Houston.
I’ve had a lot of problems at Wal-Mart in recent times in regards to very long checkout times. Even the self-checkout lines are long. I didn’t have a huge problem with long lines a few years ago, but it’s a problem now. I think Wal-Mart is trying to cut back on labor now that they have the self-checkouts, but they still need staff to work the self-checkouts and the regular checkouts too. Hopefully Wal-Mart will be able to figure things out. Target, OTOH, isn’t as price competitive as they once were IMO and I think they’ve been slacking a little in terms of their presentation. I’ve seen things like expired food on their shelves in recent months. Perhaps Target has been coasting in recent times since they know that they'll get customers by being the sole discount retail option other than Wal-Mart in many areas.
Kmart has their own problems, but I would welcome the additional competition. I would probably shop there a lot. Kmart was always my preferred discount store when they had stores here, but I did shop the competition too. Houston’s Kmarts had a lot of problems in their last few years before they left the area in 2002-3. Many stores would only keep one checkout open causing Wal-Mart like wait times. They also ran out of sale items often and they had a lot of mismarked shelves. It seems like Kmart may have improved on these areas in more recent times so maybe they would be better than they were before if they came back to Houston. Of course, things like retro stores should not be a problem if they open new stores. Then again, who knows with Kmart.
i know this doesn't belong here but you don't have a willowbrook page. I wanted to bring up willowbrook since it has been in the news a lot lately for all the wrong reasons. It looks like willowbrook is not as safe as before and sadly might go towards how greenspoint currently is. I know Dillard's sales there are low since I work for Dillard's and know the inside info. I wonder what would happen to willowbrook ? would it become another sharpstown or greenspoint. There was a fatal shooting and now a robbery all in the past month. This is definitely not good for the mall.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comment, I still have yet to feature Willowbrook even though I have a handful of pictures. The 249 South and 1960 area crime and decline is moving towards the Willowbrook area. I can see developers eventually planning a mall further down 249 towards Tomball. Big crime incidents will hurt the reputation of a mall and once the reputation of a mall is damaged it is hard to turn it around. For now Willowbrook is still nearly full of stores and they will need extra security to turn things around. If one or two anchors decide to close up at the mall, things could take a turn for the worst but Willowbrook seems ok for now.
DeleteCrime certainly is very destructive to American malls. Look at the example of Dixie Square Mall in Chicagoland for an extreme case. It opened in 1966 and closed in stages between 1974 and 1979, a period when malls were still a very relatively new concept. And the whole thing was abandoned until 2012! It seems the owners gave up any hope of ever trying to revive the place by 1985 at the very latest. But looking at the neighborhood (Harvey) in Bing Maps, it seems like a very odd place for a mall to have ever been... very industrial, run down, poor-looking city. I am sad this mall didn't make it to 1980, around when it probably would have gotten either a cinema or an arcade, if not both, if the owners had plans to keep it open a long time.
DeleteThere was a situation at Willowbrook Mall earlier this week. It seems that there was a robbery at the Zales that falsely led security to believe that there was an active shooter situation at the mall. That led to the mall being put on lock down for a while. This is obviously another crime related black eye for the mall. There’s been several situations in recent months where high profile things have happened at Willowbrook Mall. I’m not sure how many of the situations can be blamed on a lack of security, but maybe the mall should up their security some.
DeleteIt’s interesting that you say that Dillard’s sales are low at Willowbrook Mall. Thanks for the information. Are sales low in recent times or have they been low for a while now? Perhaps the opening of Dillard’s new neighbor, Nordstrom Rack, has taken a bite out of sales at Dillard’s. As far as I can tell, the mall and the Dillard’s is still quite busy when I visit, but it’s hard to say what that means when it comes to sales. The mall is still almost completely leased out with prime retailers and the big box shopping centers around the mall are full with prime retailers too. I think Willowbrook Mall should still be okay, but it’s hard to say what impact the recent crimes will have on the mall long term.
The NW part of Houston is prime territory and Willowbrook Mall is pretty much the only option for many who want to shop at a traditional mall. Thus, the mall may remain popular regardless of what happens there. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on at places like The Woodlands Mall, but obviously shoppers still continue to flock there.
Perhaps the Tomball part of the Grand Parkway area would be a good place for another mall. It could attract shoppers from The Woodlands, Cypress, and Tomball obviously. Still, any mall put there would have to deal with the toll road dilemma and it would have to compete against currently strong shopping areas (The Woodlands Mall, Willowbrook Mall, and the Cypress outlets). Perhaps someone would have built a new mall there in a different era, but given current mall construction trends, it seems unlikely that a new mall will be built there anytime soon.
To that extent, crime used to lead to the downfall of malls. New malls would open up with the promise of less crime. Given that new malls aren’t being built and many big name stores continue to primarily exist at malls, it may be possible that crime won’t deteriorate malls like they used to. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Either way, hopefully Willowbrook Mall will find a way to keep the crime away. It’s my local mall so I’d like to see it stay strong. Maybe je will be able to make a post about the mall one day. There seems to be increased interest about retail in NW Houston based on some of the recent comments.
@ Marc many malls were put in strange spots because of three reasons low land costs, future projected area growth, or high density which makes it hard to find enough land for major retail projects. In the case of Dixie Square the neighborhood was projected to be a stable, strong growing region. Any hints of the area declining were probably ignored until it was too late since there was a lot of money tied into the mall.
Delete@anonymous if any new malls are built in the Houston area they will likely be much smaller than we are used to. I can see the next regional mall having only two or three anchors with about 500,000 square feet of total lease-able area. If crime starts to become a problem at Willowbrook a new mall further down 249 is a possibility. I can't think of any local malls that are directly off of a toll road so that can present a challenge for mall management if they decide to put one near the Grand Parkway.