December 4, 2021 update. The contest closed on December 1st, thank you to all who participated. Winners will receive a follow up email.
Hello blog readers. The past couple of years have been rough on all of us. For many, it has been a time to reflect and make changes in our lives. So what does this mean for this blog? The end is coming for the blog once I finish up what I have left to post. The passion to keep the blog going is just not there for me anymore. It has been a ton of fun to visit these places, but it is time for me to move on at this point in my life. This blog was in the works since 2008 before going live in 2009, a very long run.
I initially planned to stop making trips in 2020 to specifically cover retail. Some of the places I wanted to visit did not make the cut last year. I decided to try and finish the last few places by the end of this year if I can make it. If not, I will not cover those places. I still have a huge backlog of photos and some video that will get me to 500 posts which will keep blog posts rolling through 2022 and possibly into 2023. I will continue to reply to comments on the blog, but I will no longer be participating in social media related to retail in the near future.
As for the new Thank you contest 👇
The contest giveaway will still happen. The Youtube channel will no longer be the focus since I am still well short of the 100 subscribers I was hoping to get to. As for the updated contest, it will be done by email. Entries submitted to my email by December 1st at southernmalls@gmail.com will be entered into the drawing. Please submit your name or screen-name in the email along with your request to be entered into the drawing. Addresses must be in the continental United States for eligibility. Only 1 entry per person! This contest is my way of saying thank you to each and everyone for sticking with me all of these years.
Grand Prize - 25x18 frame Sears Making Moments Matter sign from the North Shepard Sears location.
Sears small jewelry bags. They measure approx. 8x9.5 inches with a 4.5 inch width.
Blue canvass bag approx. 13x11.5 inches with a 7.5 inch width. Sears making moments matter logo on both sides of the bag.
Retro styled Sears canvas/woven bag approx.16x18 inches with a 5.5 inch width. Sears, Roebuck, and Co. logo on both sides.
A Penney's pamphlet from the Hurst Texas one-of-a-kind store.
It is pretty awesome that you are giving stuff away to your viewers! Thanks! I'm sure a lot of your viewers will appreciate this Sears stuff since so many of us are Sears fans and fans of department stores in general. I've been checking out your YouTube channel. I saw the Pasadena Sears video with the gate closing, that's awesome that you caught it, but sad I suppose that it had to happen like that for the last Houston area full-line Sears.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't have a Google account so I won't be able to subscribe. I'm about as anonymous on YouTube as I am on the blog, lol. But, yeah, I highly recommend that anyone with a Google account does subscribe to the L&T channel!
It may be a little while until I am able to run the contest. I did add another 4 subs this past week so the channel is growing again. The bags are just the beginning, I need to sort out all of the stuff I have grabbed at the closing sales.
DeleteI certainly appreciate the props. I have a lot more video footage that I have to put up in the future.
While I'm sad to hear that the blog will be coming to an end, I totally understand your reasoning for that decision, and I'm excited to hear that there will at least still be several more posts before we reach that point in time. I hate to hear that you've started to grow less interested in documenting retail, although I'd be lying if I said circumstances on my end haven't somewhat made me the same way. Well, let me rephrase that -- I certainly am still very interested in taking the photos and posting them, but the actual acts of doing so are getting harder now that I've started my full-time job. I used to take pictures at off times on weekdays and had a lot more free time to post. Now I have less opportunity to do both, and I'm thinking of cutting back my content somewhat next year even though that will just make my backlog that much worse. All things considered, I don't see myself exiting the hobby anytime soon, but I do think I will be forced to slow things down, whether I want to or not. This post wasn't about me though, so my apologies for going off on a tangent there, lol. To return to the subject at hand, while you thank your readers, I would imagine your readers in turn would like to thank you -- I know I do! It's rare to have a retail blog be run for so long by a person who's so dedicated to the content. Even though I've only become a follower more recently, I've enjoyed reading your posts as well as communicating with you. I'm glad to hear you'll still be around to respond to any future comments and who knows, if you're still interested in checking in here and there, I'd love to see you pop up on Discord too. Best wishes my friend.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the kind words. Yeah I feel that the time is now to end things around here. You definitely understand the time and effort it takes to document and upload the photos for these posts. Pretty much all of what I wanted to document has been done. I will keep my account active on Discord, but unless someone tags me I don't really check up there too much. I will continue to check and reply to comments here.
DeleteIt is sad to hear that the blog will no longer be updated once you get through the posts you have planned. The blog has been a huge part of growing the Houston retail enthusiast community and I'm sure the same is true for your readers in Louisiana. Fortunately, your blog archives are a great resource of information. Those who read my comments and guest blog posts at other blogs know that I'm always citing your work when describing some part of retail!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think that when this blog was started, the closure of Montgomery Ward was not too far in the rear-view mirror and Sears still had a large presence in Houston. B&M retail was still the primary way most people shopped. A lot of changed since then and a lot of stores and malls have been closed and redeveloped. Some of the retail that's left just isn't as exciting as what used to exist and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what posts you still have planned for us! Knowing some of the places you've visited in recent months, I think there should be some really interesting things left to see here at the blog.
I appreciate the comment as always. I am glad to have documented a lot of Houston retail as things have vastly changed since beginning my work on the blog in 2008. I have mostly reached my goal of the places I really wanted to document.
DeleteI am working on the last blog trip so fingers crossed that we will get to finish the blog trips off the way I want to do it.
I've also decided to end my own blog after I run out of content for making my lists as I just don't have time to cover every piece of retail in South Texas (the fact that I now live in Houston and don't have time to go back home to Corpus every weekend is another reason) so I can understand your decision too. I still have a couple of more chains that I want to cover and the final two pages I'll be doing are on two very important South Texas chains (it'll be worth the read, trust me) then I'll be signing off for good but will continue to make small updates to existing lists. I also left the group chat do to tensions with another member who's name I won't mention but if you need to contact me, feel free to shoot me an email and we can talk more.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are ending your blog as well. I know you had some great ambitions for your blog. It is a difficult balance to keep a blog going. My motivation to keep things going while continuing to find new interesting things to document has fallen off. With the huge backlog that I have, loss of several retail stores I liked to document, and finishing up what I wanted to document, it is time to finish things off.
DeleteI will eventually sign off of most if not all of my social media accounts in the near future, I just can't keep up.