Fiesta #18 OST and Kirby December 2022 and January 2023 and another 2024 mini-update

Here is an older update from one of the few remaining retro Fiesta stores in the Houston area. Despite a complete renovation beginning in late 2022, this store has sat relatively unchanged since then. A very strange development since nearly all Fiesta stores have been remodeled since 2020. The good news is that we get to hold onto the neon and flashing lights for a bit longer. I have been to this store in 2024, and not much has changed. There is some video footage that I took from 2023 and 2024 that will be posted at a later time.  

Interior renovation had begun. 

The wood panel lattice had been removed from the light fixtures above the produce

Neon fading out.

The neon had been completely removed from the Chinese restaurant.

The neon was still on in this part of the store, but the wood panel lattice had been removed as well.

The lower food prices neon along with the parrots were now gone. You can see some of the dust build up where the signs were at.

The neon was off here and mostly removed. The wood panel lattice was gone as well.

The international flags were gone as well. 

The neon removal had stopped here.

The red light fixtures had been removed from the frozen food area. 

The wood panel lattice was gone here in the front corner of the store as well.

The wood panels above the checkouts. 

The Chinese restaurant, now without signage.

Now for a bit more of the nearby surroundings.

What in the world happened to the Gamestop?

As you can see from the promotional posters and store hours, the store was still open.

Just before the neon signs came down. The larger sign on OST had already been replaced with the new company signage. This may have been the last neon Olive Garden sign left in the area. 

In other news, Greenspoint Mall is officially confirmed to be closed. There was conflicting information online as to when the closure of the mall will happen, but as of August 23, 2024, the mall is closed. We can't pin down an exact date at this time, but the closure happened sometime between August 1st and my visit yesterday. The last two remaining entrances have been locked or chained shut. If you want to walk around the mall exterior you still have full access for now, but the inside is sealed off. August 31st update below.

August 31st update. Looks like some work is going on inside of the former Uniform Superstore/Palais Royal. From what I could see some of the kiosk businesses from the mall are setting up shop inside. People were getting turned away at the door so whatever is going on there is not ready yet. Even though the mall is closed, at least the old junior anchor may reopen to the public. I will keep my eye on this space if it does reopen. 

And finally, a North Shepherd Sears demolition update. The area around the store is fenced off with debris and heavy machinery inside of the fence. We walked on the perimeter sidewalk to get one last view from afar. Only the skeleton of the store and flooring remains at this point. It is really a shame that this structure is getting torn down, there are so many generic newer shopping centers and homes in that area already. If anything, the auto center could have been saved and turned into a retro style shopping center. 

The Sears auto center and main store in the far view.

The store is hallowed out so you can get a glimpse inside before the rest of the structure goes down. 

The iconic sign is outside of the demolition area, so hopefully it will be saved. Seriously this sign needs to be saved!

 

2024 Teaser article, just a small sample of news and future projects

Here is a short teaser article to see what I have been documenting behind the scenes. My apologies to the readers of this blog for my long absence since posting my 15th anniversary Sears article back in April. At the moment, I don't have enough free time for a complete post, so here is a quick look at some things until I can put together another full post.

Lufkin Atwoods in the former Kmart. 

After 7 long years the Kmart space has been filled with this brand new Atwoods store. The store opened on May 15, 2024. Atwoods is a variety store that carries so many products. This renovated space is the best-case scenario for the old Kmart space. Unfortunately, this shopping center will have another large space to fill once Conn's closes in the near future.

Former electronics department.

This was the wall where the 90's images were up until the very end of the Kmart. Too bad Atwoods doesn't have an electronics department. 

Hertz Tower (Capital One Tower) demolition scheduled for September 7th in the morning. While this is not a retail related story, this tower has dominated the skyline of Downtown Lake Charles for as long as I can remember. This 22-story building opened in 1983 and was heavily damaged in 2020 from Hurricane Laura, with further damage occurring from Hurricane Delta just a few weeks later. From what I can find online, the economics of fixing up the building were not there, so the decision was made to demolish the building and open up the site for future redevelopment. 

Post Oak Mall former Sears now Murdoch's Ranch and Home. 

Murdoch's opened on January 30, 2024. About half of the former Sears building was converted into a Conn's HomePlus store. The remainer of the building sat vacant for 5 and a half years before Murdochs opening. Now that Conn's is closing, who knows what will take their space. Murdoch's does not open up into the mall.

From my best guess, this is where the electronics department was in the former Sears.

As you can see, the former Bealls and Macy's anchor spots are still vacant. About half of the mall is doing really well, while the other half is somewhat struggling. There is also a small Entertainmart store near the Dillard's Womens store, but the selection of items is pretty small in comparison to the stores we have visited before.

Greenspoint Mall May 2024 visit. 

This was one visit for the ages and possibly my last visit to the mall. As was reported late last month, the mall was originally scheduled to close on June 30th. The date was moved to July 31st per the initial news reports. A couple of days later, the news reports changed the closing date to August 31st. I will try to make another visit later this month, so if the mall is still open, we will get more photos. If not, you will not be disappointed with the coverage from the May trip. 

The food court doors had been screwed shut so only 2 entrances remained open to the public. Not sure if that is actually up to fire code, but this is not the first mall I have seen something like this at before. 

Per a Jimmy Jazz employee, Finish Line had been broken into a couple of weeks earlier and the decision was made to close the store immediately. 

Both open mall entrances have boarded up windows with broken glass.

The former Foley's Macy's building is in very poor condition. 

The crumbling Sears building with the new mixed-use development just a few feet away.

Water gushing out next to the former Dillard's/Joskes.

Closed off mall entrance near the former Dillard's/Joskes. This is probably a preview as to how the mall will look once the rest is closed off. 

Redbox out of business. Even though it has been years since I rented a Redbox movie, these were a convenient option once Blockbuster closed their stores. Here are a couple of different kiosks that I photographed last month once the Chapter 7 bankruptcy of the company was announced.

Walmart Porter Texas

Randalls Flagship Champions Village.

Sadly, the store had some water leaking through the ceiling a few days after Hurricane Beryl.

Conn's HomePlus Humble Texas. 

As many of my readers will know, Conn's has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in the early stages of a complete liquidation of the company. I will do my best to document at least one Conn's store. We didn't shop very often at Conn's, but they were one of the few companies that were moving into empty mall anchor stores. The closure of this company is hitting Texas especially hard since there are 80 stores in the state. 

Round 1 North Star Mall San Antonio 

You may be asking yourself, why does this matter? Well, I am proud to share the news that Deerbrook Mall is getting the first Houston area location of Round 1. It remains to be seen as to what space they will occupy, but the mall website already lists them as a tenant. Construction is scheduled to start this month with an opening date in 2025. This is currently my only photo of a Round 1 location. This company has been expanding to a lot of malls and we will finally have one here as well.

99 Cents only conversion to Ollie's Atascocita (Humble) Texas

The conversion to Ollie's for the former 99 cents only store that closed in June is well underway. In early August, we can see that the store has already received shelving and stock. The purple lines have been painted over with red paint as well. The Humble location of 99 Cents only will become a Dollar Tree (not pictured)

Looks very close to opening already, they are not wasting any time here.

The last remnant of the 99 cents only store.

One last news story, the long-delayed Taco Bueno in Humble is now open. This strip of restaurants on FM 1960 just North of the airport has been growing steadily. One of the few remaining Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the Houston area is in this strip as well. If we can only get In and Out, Bojangles, and Del Taco (please come back to Houston!) in the area as well it would be fantastic news. In and Out's expansion is very similar to what we saw with Raising Canes, NE Houston was last on their list. Now Raising Canes has 3 locations in the area with constant drive through lines and decent dine-in traffic as well.  

Hope everyone enjoyed this quick look at some happenings around.