Buyers Market I-10 West

After a short break from the blog, here is a long awaited post. 

Here is the second installment of the Houston area Buyer's Market series. This former Buyer's Market Mall was busier than the Airtex location. The building is currently occupied by Garden Ridge and has many of the mall fixtures still untouched such as the food court spots. Some of the former mall is used for Garden Ridge offices, but the majority of the former mall is still open to the public. Garden Ridge took over both former Buyer's Market Mall locations shortly after they closed and used the former mall stores as departments for the items in the store. 

When Bramalea Ltd., the company that developed and managed the centers announced the closing of the malls there were 15 stores out of an original 48 left. A small amusement park was one of the last efforts to bring this property back to life before the center was ultimately closed. One of the failures of this center was the movement of the company officials to other assignments leaving the mall with new management when the mall was failing. The mall opened in November 1984 along with the Airtex location and closed on Jan 31, 1986. There were no true anchors to these centers and not much advertisement which hurt the viability of the stores at the malls. Many of the merchants were so bored in the final days that tables were set up in the middle of the mall for card games to pass the time. 

Former stores

Draperies Etc.

Holcombe Lindquist

Nutrition Outlet

Textiles Outlet

Inside we can see the same type of floors and ceilings that are in the former Airtex Buyers Market Mall.

Looking to the left of this picture, you can see the former stores of the mall used as departments for Garden Ridge. 

Here is the area near the checkout inside of a former mall store. Many of the former mall stores were opened up to create an open floor for the Garden Ridge.   

Here are some shots of the former food court area of the mall. You can see the mirrored glass and lighting that was used as signage for the food outlets. The shelving in this area makes it difficult to get good photos, but it looks smaller than the food court area in the Airtex location. 

Buyer's Market Mall North Houston Texas

See the bottom of the article for the October 2014 update.

Here is the first full blog article with the new and much improved camera.

Buyer's Market Malls were a failed attempt to capitalize on the Outlet Mall craze of the 1980's. The malls were developed by Bramalea Ltd. of Toronto Canada. The Buyer's Market Malls (and the Deauville Malls) gained attention from opening on Sundays when the blue laws of Texas made it illegal for retailers to open on Sundays. Some of the stores faced lawsuits from their violation of the blue law. The three Deauville Malls which were similar in concept and built at around the same time were bankrupt after less than two years in business, but stayed open longer. The Buyer's Market Malls both closed within a little more than only a year of being open. This market at 236,000 square feet is located near I-45 off Airtex Rd. The mall opened in October of 1984 and the mall was closed in January of 1986. Both Buyer's Market Malls were also converted into Garden Ridge Pottery stores soon after closing. The Katy Mall is still a Garden Ridge.  

One side of the sign had an old Garden Ridge slogan but it has since been covered up. 

The building still retains the same architectural features from the original mall design.

Stores in the Buyer's Market Mall were

Draperies Etc. (One of the last two stores left in the mall)

Lavenders (The last store to close)

If anyone knows what any of the other 34 stores were comment below. 

By October of 1985 a year after opening only 4 stores were left from the 36 that opened with the mall. The mall was officially closed in January 1986.

The north side of the mall corridor is still intact with storefronts. The rest of the mall has been gutted and opened up for the market spaces with movable dividers to expand or decrease store space.

Entrances to the East and West sides of the mall. One of these entrances was to the former Lavenders anchor. The walls have been removed that separated the anchors from the rest of the mall.

The food court opened as a food court, was still a food court (mostly snacks) in Garden Ridge, and remains a Food Court in the Armadillo Flea Market/ Marketplace development. 

Some images from the hallways of the market. For now most of the stores are on the main walkways of the market. There are some interesting stores at this market that are not usually found at most Houston area flea markets. At one point 

Update 10/14 the mall was closed in February and subsequently demolished for more warehouse space. There is a building under construction on the Southeast corner of the property. As you can see from the photos the mall is completely gone. All that remains is this sign on the Southwest corner of the property. The Facebook page is still up here.