Palms Center update April 2022

 Here is a quick update to the Palms Center area in the Southern part of Houston near I-610 and M.L.K Blvd. Things have really changed in this area with the addition of the rail line and road improvements.

The vintage Montgomery Ward/King's Market has been torn down and replaced by this townhome complex. Here is what the site looked like in 2013, sorry for the crummy picture quality, my photo quality has gotten much better over the years, click here.

All I can say is wow, you would never have guessed that this is the lot of a former Montgomery Ward store. There is nothing left. This is a very good replacement for an aging property that was struggling.

More views of the development.

Not much has changed at the shopping center portion of the Palms Center, click here to see what this property looked like in 2013. The buildings look great, and businesses fill up just about every space.

The former JCPenney anchor.

The corridor leading to the former JCPenney entrance.

Looking from the edge of the center to the JCPenney side of the center.

More to come, stay tuned.

Palms Center Montgomery Ward

The Palms Center Montgomery Ward was actually across Southpark (now Martin Luther King Blvd.) from the Palms Center shopping center. This store opened in 1959, closed in early 1986, and later became the King's Best Market which uses the entire two levels of the former Wards for shops and a few eateries. The market is open 7 days a week to walk and shop inside of a mostly preserved Montgomery Wards building. The Shaver and Spencer Rd. flea market that is also located in a former Montgomery Ward is another example of a good reuse of these buildings. As you can see from the photos below, the labelscar from the Wards sign is still on the building many years after the signs were taken off. Look at my images below and click on the below link to see what the store looked like in 1961. There are currently two former Montgomery Ward locations in the Houston area that are still abandoned at Greenspoint Mall and San Jacinto Mall. The Greenspoint Mall store was used as a Worksource location for a while, but now it is closed again and the remaining mall corridor to the former entrance has been blocked off (by small line dividers). The San Jacinto store has been vacant for over 10 years and the whole mall corridor to that store has been walled off. To find out more about Montgomery Wards click the above title to read about Wards in the 1960's. Click here to check out this image on the Pleasant Family Shopping Blog from the same exact side of the store from around the time the store opened. 

 

Here are a few views from around the store. As you can tell the labelscars are still visible from these two sides of the store.

 

   

A few views from inside the store. Most of the walls of the store have been covered up by booths from the market. It looks like the original Wards colors are still present in the staircases on the sides of the store. The middle of the store has stairs instead of an escalator. Did this store originally have an escalator?

   

The elevator sign, I cannot tell if it was original or new to the store. 

   

Coming soon, a visit across the street at the former Palms Center Shopping Center.