Is Houston's retail economy improving?

I have mixed feelings about the Houston retail economy. Over the past year some developments such as Plazamericas, Almeda Mall, Pasadena Town Square, and The Pavilions of Houston have attracted several new businesses. Other developments such as Greenspoint Mall and Northwest Mall are having a hard time keeping tenants. There have also been several redevelopment projects in former big box locations, but new retail development in Houston seems to have slowed significantly. Post your comment below and get the discussion going.

Addition to March update on Plazamericas mall

Here are the remains of the old Sharpstown signs that are sitting next to the entrance of the former Fingers store.



The directories have been recently updated to reflect the new tenants and the Mercados under development.





This is the second Mercado being developed near Burlington Coat Factory. This will be called El Mercado and the space is being developed by the owners of the mall. The other Mercado is being developed by an outside investor. The space is being cleared out on both floors for the Mercado and I was only able to get one good picture due to the lack of lighting. Keep in mind that the space is in the process of being completely gutted and rebuilt. El Mercado is scheduled to open Nov 2010 according to the mall directory.




The Clarewood Washateria is almost open. While most malls do not have a laundromat; this mall has several apartments just across the street that can benefit from a brand new self service laundromat. The laundromat is also connected to the Clarewood Mercado, so customers can browse the stores while waiting for their clothes to get cleaned.





Here are some liquor permits for restaurants inside of the Mercado.



The mirrored glass remains from the former JCPenney but with the new logo of the Clarewood Mercado.



These are some pictures taken from the outside of the Clarewood Mercado looking inside at the ongoing construction. This is the larger Mercado inside of the former JCPenney store that closed in 1998.







Here are some of the new openings in the mall. The dollar store was moved to make way for the Mercado going in next to Burlington. The last picture is of the Mercadito; which is a smaller version of the Mercados that are going in.





In other Plazamerica news; another retail development is trying to sue the owners of the mall for the similarity of Plazamericas to their name Americas Plaza. Check out more on this story at http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2010/03/whats_in_a_name_former_sharpst.html#comments

Plazamerica links and February Photos

Here are a few pictures taken around closing time in late February of the ongoing construction projects at the mall.







A new chron story

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6888543.html

A flicker album

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47054307@N08/tags/plazamericas/

Belle Prominade Extra Photos

Here are a few more photos from the Belle Prominade Mall in Marrero Louisiana taken in 2001. These were taken by a low resolution pen camera which explains the small photo size. This mall is nearly forgotten and the property has been completely redeveloped. I plan on getting back to New Orleans later on in 2010, so there will be several new Louisiana articles here soon.



This was the center court of the mall.



This shot is where the Dillard's stood facing the south side of the mall.



Here is a shot of the length of the mall from the south near Lapalco Blvd.

Greenspoint Mall 2/25/2010

Greenspoint Mall will be losing the Sears store on May 9, 2010. The anchor lineup will be Fitness Connection (not connected to the mall corridor), Macy's (downsized), and the Dillard's clearance center. The old Montgomery Ward is being used as a Worksource job finding agency. The food court is still doing well, but has a few vacancies. Greenspoint Mall needs to get the redevelopment project started before it is too late. The middle of the mall is nearly full, but the closing of Sears will hurt businesses and decrease customer traffic in the entire mall.

Here is a redevelopment idea; turn an old JCPenney into a wild west town complete with horses. The rodeo trail riders have set up a temporary camp at the mall on their way to Reliant Park.




The former JCPenney is starting to fall into disrepair.




The front of this storefront looks like it was a Palais Royal, but I may be wrong. The Palais Royal on the other side of the mall was once a Beall's.



Inside of the Dillard's clearance store; this store closes early everyday.








Here are a few shots inside the mall from near the food court.

Circuit City Lake Charles

Here is a quick shot of the Circuit City in Lake Charles Louisiana taken on Mardi Gras day 2010. For some reason my camera makes the store look like it is sinking on one side. This store was remodeled after Hurricane Rita and reopened about two years before Circuit City closed all of their stores.

Greenspoint Sears going dark

Photos taken 2/25/2010



Here is a photo from inside of the hardware/ fitness department.



The store is now closing at 7pm, so this part of the mall was virtually empty tonight.




Here are some photos of the store taken in 2009.




According to several sources including the Sears website; the Sears at Greenspoint Mall will be closing by May 9, 2010. The closing will be a serious blow to the mall. The mall entrance to this Sears store has red tiles from the old Sears colors. For more information and sources go to http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2010/02/greenspoint_sears_going_dark.html