Houston Historic Retail

06/16/2025

This CEFCO station outside of Dallas should provide a hint in which direction HHR’s vacation continues. CEFCO was a Texas-based chain that grew quickly over the past few years until it was acquired by Casey’s, which plans to convert the locations to its brand. It’s a nice store, but the thing that’s always stood out about CEFCO to me is that it looks like it’s built out of LEGO bricks.

06/16/2025

A must-visit in Dallas for me was the Dallas Station Kroger. Located on Mockingbird Lane, this plot was once home to DFW’s Dr. Pepper bottling plant. The Kroger store, which sits here now, is quite nice. I’d say a comparable store in Houston would either be N Shepherd or River Oaks. The store had the same art decor style as River Oaks until they were both updated. The store was quite busy during my visit. Interestingly, the Kitchen United Food Hall concept is still open, although I don’t think it’s run by Kitchen United or operating as a ghost kitchen anymore.

06/15/2025

Another DFW post, this was once an Academy Sports and Outdoors at the corner of Forest and US 75 in Dallas. This location was Academy’s only Outlet store before it closed. These days, it’s being used by a Chinese EV company named Kandi. While they sell more golf carts, ATVs, etc, they also import cars, and this building is their base of operations, or at least was.

The company still seems to be open. However, the showroom, which was supposed to be in this building, is non-existent. The signs on the doors say it’s not open to the public, and the cars outside the building look abandoned. There was even one with its passenger window rolled down.

I’m unsure what is happening here, but it paints a strange picture.

06/15/2025

Last night for dinner, I had Steak n Shake for the first time in quite a while. It’s a crazy story. There are still a handful of these open around DFW. Those following the blog for a while might remember my last experience getting Steak n Shake in Houston, which occurred in 2022, when a location briefly opened inside a Now & Forever gas station on Westheimer. To put it lightly, I didn’t write up a follow-up visit to that location, which was subpar. It closed shortly after.

This visit was a glorious return to form for Steak' n Shake. It was later at night by the time we got there, so we opted to go through the drive-thru and eat quickly in the car before hopping back on the road. The photos aren’t glamour shots, but any stretch, but this is by far the best Steak n Shake I’ve had in years. Unlike my last visit, the Garlic Steak Burger was absolutely delicious, with plenty of garlic seasoning and sauce. I had my girlfriend, who has never had it before, try a bite, and it was good enough to warrant a return for lunch today. The fries were also delicious, and the beef tallow does add something. The fries tasted nostalgic, like something I would have had from a drive-thru 30 years ago.

All in all, I’m super happy we could stop here. It hit a very nostalgic nerve for me, as Steak' n Shake was a popular destination for my friends in High School. It’s certainly been through a lot, but it looks like they’re on an upswing again. I do wish we had one closer to Houston.

06/14/2025

HHR is still on vacation, and I found something I didn’t mean to today. On the way out of DFW, I was looking for a gas station to get something to drink for the road. I saw a massive sign for 7-Eleven and pulled off. As it turns out, the sign was for the 7-Eleven Support Center, basically the chain's corporate offices. That being said, I felt foolish and drove around the back to find there was in fact a 7-Eleven tucked away in the office complex.

There were a few cars and signage out front, but I already felt the store was closed. Looking inside, though, it seems it was closed for the day. No hours were posted, and online it says it’s open 24/7. I’m guessing it’s open M-F during office hours, but I’m not positive. It was a cool thing to stumble upon.

06/14/2025

Here are the answers from the DFW photo contest earlier! Congratulations to Chris Teubner for correctly identifying all four stores!

Also let me know what you think about adding text to the photos for the answers? I’ve been struggling with a good way to distribute them and want to know what y’all think of this.

06/14/2025

I checked out a WinCo today in DFW, and let me say this is the one grocery store chain I want to see come to Houston. If you’ve never been to WinCo before, it’s pretty cool. They operate with lots of old-school tactics very successfully. Winco prides itself on low prices and pushes the comparison shopping method, posting side-by-side comparisons on sales tags and displaying a basket's worth of groceries in the front of the store with blown-up receipts.

Their stores are also huge, but almost strictly supermarket fare. They do have a couple of aisles of seasonal merchandise. This means they have a huge selection of products. They have a massive bulk selection. If you’re into reusable containers, they sell just about anything you could think of, from oils to milk bones, and it can all be purchased from the bulk bins. They also have a great selection of products. There are store brands, but they don’t dominate every category like some competitors do.

The stores are open 24 Hours a day, 7 Days a week, which I think is pretty cool. They’re also 100% employee-owned, and you can tell the employees take great pride in their stores. I really would like to see WinCo Foods make it to Houston one day. What do y’all think?

06/13/2025

Four “used to be” buildings were spotted today in DFW. We have (had) three of the four stores. Does anyone recognize what these were? Bonus points if you can get all four!

06/13/2025

HHR is on vacation this weekend and next week. Where will we end up? Who knows, but together, we’ll explore interesting retail along the way.

Our first stop is Colter’s for what I can only describe as a trip down memory lane. If you think this reminds you of something, you’re probably thinking of Luther’s and for good reason. Colter’s was originally part of Luther’s chain until they broke away in the 90s. As a separate chain, nothing much has changed. They still have a serving line, the seasoned fries, and the island with fixings, including three varieties of sauce. The BBQ is also as delicious as it ever was at Luther’s.

Colter's was once a much bigger chain, but is now down to two locations in DFW. If you were a fan of Luther’s and happen to be in the area I can’t recommend it enough.

06/13/2025

Local grocer Arlan's Market has closed its store located at 12460 Hwy 6, Santa Fe, TX 77510 in the Santa Fe Junction Shopping Center. This store originally opened in 1984 as Big Chief Foods. Arlan purchased this location in 2011 and was operating as the only full-service supermarket in Santa Fe, competing against a small footprint HEB. In late 2023, …...

Local grocer Arlan’s Market has closed its store located at 12460 Hwy 6, Santa Fe, TX 77510 in the Santa Fe Junction Shopping Center. This store originally opened in 1984 as Big Chief Foods. …

06/12/2025

I spotted this old sign permit for the Kroger in the Heights on W 20th. You don’t see these anymore, but the colorful stickers used to be required in the front window of any commercial establishment with a sign. This permit wasn’t for Kroger or Weingarten, who built this shopping center famously. Instead, it would have been during the few years Safeway operated out of this space. In 1984, Safeway purchased the remains of Weingarten’s. The company had been scaled back from a multi-state grocer to 43 locations across Houston. Safeway would leave Houston in 1988, spinning off our division to become AppleTree.

It’s a small thing, but it’s kind of reassuring that a small piece of history from that brief four-year period has been left undisturbed.

More info on:

Weingarten’s: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/grocery/weingartens/

Safeway in Houston: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/grocery/safeway/

AppleTree: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/grocery/appletree-markets/

06/12/2025

If you’re not following Vintage West Houston you should be. Even if you didn’t grow up in West Houston, his photos feature so many great vintage retail spots.