Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort Galveston (Galveston, Texas)

From the hotel's official website. It hasn't made any structural changes to the hotel despite the loss of the branding. I wanted to expand on this one (another Carbon-izer import). The Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort brand was started around 1994 with conversions of 18 existing Holiday Inn hotels in Mexico, Canada, and the United States and by the mid-2000s had expanded to several more properties, though I don't ever remember staying in one, and the only thing that really seemed to differentiate it from a regular Holiday Inn was the "KidSpree Vacation Club" (children's activities)— for this reason it was probably discontinued and folded into other brands when Holiday Inn did its major brand refresh in 2007.

From a hotel directory, c. 2004. Personal collection. Galveston was one of the later additions to the chain, opening in 2005 at 1702 Seawall Boulevard, keeping its logo and brand several years past the discontinuation of the brand, and becoming Galveston Beach Hotel in 2014 during its renovation into a DoubleTree by Hilton. The new Doubletree By Hilton Hotel - Galveston Beach, officially opened February 2015. The original construction demolished a few Seawall Boulevard businesses, the eastern terminus block of Avenue O 1/2, and the houses along it...but not actually the original 1702 Seawall Boulevard address. The older building that shares the 1702 Seawall Boulevard is currently vacant--this was Salt Water Shop (surf shop and bike rentals) until the mid-2010s, until it moved to the space next door. It looks like it may be used as the hotel for event space.

I couldn't find any good pictures of the hotel when it was a Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, there's one here and of course Street View.

Additionally, it features 100 rooms and six suites on six floors (per a 2005 hotel directory) and there's a partially enclosed bar (serves some food items), Longboard Pool Bar (formerly Captain Jacks under Holiday Inn) between the pool and the street.

Big's Meat Market (Buda, Texas)

Big's Meat Market sent out a postcard with their menu and other items. I previously mentioned this in a directly imported post but I wanted to revisit this former Arby's, first discussed at Carbon-izer.com, this former Arby's at 270 Old San Antonio Road opened in late 2008 and in mid-2022 it was purchased by Texas Sausage Company and shut down, quickly reopening as Big's Meat Market, on July 1, 2022. Based on the article previously linked there wasn't much of a gap between purchase of the building and the opening of Big's Meat Market. Big's Meat Market permanently closed in late March 2023 following a "sudden and unexpected loss in staffing" (no doubt some sort of drama involving employees leaving en masse). It reopened as El Pollo Rico by the end of the year.

Google Maps Link

Randalls in Killeen (Killeen, Texas)

Today, it's the home of Texas Thrift but I'd like to take time to talk about what was previously written on Carbon-izer a while ago. Located on 2200 E. Veterans Memorial Blvd. (formerly US-190 Business), Safeway #751 opened in 1977 and was converted to 1989 to AppleTree before closing in early 1994. It was part of the group of AppleTree stores that Randalls Food Markets purchased the previous year and after a few weeks of cleanup and repainting, reopened as Randalls (489). By the end of January 1997, the store was shuttered, and Hastings opened within months (Hastings didn't even use all the space, the unused portion went to Family Dollar). This continued until Hastings closed around 2017.

The story of Randalls here is notable because it was the ONLY Randalls store in the entire Waco-Temple-Killeen area and a good hour away from Austin. It wasn't like Lufkin or College Station where a showy but ultimately unsustainable store was built, it was simply a bad acquisition in a lousy space.

Due to its history as Hastings, I doubt any part of Randalls is recognizable inside today.

North Loop West Entries (Houston, Texas)

In continuing to break down Carbon-izer my attention has turned to the 610 Loop page (archived from this point) and I've decided to focus on "North Loop West", which starts at Harvard Street, neither a major road nor one that crosses Loop 610. It updates the sections to get rid of non-North Loop West entries as well as other fixes that were never caught. Some new entries were added as well. 3000 North Loop West, Sheraton Houston Brookhollow, isn't listed here. It can be be found here at The Houston Files.

Whole Foods Market / 101 N. Loop W.
Part of the Yale Marketplace shopping center, this store, initially branded as "365 by Whole Foods Market" when it officially opened August 22, 2018 but rebranded by 2022 as Whole Foods Market (after new parent company Amazon discontinued the brand). 365 was originally a limited service version of Whole Foods with fewer service departments and lower prices. In its early days it offered an outlet of Peli Peli Kitchen and Juice Society, both through a program called "Friends of 365" that allowed local outside brands to operate within 365 stores. However, these have since closed down and replaced with a sandwich bar and juice bar, respectively.

Ventura's Bridal Fashions / 102 North Loop West
Originally built c. 1980 as a warehouse for Ventura's Formal Wear (locally-based tuxedo shop, found in malls), this eventually became Ventura's Bridal Fashions (even as of 2011, "Ventura's Bridal Salon" and still advertising tuxedos on the sign).

Exxon / 202 North Loop West
This used to be an office building (it's twin was across the street at W. 30th) but by 1995 both were demolished. It was rebuilt as an "On the Run" Exxon gas station in 1997, but sold to Star Stop in the early 2010s (still an Exxon).

El Rey Cuban & Mexican Cuisine / 233 N. Loop West
Opened in early 2017 and moved from a location off Ella. Sells tacos and tortas, as well as a few other items.

Starbucks / 445 N. Loop W.
This Starbucks opened in April 2007. It replaced a Shell gas station and reuses the highway signage.

Taco Cabana / 700 North Loop West
One of the earliest Taco Cabana restaurants in Houston, opened by April of 1992 (not sure when it originally opened) but it was built as a Taco Cabana as opposed to a certain Houston-based knockoff sold to Taco Cabana later.

Shell / 801 North Loop West
The old Shell station at 801 North Loop West dated back to 1975 and was torn down in 2018, remaining vacant for almost a year before construction on a new Shell station began in 2019 and opened later that year, anchored by a "Checkout" convenience store (the old station had a car servicing garage). It was a Texaco prior to a Shell (gaining the brand around 2003 as with other Texaco stations).

The Home Depot / 999 North Loop West
Despite confusing access from Durham and Shepherd, the Home Depot has been here since 1993. An expansion in 2005-2006 added a new expansion and pickup area to the south side of the store, though the expansion doesn't connect the parking lot to West 26th Street.

Whataburger / 905 N. Loop West
This Whataburger is a little hard to get in and out of (no access from Brinkman) and has been since around 1999.

Office Depot / 1401 N. Loop W.
This Office Depot is not particularly accessible or visible from Loop 610, but it's been here since 2009.

Lowe's / 1521 N. Loop West
Lowe's opened in the year 2000. Later on, a Murphy Express gas station (commonly associated with, but not owned by Walmart) built in the parking lot.

Thomas Bar-B-Q / 1503 N. Loop West
This barbecue restaurant has been here since 1988.

CVS/pharmacy / 1525 N. Loop West
This replaced a Shell station in 2013 (the Shell station was not accessible from the adjacent parking lots). The Murphy Express was built in the Lowe's parking lot as a "replacement".

KFC / 1526 North Loop West
Located at the northeast corner of North Loop and Ella, from the 1970s until around 2001-2002, this was a Shell (something that Houston retail historians would refer to as a "Hexashell" due to its roof canopy shape). In 2002 it was redeveloped as a KFC/A&W (and as of 2008 still featured the old Shell highway signage to advertise) but in the early 2010s was renovated, ditching the A&W co-brand due to the separation of A&W from KFC parent Yum! Brands.

Denny's / 2120 N. Loop West
This Denny's has been here since 1975.

Antone's / 2724 West T. C. Jester Blvd.
This stand-alone Antone's restaurant (opened as Antone's Import Company) has been here since around September 1979 and currently is the only stand-alone restaurant in the chain.

Antone's has a somewhat complicated history; at some point, there was a split and dispute over the name, each side claiming to be the "legitimate" successor, etc. and at some point I'll make a full page on it. I believe that the "other" Antone's has either renamed or gone out of business, but that requires more research.

Applebee's / 2959 N. Loop W.
This Applebee's was opened in 2007.

Hancock Whitney Bank / 2979 N. Loop West
This is farther south than the Sheraton and directly on West 18th Street, but it was built as Whitney Bank in the early 2010s (new construction) before a merger changed the name about five years later.

Northwest Mall (Houston, Texas)

It's not a good picture of the mall but it's mine. (3/2008). I've always discussed the late Northwest Mall (located at 9500 Hempstead Road) as deserving better coverage on Carbon-izer, as I only had some pictures and thoughts from 2013 here. By the time I first really started paying attention to Northwest Mall (rather unimpressive, as JCPenney had been gone for years, and only Foley's was left) it was deep in decline. The Foley's would become Macy's in 2006 and close down in 2008 following Hurricane Ike damage (probably an easy way out since the 2003 opening of the Galleria's Foley's rendered it irrelevant). The sign still hung on the building for several years afterward even as it was clear that Macy's would not reopen it. The new home of Thompson's Antique Center of Texas (9950 Hempstead Road) at the former JCPenney opened in early 2012 and closed in 2022, after the mall itself had been shut for several years.

While Carbon-izer is still in need of a new Northwest Mall page, you can at least see this map I saved from back in 2008 when the mall still had Macy's and lots of other tenants.

Closer to the eastern corner of the mall was a small strip center that faced the mall area and was accessible from the parking lot (though was nearly invisible from the highway). Googling helped find these, but it appears that not all of them were actually active (must have switched addresses). A * means that I've confirmed they were active or recently departed at the time the center was evicted (all had the address of Hempstead Road). You can see some pictures of this strip mall and 9550 Hempstead Road at this page (same place with the Taco Bell/Wendy's/McDonald's/Jack's Carpet pictures). Based on some preliminary Googling from late 2019, here's what was there.

9552 - Demeri's Bar-B-Q*
9554 - Space City Tattoo Parlor & Body Piercing*
9556 - MP Healthcare Medical Supply [looked long abandoned by the time center was torn down]
9558 - [unknown, looks like there was a for lease sign]
9560 - Soundwaves [store #8]
9562 - King Street Patriots
9564 - Southern Apache Museum
9566 - Barber Shop & Beauty
9568 - Americana Insurance*
9570 - Smoke Toys*
9572 - The Security Store [address is also Townsley Baugh Design]

This is an updated version of what originally appeared on Carbon-izer with additions from other pages.

Hearne Wal-Mart (Hearne, Texas)

From The Eagle (1991), source linked below.
Before it even reached 300 stores, Wal-Mart was mostly opening small stores in smaller markets, and Hearne, Texas, was no exception with store #291 at 1201 W. Brown Street, opening in September 1980.

Most of these stores are still open or replaced with Supercenter stores that share the same store number, Hearne, though, is an exception. In late 1990 it announced its closure—its short tenure making the New York Times (archive).

New York Times posits the oft-repeated theory that the larger store #322 in Bryan (located at 3113 South Texas Avenue and opened in 1982) had something to do with its closure, though that was over 20 miles away. It doesn't make much sense; after all, store 1150 at 1815 Brothers Blvd. co-exists with store #273 in Navasota, which is closer (a straight-shot of 20 miles, hardly any stoplights) and has co-existed since day one. Even when #1150 became a Supercenter, #273 never changed much.

But what really happened? In October 1990, there was a Ku Klux Klan rally in Hearne where a Klan higher-up, Michael D. Lowe, accused the Wal-Mart of closing because of theft, including shoplifting by employees. Wal-Mart denied all accusations. It wasn't in response to the demographics of shoplifters but a spokesman for Wal-Mart was quoted as saying, "To the best of my knowledge employee theft is no more a problem at that store than in any other store in any other company. The reason the store is being closed is because it is unprofitable. Period." The mayor (and serving municipal judge) had heard less than 15 theft cases over the last few years but conceded that "if there is a problem at Wal-Mart, it is occurring within the store."

The Wal-Mart closure left bitterness either way, with the store apparently never having turned a profit.

Eventually, Hearne was able to buy back the building from Wal-Mart and after a renovation that expanded the building, the store became the new home of Hearne High School, first opening for the fall 2004 school year and been around ever since. However, that article in the previous link does apparently confirm what was long-suspected...that it was employee theft after all. With that, we are left with two choices on what actually happened. The most likely scenario is that Wal-Mart lied through their teeth on what the closure was (after all, it's not like corporations are bound to tell the truth about everything and they'd also deny that their store had anything to do with the demise of downtown). The second, far less likely scenario is that Michael Lowe made up the "employee shoplifting" accusation and that's what the 2004 article ran with (which would look way worse for everyone involved).

Karolyi's Gym (Houston, Texas)

The warehouse-like building at 17203 Bamwood Road, just off FM 1960 West, has a bit of an interesting history. In 1980, a gymnastics center at 17203 Bamwood was built, known as "Gym-an-i Gymnastics Center". In the early 1980s, recently defected Olympics team trainer Béla Károlyi invested in the gym and ended up buying it in 1982 (renaming it as "Karolyi's Gym") and spurring the creation of many similar facilities in the area. In 1996, the Bamwood facility was purchased by James Holmes of College Station and renamed Acrofit Gymnastics (more on Acrofit Gymnastics can be seen at Brazos Buildings & Businesses). Károlyi continued to operate Karolyi Ranch until it was shut down as part of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal (Karolyi passed away in 2024).

This facility continued to operate as Acrofit until around 2000 when Acrofit opened a new facility at 2103 Anders Lane in Kemah. I'm not sure if both locations co-existed at the same time (probably not) but this location was gone by 2004 (which was when the College Station location closed).

High Energy Lighting Inc. was later here and which has since renamed Famous Stages, Inc. and is in use as their warehouse (their showroom is elsewhere in town).

This is an updated version of what originally appeared on Carbon-izer.