Spring Market Italy (Italy, Texas)

Spring Market #719 in Italy, Texas. (Source). Later this month (hopefully) I'll put up the new and revised page currently known as "Italy in 2014" on Carbon-izer. It will still feature the Starship Pegasus information, of course, but other stuff will be moved around. (We already talked about Italy Truck Stop, and even back then I promised it would be reformatted soon). In this case, we're porting the information on Spring Market over with a few small fixes.

Walmart Express, a concept launched in 2011 meant to compete with Dollar General in markets even smaller than what Walmart had been operating in for the last thirty years or so, opened in July 2014 (with a fuel station) at 721 Dale Evans Drive (store #2345), after what I assume was a quick build. (Coincidentally, Italy's Dollar General was just next door at 761 Dale Evans, and opened August 2004). As the division struggled, Walmart began to internally re-align them as Walmart Neighborhood Market (never branded as such, at least not this location) and in January 2016 pulled the plug on the entire chain (Express, not Neighborhood Market). Brookshire Grocery Company later picked up a number of former Walmart Express stores in the region and reopened them as "Spring Market" later that year, with this store being #719. Despite its low volume and isolated location halfway between the "town" portion of Italy and the "truck stop" portion of Italy, Brookshire has done better with its small-format stores better than Walmart did.

Waller County Line BBQ (Waller, Texas)

This was taken February 2014 from a car window (picture by me), possibly from a video. Original here. We've covered Buc-ee's at FM 362 over at Carbon-izer as the first (or last address) of Northwest Freeway at 40900 Northwest Freeway.¹ But what of the gas station catty-corner to it at FM 362? It used to be covered back on Carbon-izer, but was removed during one of the page's many updates.

When it comes to the FM 362 intersection, I'd always felt that in going eastbound, the road went too high with sharp dropoffs before adding guardrails at the very top (at least they have shoulders), moreso than other overpasses in this part of 290, with Waller County Line BBQ being off on the right. It's currently an Exxon station, in summer/early fall 2019 it was a Shell station, and from my records, built in December 1997. In 2002 a bar called Trails End was added in a second suite, around 2007 it closed and gave way to Cedar Creek Saloon, a smoky poorly-lit honky-tonk with pool and cheap beer.

1. Northwest Freeway does start at around 10000, as it parallels Hempstead Road, which is a continuation of Washington Avenue, which does head into downtown.

Wings N' More on South Staples Street (Corpus Christi, Texas)

A menu from a dining guide at the time (personal collection). I had to assemble this from two scans.
The first reference I can find to 5990 South Staples Drive was Currie's Seed & Nursery, a local plant nursery based out of Corpus Christi, opening in fall 1978. (Their main location was at 909 S. Staples). By the early 1990s, this was Currie's only location, and it went bankrupt in late 1994, liquidating their inventory. In September 1996 it reopened (same building) as Wings N' More, based out of College Station, Texas and independently owner-operated. It was the first Wings N' More that wasn't in College Station or Houston.¹

I remember eating at this one back around June 2007, I had the "Grilled Montego Bay Shrimp" in 2007; it was fantastic.² Around early 2012 they relocated to 6022 Sarazen Drive and closed this location. A few years later it was torn down for Corner Store (Valero gas) which was rebranded to Circle K a few years after that (still with Valero gas).

1. I wrote a bit on the College Station location in a recent rewrite of an existing article on Brazos Buildings & Businesses here.
2. I don't remember that item appearing on the menu at the College Station location, and if it did it was gone within a year or two.

Homer Martin's Hatchery (Waco, Texas)

Frank's Mini Mart (Hempstead, Texas)

Once again from Loopnet, which has taken it from BCSRealtor. Sorry on the resolution.
Bonus post since I missed one last week. There's a whole lot more stuff we can get into that was taken off Carbon-izer.com recently (the Shell at FM 1488 was just one example). This time, it's another Hempstead-area gas station, Frank's Mini Mart, located at 29869 Highway 6.

This defunct gas station has been here since around 1990 (Loopnet claims 2003...that isn't true) and was, up until 2013 (plus or minus a year) converted to Citgo from Exxon, but the classic Exxon-style signage for the store remained (Frank's Mini Mart). There's also restaurant space; according to tax records, there was a place called "Gold Bamboo Asian Kitchen" but I don't think that ever opened...and there's another listing for "Texas Big Hamburger". From what I remember, there was a "grill" with a big "Now Open" sign that was already closed down.

In any case, around 2020 it shut down for good after a larger gas station opened practically across the street from it. It's since gotten a facade redo but no activity from what I've seen.

Pepé Taco of Salinas (Salinas, California)

If you're familiar with Pepe's Mexican Cafe in Bryan, this mascot should be instantly familiar to you. (The Californian, 11/23/1968)
While Pepe's Mexican Cafe in Bryan won't be on Brazos Buildings & Businesses anytime soon (hopefully) due to blog policy concerning operating businesses (it needs to have a former occupant), it started out in 1969 as Pepé Taco, a Mexican fast food chain based out of the Dallas area. In the 1970s the Bryan location disconnected from the chain, but by that time many of the restaurants it once boasted had disappeared (according to an article when the Bryan location opened, there were once 300 of these restaurants).

Despite this, Pepé Taco did have a few franchises that succeeded during this time of rapid change in the fast food franchising bloodbath, including Salinas, California, a world away from Bryan.

In November 1968, Pepé Taco opened at 701 East Alisal Street and operated much longer than others in the chain (possibly the last Pepé Taco branded as such) and closed in November 1982.

Pepé Taco's menu from its last year of operation.
From there, the restaurant with its equipment changed hands and it seems to have opened as "El Pollo Bravo" and "Mi Taco Loco" at the same time (it's not clear, just looking at notices, not advertisements) before becoming "El Pollo Dorado" and operating to this day, with the same Pepé Taco-shaped sign.

Fleet Farm (Owatonna, Minnesota)

This picture is mine and taken July 2026. It was cropped slightly and rotated to be more even.
Today's post (well, I took a little while to finish it) is on the Fleet Farm in Owatonna, Minnesota. I visited this in July 2026 (the "silo" is where the restrooms and are noted as a shelter for inclement weather). It was my first time in such a store (never been a place where I could find a cattle prod and a jar of marshmallow creme in the same place...and their selection of dog food is second to none). I can't find when it opened, though. It looks like on Google Earth it was built in its current form in the early 2000s, and in the 1990s I can find references for "SPX Power Team" at this address, despite looking like a big box store with a large parking lot in front, so it's a bit of a mystery to me.

A few of my pictures taken in the same trip are below.