Randalls in Killeen (Killeen, Texas)

Picture from Loopnet in the Hastings days (likely taken in the mid-2000s).
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. UPDATE 01-18-2026: Picture added. [Hastings] added.

El Rey Cuban & Mexican Cuisine (Houston, Texas)

Picture from Google by Antonio Helm, cropped (taken approx. 2019)
Much how this page once held a bunch of addresses for Research Boulevard and was pared down to one entry, this page was originally a page for North Loop entries (the full Carbon-izer link is not available at press time) pared down to one entry (to prevent full page removal). In this particular case, the page has been focused to 233 North Loop West, El Rey Cuban & Mexican Cuisine at 233 North Loop West. Opened in early 2017 and moved from its old location at 34th Street and 34th Street, this sells tacos and tortas, as well as a few other items.

UPDATE 07-09-2026:: Converted page into only being on El Rey.

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]

Finally, I should mention that the address of the mall is still in use through Houston Granite & Marble Center. The old JCPenney Auto Center was later sold to Firestone and that closed in the 2000s. After remaining empty for years it was revitalized as its current use in 2014.

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