Kroger #241 (Dickinson, Texas)

Photo by Joshua Bailey on Google Maps, cropped (source)
New entries in Houston will be posted on The Houston Files, but that doesn't apply to suburban Houston...while the Dickinson Wal-Mart was relatively short-lived, our post today is a bit further north on Gulf Freeway (around the same exit), at 3410 Gulf Freeway, the now-defunct Kroger, which operated from 1980 to its closure in 2025 (when several Houston-area Kroger stores closed around the same time). While we covered it on the "Galveston" page on Carbon-izer (currently still up, though I plan to reorganize this out of existence by the end of the month, so here's the archived version), it doesn't cover its closure.

Of note, there is a good photo of this store as to what it looked like in the early 2000s as it's on the page of CDA Architects (a commented out photo is on this page for safe-keeping) though it unfortunately shoots the renovated version in shadow, making the "Greenhouse" Kroger objectively nicer-looking (they do have another photo there).

The vacant space was a Walgreens located at 3400 Gulf Freeway, which was later incorporated into the Kroger's expansion, with the Walgreens here until 2000 (moved to 4016 Highway 3). This allowed the Kroger to become a Signature store as it went from 33,000 square feet to around 56,000 square feet. Despite its closure, it did get Kroger's new logo, if briefly. In July 2026 it reopened as Crunch Fitness.

Towne Center North (Conroe, Texas)

From Loopnet (source).
As we continue to dismantle this page, we take a look at the "Towne Center North" strip center. The main anchor here, 1306 West Davis Street, was originally a Randalls supermarket (lasting just three years, roughly from fall 2002 to fall 2005)¹, this later became Hastings, a chain store specializing in music, movies, books, and games. At some point, Gold's Gym moved into the unused space that Hastings didn't use, and after Hastings closed in fall 2016, Gold's Gym continued to stay here. Current tenants include 2nd & Charles, and Planet Fitness (which replaced Fitness Project) and a vacancy that used to hold Party City before their bankruptcy. The other buildings here have separate addresses. 1302 W. Davis Street as of May 2024 featured Stellar Bank (A), Leslie's Pool Supplies (B), OneMain Financial (C), Panera Bread (D), and a vacancy (E). Panera Bread closed in August 2025 with the failure of franchisee EYM Cafe. In 2008, the bank space was vacant, Citi Financial was there instead of OneMain Financial, Leslie's and Panera Bread were still there, and E was a Sears Home Appliance Showroom (this closed in the late 2010s), while 1304 from north to south, as of May 2024, we have Trinity Dental (A), Milan Laser Hair Removal (B, home of TGF Haircutters circa 2008), vacancy (Check N Go as of 2008, C), F&H Supplements (D), Vivid Nails (E), Spec's Liquor (F), Tune Up The Manly Salon (G, RadioShack as of 2008), and FedEx Office (H, FedEx Kinko's, formerly). 1308 features Panda Express and Verizon, though this was built between 2008 and 2013.

1. This relocated from a different location in Conroe.

Red Roof Inn La Marque (La Marque, Texas)

Official picture via Google Maps
This hotel at 5201 Gulf Freeway in La Marque has definitely seen better days, but Google reviews indicate there's still some life in it yet.

I stayed at this hotel back in August 2008 (I discussed it on my Mall of the Mainland page) and while I don't have pictures of it from that time I do have information. It opened in early 1983 as a 160-room Holiday Inn (Holiday Inn La Marque/Texas City) and in fall of 1998 lost the name (briefly becoming a La Quinta, then Ramada Inn a few months later). It flipped several names in the next decade, including "The Grand Hotel" as of early 2006 (with "Grand Slam Sports Bar"), then Travelodge by 2007 (with "RJ's Sports Bar", I seem to remember this being smoky and outdated)¹ and then Americas Best Value Inn & Suites in late 2010. RJ's later became Jimmy's Bar & Grill, which is still open. (It closed for a time in the early 2020s for obvious reasons). It assumed its current flag, Red Roof Inn, between 2023 and 2025.

I have a Travelodge directory from 2008 but it mentions this hotel having only 130 rooms, not 160 rooms like it was under Holiday Inn. It's possible some rooms got combined into suites but there's also the theory that some rooms got closed off later.

1. That being said, I had a pretty decent view of Travelodge back then. Their tendency to put their name on some of the worst motels out there has caused me to doubt its pedigree.

This post was originally posted on Carbon-izer.