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.

The Catch Conroe (Conroe, Texas)

Photo from Google Maps, Ruven Astrade 2121 West Davis Street (originally covered at this page) was originally built as a Taco Bueno, but I never saw much of Taco Bueno on childhood trips to Louisiana as it only opened in 2007 but since it only closed in 2012 after about five years in operation it wasn't long for this world anyway.

By early 2013 it was operating as a new location of Einstein Bros. Bagels (#3604). Unfortunately Einstein Bros. was a bigger bust than Taco Bueno was and closed in February 2015 with other stores nationwide. Soon afterward it reopened as The Catch, a regional seafood restaurant chain and still operates to this day.

Ritter Hardware Beaumont (Beaumont, Texas)

Picture from Google Maps, from Max Morgan, 2016
Another one to add to the growing collection of entries on Highway 105 is Ritter Hardware. Opened July 2009 from a news article that I have since lost (though the company's website confirms it is 2009), the large store (for an independent) is located a ways off its address, 7420 Highway 105, and is off Windermere Parkway (Home Center Drive never did develop). Somewhere around the mid-2010s they ditched their original association with Ace Hardware and by the early 2020s remerchandised to remove flooring (which they previously had advertised).

Arlan's Market of Navasota (Navasota, Texas)

Taken back in January 2016 by author. Just a short post today on Arlan's Market of Navasota. The main page of this post is on Carbon-izer.com and is worth a read. Check it out!

(We'll continue with another H.K. Dodgen Loop post in the near future.)

Former Annie's Country Store in Conroe (Conroe, Texas)

Google Maps Street View from the 2010s. Another Chevron gas canopy is off to the right of the frame.
Another entry to split from Davis Street in Conroe. 3900 East Davis Street, from 1991 to 2006, was a Chevron (Annie's Country Store, possibly related to the Navasota Chevron of the same name)¹. It's interest to me is that around the time of its closure, the logo of Chevron was altered, switching up the colors from solid to gradient, the name from black to blue, and a different font for the name. (A large sign near US-290 and Beltway 8 was a hold-out for many years at least on its big highway sign, but it was eventually torn down).

I spotted this in 2011 on a road trip and observed it was that it was the Chevron that I remembered that had disappeared about five or so years prior, so it was nice nostalgia. It remained up until 2017 when it was finally demolished, and in 2020 was rebuilt as Speedy Stop #88 with Mobil gas (though Mobil gas was dropped in 2023 for the Speed Stop brand). While the station always had a Davis Street address, the new Speedy Stop faced 105, where as the Chevron was faced at an angle.

1. The reason I saw "possibly related" is its a different tax entry than the Navasota store but if you looked at the way the Navasota store was laid out like the awnings and the position of the gas relative to the store, they could've been related.

Conroe's James Coney Island (Conroe, Texas)

2013 Google Street View, edited slightly
The Conroe James Coney Island opened in December 2004 (or early 2005) but at some point, probably late 2013 or January 2014 at the very latest, closed. Replacement tenant Raising Cane's Raising Canes renovated it instead of building new, and as a result, when it reopened as Raising Cane's in June 2014, it was the biggest Raising Cane's in the country, though not by much (according to the website, which used to post opening dates and tidbits about each restaurant).

It is located at 2127 West Davis Street. This was split off from this post.

McDonald's / Shell (Montgomery, Texas)

This is a modified Google Maps Street View shot from the mid-2010s.
As I mentioned in the post on Hi-Ho, Highway 105 meant something to me at one time. In December 2003 I was really into McDonald's at the time (in terms of unusual menu items and restaurant buildings) so I loved this combo McDonald's/Shell gas station when I saw it (located at 15476 Highway 105). It was only a few years old at the time (I'm not 100% sure it opened with a Shell in 1999). Originally (until the mid-2010s), the canopies that added additional seating along Lake Conroe were painted yellow and red, but now they're tan. Timewise was also adopted as the convenience store name at some point. The McDonald's was "de-mansarded" in the late 2010s.

In 2003, the nearby strip center and the apartments behind it weren't developed yet, giving it a much more isolated and private nature. This of course appeared first originally on Carbon-izer.com as many recent posts did, but future posts in the Highway 105 series will be original.

Hi-Ho Store (Navasota, Texas)

This picture is taken from Visit Navasota.
Today's post is a slightly souped-up and focused version of this post (permanent archived version). For many years, the State Highway 105 East exit was memorable because if it was taken, it was usually the first big sign that we were on a big trip. Houston and Galveston still continued down Highway 6 and if we were even in Navasota to begin with there was at least something special going on. I had mentioned back at Brazos Buildings & Businesses those points that when crossed meant we were officially on a trip, but even when that line went from Rock Prairie Road to William D. Fitch Parkway, this exit meant that it was some place special—for years, it would be something like a road trip to Baton Rouge or Florida, or even in later years something a bit closer to home, like the Renaissance Festival. (All those things between here and there will be future posts) and even in my last road trip to Florida, I still took Highway 105 (though got off at the 249 exit). Nowadays it makes me a bit sad to see the area increasingly developed with Jack in the Box, Chicken Express, and a Starbucks at that corner (yet Navasota still lacks Taco Bell).

Today's subject is Hi-Ho, a Shell station that originally had the address of 1831 South Loop 6 but changed to 1921 Texas 105. Hi-Ho was there since 1994 but repaved and rebuilt its Shell gas canopy and around 2008-2009 (nearly looked like a new store), and then did a big expansion around 2017 (truck fueling and a store expansion including a back entrance) to compete with the new Stripes (now 7-Eleven) across the street. Other changes, like making the frontage roads one way and adding turnaround lanes, came around this same era.

Hi-Ho predated the gas station at the southeast corner (Circle H, later rebuilt as Circle T, no relation) and was the first thing at that intersection, so it holds some nostalgia value, and seeing the Shell sign after traveling on Highway 105 returning meant that home was one step closer. Hi-Ho survived, at one point in the late 2000s or early 2010s a car ran into the store (this was before the expansion). But things are changing once more, and Hi-Ho may turn into just another gas station consumed by TxDOT expansion.

Courtesy TxDOT
In the future we will be covering the long journey from Highway 105 to Florida (besides what has already been covered)...not all at once, there are a variety of other entries I wish to cover. There won't be a special tag for it, but I'll bring it up and link posts.

Fiesta Fresh Market (Conroe, Texas)

This is from Google Maps Street View but I've decided to capture it in 16:9 to show all the details.
Fiesta Mart has gone through various merchandising and ideas over the years, including just being a supermarket focused on Hispanic foods, to being a low-price leader, to having interesting store concepts that rival Randalls and Kroger, to exploring new concepts and formats. Fiesta #81, originally branded as "Fiesta Fresh Market" was one of the last "original" Fiesta stores under the original ownership (the link talks about Fiesta #82) and was one of these concept stores. Opening in Conroe in November 2013, it was far smaller than most of the stores in the chain and was basically designed as a "specialty" Fiesta with a deli and bakery fit among its 22,000 square feet of space. Located at 210 East Davis Street it is near downtown Conroe and required a redevelopment of the block.

The buildings that were demolished included Smith's Tire & Lube (202 East Davis Street), Moore Furniture (105 E. Philips Street), and the vacant Heilig-Meyers Furniture (110 E. Philips Street, which closed in 2001).

Smith's had been there for a long time, it was built in 1966 as Smith's Mobil, became a Texaco in 1973, and shuttered in 1990 (moving to I-45), reopening as Smith's Tire & Lube in 1991. Heilig-Meyers Furniture is a visibly old building that dates back decades (1950s or 1960s but I haven't found much on it).

The logo wasn't the only thing that new ownership changed, in a nod to both older roadside attractions and in some way's Fiesta's own past, a blinking light marquee was at ground level near the entrance. This went away between 2017 and 2018.

I have not personally been to this store, unfortunately, but I remember reading about it and thinking that it was a good idea since I remember the Fiesta bakery being great--telera rolls, dirt-cheap apple fritters (25 cents, even in 2014), and a bunch of other stuff. These days probably not so much...

This entry is an expanded version of what originally appeared on this page ("Davis Street in Conroe").

Rattlers' Navasota (Navasota, Texas)

I only have Google Maps Street View (this one is c. 2013), so it's a bit distorted. There's a self-serve car wash off to the left that's part of the property.

Rattlers' has previously been a discussion topic of mine, a local convenience store that was later absorbed into 7-Eleven (with the stores still bearing its name cut out of the chain, however), and in 1990 an Exxon was built there (Jim's Express Mart, but listing for "Hit & Run" stores also comes up). By 2004 the store's owner, Kolkhorst Petroleum, unified the convenience stores it owned at the time by giving them a common brand, Rattlers' Country Stores. Despite having the oldest ownership in the chain, outliving a few other stores that Kolkhorst had previously owned including some stores in the Waco-Temple-Killeen area, and of course, being right near Kolkhorst's offices, this location, 1701 E. Washington Avenue, only became Rattlers' #2. Store #1 was sold within a few years. On the Highway 6 side of the store there was a sign for "Rattlers' Deli" but state tax records indicate from 1999 to 2003 there was a Taco Bell Express inside the store (I believe by the time of the Rattlers' rebrand this was gone). In 2016, Kolkhorst Petroleum sold its stores to Sunoco (owner of Stripes) but Rattlers' stores never got rebranded to Stripes because the Stripes chain was sold to 7-Eleven a few years later, and within a few years was branded as 7-Eleven (as did the Stripes an exit down). This was also the first place I saw the new lower-case Exxon logo in late 2017, a sign of things to come. (At least the blue stripe-less version didn't last long before they added back the blue stripe).

This post was split off from this post as part of ongoing upgrades to the site.

UPDATE 12-19-2025: Minor grammar fixes.

Abandoned 7-Eleven at a Former Kettle Site (Conroe, Texas)

Courtesy Loopnet. The nearby CVS has been an "y Mas" store since 2019.
As part of revamping this site, I'm splitting 904 West Davis Street off from this page. This used to be a Kettle restaurant (#22, 1974 to around 2010), which started to disappear around this time (it was once a rather popular chain in Texas and the South). It quickly reopened as Conroe Café but within a few years became El Charrito Restaurant and by late 2019 was gone entirely. The lot was redeveloped as 7-Eleven in 2020, but it was one of the earlier casualties of 7-Eleven underperforming in the Houston area, and it closed in 2024. As of this writing it is still vacant.