Albertsons at Kings Crossing (Houston, Texas)

The former Albertson/H-E-B, sitting empty. (Picture by Mike A., 2024).
The following article is a split from the original The Grocery Heart of Kings Crossing article at Houston Historic Retail (I traded with another article I wrote on H-E-B Pantry in the Heights). As of this writing the original post is still there. The photos however, aren't mine—they're from Mike of HHR.

The first grocery store to be built at the intersection of Kingwood Drive and West Lake Houston Parkway was Holiday Foods, which anchored the Kings Crossing shopping center. It opened in April 1985 as a 45,000-square-foot store. Holiday Foods was a new chain, having been split off from the Minimax co-op and Fleming less than a year prior (see HHR's page on Minimax). There aren't any pictures of what the Kingwood Holiday Foods looked like; however, based on aerial photos of the shape of the store, it almost certainly looked like their Santa Fe store spread over a larger footprint.

Holiday Foods would operate for the next decade (even as a massive Randalls opened in 1992 across the intersection) and outlived all the other locations of the small chain. In February 1995, Frank and Sam Glass, the owners of the store, announced that they would switch to being IGA-affiliated. (I assume the ad announcing as such was supposed to be Wednesday, March 1. By the end of April, however, the store was liquidating the last of its fixtures. What likely happened was that despite Holiday Foods cutting ties with Minimax, they didn't cut ties with Fleming, who owned the store itself, and thus when Holiday Foods tried to go with IGA, Fleming reacted. Over the next two years, the building would sit vacant, and Albertsons, who was looking to expand in the area, purchased it.

Albertsons assigned its stores numbers, by this point its pre-existing Houston-area stores had gotten the 27xx numbering, and while its numbering suggests it should've opened in 1997, it wasn't opened until a few years later. The new Albertsons wasn't in the original Holiday Foods; it was demolished, along with the Eckerd next door, to allow for a much larger, fancier supermarket on the site of the old store, and opened the modern 60,000 square foot store in January 2001. Just about 15 months later, Albertsons announced it was pulling out of the Houston market with its stores to be sold or closed. The Kingwood store was one of four stores to be purchased by H-E-B and reopened later that year.¹

H-E-B was building its own full-size stores in Houston around this time with some unfortunately tacky designs with the former Albertsons looking much nicer, and in my opinion, the Kingwood store was the best looking of all of them (by extension, the entire H-E-B chain). In 2016, H-E-B relocated to the northeast side of the intersection where Kings Crossings Apartments used to be (more on that later), building a far larger store that they owned rather than sharing a shopping center with other tenants.

Looking at the other tenants, they're a fairly standard mix of typical strip tenants. The center itself² received a facelift in 2022 the rest of the center received a facelift, mostly changing the ridged concrete facades (like what Kmart used to have) to stucco and some new construction (it also changed an old leasing requirement about only using all-white signage). Going down the list as of 2024 from the former Albertsons / H-E-B we have Trek Bicycle (4311, formerly the home of Sylvan Learning prior to 2019), Hallmark Gold Crown (4313), Domino's (4319), PostNet (4321), the new location of Sylvan Learning (4323), Hunan Garden Express (4325), Ann's Teahouse (4327)⁴, The Flying Biscuit Cafe (4329), Parry's Pizzeria & Taphouse (4331)⁵, Pet Ranch (4411), Club Champion (4417), Yonutz (4421), S&A Nails (4423), H&R Block (4425), Subway (4427), Lynn Tailoring (4429), Next Level Urgent Care - Kingwood (4435), and Walgreens (4445). The Walgreens opened in 2000 to functionally replace the old Eckerd; the original tenant was a Crafts Etc. store.

But what of the former Albertsons? In April 2026, a Sprouts Farmers Market opened as part of an expansion in Houston (a few years after closing some locations in the Houston area that weren't working). It uses the address but not all the space.

While I don't have any pictures of the center, there are a few other pictures of the former Albertsons/H-E-B specifically. (H-E-B tore out much of Albertsons' decor).

1. The only store of this type to remain as an H-E-B is at Kempwood and Gessner with their Clear Lake store closing in 2021 for a modern store and their Pasadena store being converted to Mi Tienda.
2. The best I can find is this one that touts the redevelopment of the center, likely created around 2022, when the center received a facelift renovation, here and archived here on Carbon-izer.) It doesn't help that the former Randalls center is also apparently called "Kings Crossing" (archive), but this seems to be entirely different ownership).
3. The PDF previously linked indicates that there was to be a tailor between the former Albertsons and Trek Bicycle but it didn't seem to be there in reality, there's no door for it.
4. This part of the strip center was one of the sections reconfigured. Previously this address was used for Famous Footwear, which faced south.
5. The original 4331, Hunan Garden, was located in the demolished section. It closed in 2021 (not 2025, look at the bottom of the article).

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.

Temple Towne Center (Temple, Texas)

Many Staples stores have closed over the years, but this one still remains. (From the PDF linked below). I haven't done a deep dive into this shopping center yet. From what I can piece together it replaced a smaller shopping center anchored by Winn-Dixie around 2001, but no parts of the original center remain. The circa 2021 PDF I have on file features all of the junior anchors that are still there now (except for Bed Bath & Beyond getting replaced with HomeGoods) and McAlister's Deli moving from its strip mall spot to a stand-alone location at 2416 S.W. H.K. Dodgen Loop. This used to be a Fazoli's that was there from 2003 to 2014. Other than that the anchors seem to be pretty consistent. There's, from left to right, Staples, Shoe Carnival, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Ulta Beauty, Five Below (these two I believe were originally Goody's Family Clothing), Bath & Body Works (moved from the mall, used to be Rue21 Etc.), Petco, smaller stores, and Hobby Lobby.

The problem is that Temple is relatively poorly documented and when more information comes up I'll add it to this post. It probably wouldn't be covered at all if I had not vowed to dismantle this post.

South First Square (Austin, Texas)

From this PDF
I don't have a lot of information on this one today. The grocery store at 611 West Ben White Boulevard was A&P when it first opened in 1966. The grocery store later changed hands to locally-based Foodland, which sold in 1996 to Cutrer's City Market, which by 2007 was simply City Market. From what I can find City Market sold to Arlan's Market, which closed this location shortly after, reopening in 2013 as Mi Rancho Meat Market. In late 2015 or early 2016 it was rebadged as the current name. Sharing the address and building is a restaurant called Bamboo Garden, this was Godfather's Pizza in the 1980s, and I'm not sure of the building out front. It looks like it was originally a restaurant.

While it's not connected to the shopping center anymore (poles were inserted into the concrete), the 7-Eleven (601 W. Ben White) has been here since the 1986 (though it likely originally had Citgo as a gas brand).

12636 Research Boulevard featuring Mongolian Grille (Austin, Texas)

Advertisement from the Austin American-Statesman, Feb. 10 2005 Today's post has spun off from Research Boulevard in Austin (Austin, Texas), 12636 Research Boulevard.

This three-building property (also has North Brooke Plaza) has numerous strip mall tenants from the back near Jollyville Road to the highway side (built in 1984) through acquisitions. As of 2024, starting from the back near Jollyville Road, building A has The Abiding Glory Tabernacle, Hey Why Hair Braiding Salon (A-104), Pizza Hut (A-105), India Gate (A-110), and a location of Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet. Building B has Fusion Tadka in the back (which replaced longtime tenant B.B. Rover's Cafe and Pub). Other tenants (working clockwise) are Hill Country Flooring (also home to Austin Painting & Cabinets), C&J Massage, Trippiez Smoke Shop, Oak Liquor Cabinet, Cash 4 Gold, and D 2.0 Bar (B-101). Building C has Kanji Ramen, Kung Fu & Self Defense (upper level), High Octane, Pretty Lady's African Hair Braiding (upper level), 101 Event Center (upper level), Mind Body Yoga (upper level), Best Brains Learning Center, GoldenLove Tattoo, and possibly others that weren't listed.

What I wanted to specifically wanted to focus on was suite A-110. This was Mongolian Grille (link goes to YouTube commercial) from 2001 to 2012. I ate there in 2004 and for a long time was trying to figure out where and what it was. I remember it being better than Genghis Grill (which has since departed from most of the state) with bigger portions and more selection. (I also remember how bright their orange sauce was). One of my restaurant guides (Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide 2nd Edition) rated it quite poorly, partly because of its ambience (though they reviewed the downtown Austin location) and a stated goal that they like restaurants where the chef (not the customer) knows best when choosing between various proteins, starches, and sauces. (They hated Cafe Express in Houston for the same reason). Anyway, Mongolian Grille was replaced with the similar restaurant Mongo Fire (until around 2018) and has been an Indian restaurant since. Chicha's Fire And Grill opened by the end of 2018 but reused Mongo Fire's awnings (including their website and phone number). Around 2020, this closed and was replaced by India Gate. Prior to Mongolian Grille, it was "Cafe Chino" (Chinese restaurant, 1989-2001, mentioned in this article).

575 FM 150 East (Kyle, Texas)

Google Street View from 2019. The Family Dollar would be a Dollar Tree by year-end. I'm continuing to work off of this page (Big's Meat Market spun off already) and I wanted to spin off another entry, 575 FM 150 East (well, Ranch to Market 150 at least), a strip center composed of several buildings. (It's all part of upgrades at this site.) From south to north there's Money & More Pawn (a separate building, this was here at least since 2015), Dollar Tree (another separate building; this opened as a Family Dollar around December 2006 but in 2019 it was closed and converted to a Dollar Tree), a third building with Lone Star Pediatric Dental & Braces - Kyle, Kyle Donuts, a branch of Austin Texas Martial Arts Centers (formerly home of Kyle Care Pharmacy), Liquor House, Papa John's, Kid to Kid (children's clothing resale), Absolute Life Wellness Center (a chiropractor office), and Garcia's Mexican Restaurant.

Google Maps Link

MarketPlace Shopping Center (Temple, Texas)

I would say this does more business than Temple Mall next door.
I've been trying to think of what to do for this site. I bounced around ideas (soft reboot and focus on a more consistent topic, refocusing on stuff off of highways instead of anything, a Texas-exclusive focus) but in the end I thought what I had been doing, is doing posts on a very small selection of buildings, not large directories, meaning posts like this will have to be broken up or removed. Already I did stuff like spin off Big's Meat Market from a larger Buda/Kyle topic.

As part of this new revamp, the focus is on MarketPlace Shopping Center in Temple. I've uploaded a PDF of the shopping center as of 2025 here (archived from here and wanted to discuss a few of the major tenants in more detail, particularly H-E-B, Kohl's, and the restaurants out front. It recycles content from Carbon-izer.com as well, though the future posts will have more care taken for them.

The Kohl's (located at 3170 S. 31st Street) started out as a Woolco in 1980 (moving from an I-35 location), then after the entire Woolco chain folded, it became a Montgomery Ward in 1983 and operating to the end of the chain's life (early 2001) but remained with signage up a few years afterward. The Kohl's opened in September 2011 according to this article and should be noted that as Montgomery Ward, its address was 3002A S. 31st Street. H-E-B is the other major anchor (opened in 1980) and I've been to it at least once, and it's been renovated more than once. I believe it was last renovated in the mid-2010s (before that, carrying circa-2000 decor) though I don't know the details of the store's opening. Many of the older tenants carry the 3002 address like H-E-B but the modern ones like Kohl's no longer do.

The three restaurants out front are also of interest.

Photo from Showcase.
The Whataburger (1415 SW H K Dodgen Loop) is perhaps the most interesting. I remember stopping at this location sometime in late 2016 or early 2017 after a day of outside work at a ranch. While the cold drink and the protein of the hamburger revived my spirits, I was intrigued by the large, "Playplace" part of the building, as if it had a playground at one point. The room was closed to the public (it was used as employee offices/storage, apparently) and while the thought of Whataburger having a playground wasn't out of the question (I seem to recall a kid's meal mascot, for instance) it hadn't actually occurred to me that it was in fact not a Whataburger to begin with, having been a Burger King opened in 1999 but closed within a decade. It was seized by U.S. Marshals in November 2004 (it did not reopen) and in November 2007 was reopened as a Whataburger. Before Whataburger was built, a Pizza Hut was here from 1991 to 1997. Before that I'm not sure, if anything, what was there. Next to it is Starbucks (1313 SW H K Dodgen Loop), opened as Golden Fried Chicken (Golden Chick) in 1999 and became Starbucks around April 2004 (I believe Golden Chick closed late 2003). You can see another photo of the Starbucks at StarbucksEverywhere.net. Finally, Taco Bell, at 1201 SW H K Dodgen Loop is the oldest of the three, and had changed its store number store number (2308) and address (3002 South 31st Street, the number of the whole plaza) in 2014 to the Dodgen Loop address and a new store number (30125) without rebuilding. Despite looking nothing like the original 1983 store, BCAD indicates the building is original to 1983 (just expanded).

Coles Crossing Shopping Center (Cypress, Texas)

Picture of mine from January 2018.
As of this writing I'm redoing the Northwest Freeway - Outer Belt page, and this was eliminated in the redesign, so most of this is a port straight from that site. Coles Crossing Shopping Center is located at 12312 Barker Cypress Road at the southeast corner of Northwest Freeway and Barker Cypress Road in the Cypress/Houston area.

Of note is the main tenant, Star Furniture & Mattress (opened 2019), which used to be a Randalls from September 2001 to June 2018. It was one of the last new-build Randalls in Houston ever built, especially as Kroger and H-E-B (mostly H-E-B) continue to march onwards, and in June 2018 closed permanently, ending the Randalls legacy on Northwest Freeway (the distribution center and Randalls' other store had already closed by this time). The fact that there is a former original Safeway just two and a half miles away, shuttered (or at least built) around the late 1980s shows how lethargic Safeway was the second time around (and Albertsons, its new owner, isn't any better). The Exxon/Timewise gas station and convenience store opened in September 2018 following the closure of Randalls (12220 Barker Cypress)—this used to be the store's gas station and convenience store, and by October 2022, the Exxon had become a Shell (Shell bought the Timewise chain). You can see the PDF perma-linked (2019/2020 version) here, linked from this page. The picture above is mine from January 2015, when I visited the store (it had the "Lifestyle" renovation inside).

Here's some other pictures of the shopping center surrounding it, which is less visible from 290. (Jan 2015)

IMG_1915.JPG - Looking out at the first row of strips, looking east.
IMG_1916.JPG - Looking straight ahead. I was a bit surprised to see an Aggie gear shop in Houston. While these are a dime a dozen in my neck of the woods, it was a bit of a shock to see one here. Must be those graduated expatriates. (Later I found this closed just a few months later)
IMG_1917.JPG - I think these are directly to the west of Whoop U.
IMG_1918.JPG - Looking west. I didn't mean to take a photo of this woman, so I blurred her face out.
IMG_1920.JPG - Looking east, from the vantage point of the previous picture.