Ivy Russell Ford Building At 1102 Yale St.

[flatline]

Anyone know what's going on with the abandoned building on the southeast corner of 20th and Yale? A few weeks ago a sign went up on the building about a notice of variance request from the city. That's a prime commercial location in the Heights. . .at the northern end of Heights Boulevard.

[flatline]

Update. . .this month's Heights Association newsletter mentions that CVS is going up on the lot. According to the newsletter blurb, CVS worked with the association to create a store design that was more pedestrian friendly.

I had heard a few years ago that Walgreens wanted to put a new store on the block, but that their store design had the loading dock facing Heights Boulevard. The association tried to get them to change the design, but Walgreens refused, so the association protested permits with the city and eventually stopped the store.

I know CVS got a bad rap for the Midtown store, but they should be credited for working with the Heights association to adapt their building to our neighborhood. Walgreens will probably regret not working with the association and letting their biggest competitor come in across the street.

[HeightsGuy]

uh, isn't there already an Eckards 6 blocks away at Yale/14th? Are they going to tear that one down?

[Talbot]

I applaud CVS for that lot. But where the Eckards is a few blocks away they'll probably turn that into a suburban CVS to counteract their good deed.

[jmancuso]

yeah, now that eckerd is owned by CVS, they are really redundant and it won't be long before some of their stores start to close; between the operating costs and having two locations cannibalizing each other's business.

i remember shell gas stations almost on top of one another a few years ago and then all of a sudden alot were closed and some torn down and replaced by...none other than a drug store.

[Heights2Bastrop]

The building on the southeast corner of Yale and 20th is the old Danburg

[suzerain]

That Eckard's has already been turned into a CVS. The signage is up and everything. It seems absurb to have two stores that close. I am sure they will shut one of them down as soon as they drive the Walgreen's at 19th St out of business. Then we will have two empty buildings instead of the one!!!! Ah, progress

[flatline]

Thanks for the historical info Heights2Bastrop!

As for the eckerds-now-CVS on 11th and Yale, I would speculate that CVS will shutter it when it gets its new store up and running on 20th. Bad for me. . . it's an easy walk from my house.

[Heights2Bastrop]

The place at 11th and Yale used to be an S&H Green Stamp redemption store. I think it started out as Top Value, but later it was Green Stamp.

[Sunstar]

I drove by Yale and 20th this monring and the old building has already been torn down and construction has begun. It looks like parking will be off of Yale to the east of the new building, which is nice.

[flatline]

The CVS location at 11th and Yale (the old Eckerds) now has a for sale/"call for information" sign. CVS will definitely close the old location.

[kjb434]

Hopefully someone will want to use the facility for something. The eckerds at Washington and Shepherd was changed to a CVS as CVS was completing there store down the block at Washington and TC Jester.

[jm1fd]

Hopefully someone will want to use the facility for something.  The eckerds at Washington and Shepherd

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a really cool deco building, and I wish they'd take better care of it....its quite an eyesore....the pawn shop across the way is another neglected deco building....either one would be great redone as a little grocery.

[Guest danax]

That's a really cool deco building, and I wish they'd take better care of it....its quite an eyesore....the pawn shop across the way is another neglected deco building....either one would be great redone as a little grocery.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, they made no attempt to show off the deco features. That neighborhood has changed from a dumpy one to a decent one so maybe we'll see something better next time around.

[Heights2Bastrop]

The building at Washington and Shepherd used to be a Weingarten's grocery store. The building was unusual for Houston in that it had a basement with the stairs right in the middle of the store. Every time I pass that place I wonder if the basement is still there. But then, why wouldn

[Subdude]

The CVS location at 11th and Yale (the old Eckerds) now has a for sale/"call for information" sign.  CVS will definitely close the old location.

You'd never know to look at it, but that CVS building was at one point a nice art-deco styled building for a car dealer (Ivy-Russell Ford).

[Heights2Bastrop]

Jeeze! I can

[Subdude]

Jeeze! I can

[H-Town Man]

The building at Washington and Shepherd used to be a Weingarten's grocery store. The building was unusual for Houston in that it had a basement with the stairs right in the middle of the store. Every time I pass that place I wonder if the basement is still there. But then, why wouldn

[H-Town Man]

It would be great to do a project where you collect together images of all the everyday stores in Houston from back in the day... the grocery stores, the car dealerships, gas stations, pharmacies, cafeterias, produce markets, hamburger stands, dry goods stores, etc. Put ads in papers and at libraries requesting photos. Comb through newspaper archives. Just try to reconstruct the everyday landscape of Houston, and put it all together on a massive, interactive website. People could click on an area and see, for example, what Washington Ave. looked like fifty years ago, what stores were around there, what it felt like to live near there, etc.

Something like this could be incredibly instructive for how the city's landscape has changed, what has been gained and lost. This city probably has the most fluid landscape in America; an attempt to pin it down at some point in that flux and open up to modern eyes what it used to be could make for a great lesson in American culture. Call it "Houston 1950." Then maybe expand it to include other decades. Who knows.

[kzseattle]

I know CVS got a bad rap for the Midtown store...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We need this woman in our Midtown!

Woman Drives Car Into Drug Store

February 21, 2005 Lynchburg - An elderly Lynchburg woman accidentally drove her car through the front entrance of the CVS drug store on Langhorne Road yesterday afternoon. Police say 81-year-old Jean O

[Subdude]

It would be great to do a project where you collect together images of all the everyday stores in Houston from back in the day... the grocery stores, the car dealerships, gas stations, pharmacies, cafeterias, produce markets, hamburger stands, dry goods stores, etc.  Put ads in papers and at libraries requesting photos.  Comb through newspaper archives.  Just try to reconstruct the everyday landscape of Houston, and put it all together on a massive, interactive website.  People could click on an area and see, for example, what Washington Ave. looked like fifty years ago, what stores were around there, what it felt like to live near there, etc.

Something like this could be incredibly instructive for how the city's landscape has changed, what has been gained and lost.  This city probably has the most fluid landscape in America; an attempt to pin it down at some point in that flux and open up to modern eyes what it used to be could make for a great lesson in American culture.  Call it "Houston 1950."  Then maybe expand it to include other decades.  Who knows.

That's really a cool idea. It was interesting to see the list of businesses on South Main that SpaceAge posted, compared to how it is now.

[H-Town Man]

That's really a cool idea.  It was interesting to see the list of businesses on South Main that SpaceAge posted, compared to how it is now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Subdude, you could probably do the whole thing out of your head.

[jookyhc]

The CVS at 11th and Yale has had HVAC problems for something like 2 months. I asked the girl at the counter if they were just going to ignore that store until the new one opened and she said that the repair techs were in there earlier that day and that they had said that the A/C was very close to combustion, but that they fixed it. It was probably about 80 degrees inside the store at this time - very unpleasant.

So I asked her when they were moving in to the new store and she said late June/ early July - so that's what like 9-11 weeks from now.

I'll miss being able to walk over there and back to the house in 20 minutes, but I'll be relieved when they finally start fully stocking a Heights area store.

[flatline]

I'll miss the easy walk as well, and AMEN on finally getting a fully stocked store.

The corner of Yale and 11th would be the perfect location for a Starbuc. . . oh, wait, nevermind. Heights Association has already chased them off. . .

{Dear HHA: you do a lot of great stuff for the neighborhood, and I appreciate you, but why can't we have one measly Starbucks for Pete's sake?!?!?}

[Heights2Bastrop]

I mentioned on another thread that I wish the government would build a new post office on that site across the street from the old one.

[Subdude]

This is the building at 11th and Yale in its car dealer days

[RedScare]

I'll miss the easy walk as well, and AMEN on finally getting a fully stocked store.

The corner of Yale and 11th would be the perfect location for a Starbuc. . . oh, wait, nevermind.  Heights Association has already chased them off. . .

{Dear HHA:  you do a lot of great stuff for the neighborhood, and I appreciate you, but why can't we have one measly Starbucks for Pete's sake?!?!?}

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Isn't the reason HHA got so riled up is that they only wanted one measly Starbucks, Starbucks wanted to put in two?

[Heights2Bastrop]

Oh, Subdude! You just made me cry!!! My car in high school was a

[tmariar]

Drove by the closed drug store on Yale at 11th today and saw that they have partially uncovered some of the old signage on the building. Most apparent were the signs for the "Big Bonus Stamps" redemption center. But, underneath, there were also traces of the old Ivy-Russell Ford signs. Thought others might want to see.

Subdude previously posted this picture of Ivy-Russell Ford:

Here are a few of the photos I took today:

And a photo of what I guess were "Big Bonus Stamps":

Edited January 7, 2008 by tmariar

[RedScare]

Maybe it is getting rehabbed to its former glory. That would be sweet.

[lilyheights]

Thanks for posting these. We had every good intention of taking some photos this w/e. The baby, however, had other ideas about how to use our time.

I wonder what they'll do. I never knew an old building was under all that Eckard-ness. Very interesting, indeed.

[lunchbox]

What exactly were "Big Bonus Stamps"?

[nm5k]

Basically kind of like S&H green stamps, but just a different

brand.. Or if I remember right anyway. I remember them

being used, so they were around until at least semi recent

history anyway.

MK

[houwest]

Big Bonus stamps were given out by Weingartens, which was probabally had the most grocery stores of any chain in Houston through the early 70's. Minimax grocery stores and a lot of service stations gave out S&H Green Stamps. Other trading stamps that I remember in Houston were Top Value and Black and Gold.

The way it worked was, for each 10 cents you spent at a store, you got one stamp. 1200 stamps filled a book. When you redeemed your stamps for valuable merchandise, one book was worth about $3.00. I remember hearing stories about churches, schools and other orgainzations redeeming their pooled stamps for cars and buses. The biggest thing I ever remember getting was a croquet set for 12 or 15 books.

One thing to remember, these stamps were "lickers", not peel and stick. When you first started filling a book, it was kinda fun licking those stamps. After a book or so, it wasn't all that much fun.

That's when you called your little brother and had him come help you by sticking out his tongue.

[h8s]

I just did a permit search on the City Of Houston site and the only permit I found for 1102 Yale is a recent one for the removal of a non-load bearing wall. I guess that means maybe someone is restoring the building. (Or at least didn't purchase the demo permit yet.)

[SpaceAge]

Is this 1102 Yale? That was a Henke & Pillot (Pealot) grocery store for many years. My father worked there while he was in high school from about 1953-1955. About 1955-56 they relocated the grocery store to Merchants Park. Later it was bought out by Kroger and it is still in business at that location today. My father worked long hours at the store and diligently saved his money to buy his first new car from Johnson Motors on North Main Street in 1955. Tommy Vaughn married into the Johnson family I believe and took over the dealership, moving it to N. Shepherd about 1956 where it remains. I can't imagine why another Ford dealership would open at the old Henke's store location when there was already a Ford dealership less than a mile away. In the 1960s, the Henke building was used as a Big Bonus Stamps showroom and redemption center.

Growing up, my father was never proud to tell anyone he was from the Heights. It was, and still is by many from that generation, considered an undesirable part of town. They called it The Hungry Heights and everyone worked hard to leave the Heights as soon as possible.

Edited December 22, 2007 by SpaceAge

[tmariar]

I found this flyer regarding the renovation. This site plan makes it look like they're hoping for a bank branch, three retail tenants, and a "cafe".

The "Big Bonus" signs were all down when I drove by earlier today.

Is this 1102 Yale? That was a Heinke & Pilot (Pealot) grocery store for many years. My father worked there while he was in high school from about 1953-1955. In 1955 they relocated the grocery store to Merchants Park.

Some history on Henke & Pillot:

Louis F. Aulbach article on Texas State Fair ("The state fair began informally as farmers and haulers who brought goods to Houston gathered in Henke's wagon yard north of the current site of Landry's Aquarium near Washington Avenue....")

HAIF thread with mentions of H&P ("Past Shopping Places in Houston")

Another HAIF thread ("Old Grocery Store...")

From Shopping Center and Store Leases by Emanuel B. Harper (1979) at sec. 9.01[4]: "A Houston, Texas grocery chain, Henke and Pillot resolved to attract the growing ranks of automobile owners early on and provided parking facilities for its customers in the 1920's. [H&P's] first branch store opened in 1923. Its customers could park in an adjacent 300 car parking lot developed by [H&P] itself. In one early 1920s photograph, a big crowd of [H&P] customers gather near their automobiles in the store's parking lot. Another 1920s photo shows [an H&P] parking lot swarming with automobiles. [H&P] must have been satisfied with the results of its parking experiment because it built a 450 car parking lot to serve a new store in 1926."

1896 H&P advertisement:

Henke & Pillot whiskey jug:

Photo that Alpha posted, which shows the Village H&P in the early 1940's:

Edited December 19, 2007 by tmariar

[Lynne77009]

Does anyone know what is happening with the closed Eckerd's? There has been a lot of activity lately on the building. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely art deco building exposed once all the existing exterior was taken off. Hopefully the building isn't coming down. I hope they aren't turning it into a new CVS.

(Edit: this was posted prior to the topic merging)

[cottonmather0]

I noticed the old structure, too, a few days ago and hardly recognized the building. I doubt they're building a CVS since there is one just up the road @ 20th, but who knows?

My guess is that it gets torn down to build something residential, hopefully something custom and especially designed for as prominent a corner lot as that is.

[HtownWxBoy]

Does anyone know what is happening with the closed Eckerd's? There has been a lot of activity lately on the building. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely art deco building exposed once all the existing exterior was taken off. Hopefully the building isn't coming down. I hope they aren't turning it into a new CVS.

Not sure... I live like a block away, I hope whatever they are doing it's something nice.

[tmariar]

See discussion and links on this thread.

[pschawe]

I am the architect for the building.

I was very apprehensive at first, since the owner's original intent was to basically paint the old Eckerd's, but I was amazed at what we found hidden beneath the horrible mansard roof.

We will be adding new glass storefront replacing the Eckerd brick facade and little windows. The small clerestory windows above the canopy were a nice surprise as well and I hope to preserve them. The canopy will be replaced with a new one in the original style. The concrete block addition on the north end will be modified to match the historic deco structure. Most of the interior floor is terrazzo(!) and there is some very cool exposed clay tile along the back wall. Also hoping to actually take away some site concrete(site is totally covered in concrete) and add some landscaping.

We have been looking at historic designation and the developer is hoping to get some tax incentives. If anyone can point me in the right direction for this I would appreciate it.

Tenants are expected to be a deli/coffee shop, exercise studio, and credit union plus more.

Phil Schawe

[musicman]

^

Phil thanks in advance for trying to preserve some history and welcome to HAIF.

[tmariar]

Yes, thanks, Phil - your efforts are much appreciated. I changed the title of this thread slightly so that maybe it will catch the eye of those with information to offer regarding preservation and tax incentives. What I know regarding the historic designation ordinance mostly comes from the city's website, which also discusses the tax incentive program (which kicks in only after designation as an historic site). But there is also some information scattered throughout the Historic Houston subforum and elsewhere on this board (including the thread on the River Oaks Shopping Center).

[RedScare]

If I may repeat myself from post #2, that would be sweet!

[Heights2Bastrop]

Is this 1102 Yale? That was a Henke & Pillot (Pealot) grocery store for many years. My father worked there while he was in high school from about 1953-1955. About 1955-56 they relocated the grocery store to Merchants Park. Later it was bought out by Kroger and it is still in business at that location today. My father worked long hours at the store and diligently saved his money to buy his first new car from Johnson Motors on North Main Street in 1955. Tommy Vaughn married into the Johnson family I believe and took over the dealership, moving it to N. Shepherd about 1956 where it remains. I can't imagine why another Ford dealership would open at the old Henke's store location when there was already a Ford dealership less than a mile away. In the 1960s, the Henke building was used as a Big Bonus Stamps showroom and redemption center.

SpaceAge, thanks for the history of that spot.

I was pretty young when Merchant

[Guest danax]

I am the architect for the building.

I was very apprehensive at first, since the owner's original intent was to basically paint the old Eckerd's, but I was amazed at what we found hidden beneath the horrible mansard roof.

We will be adding new glass storefront replacing the Eckerd brick facade and little windows. The small clerestory windows above the canopy were a nice surprise as well and I hope to preserve them. The canopy will be replaced with a new one in the original style. The concrete block addition on the north end will be modified to match the historic deco structure. Most of the interior floor is terrazzo(!) and there is some very cool exposed clay tile along the back wall. Also hoping to actually take away some site concrete(site is totally covered in concrete) and add some landscaping.

We have been looking at historic designation and the developer is hoping to get some tax incentives. If anyone can point me in the right direction for this I would appreciate it.

Tenants are expected to be a deli/coffee shop, exercise studio, and credit union plus more.

Phil Schawe

Wow. The community is lucky that you're on this project and it sounds like it will be appreciated and loved.

The Heights website has some info on the Historic designation process.

[SaintCyr]

Anyone else in this area? I'm almost across the street from it and think its great... Hoping that it will spark some change along Yale... Anyone know anything about the buildings at 12th and Yale? Seems like that would make a great coffee and/or sandwich shop....

[Guest danax]

See discussion and links on this thread.

Topics merged.