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4 hours ago, samagon said:

if you weren't worried about homeless hassling you for cash in front of Fiesta, you won't be bothered with it at Randalls.

I see your point. The area within about a block of Randall's is just fine. 
My route requires me to cross Main St. at Hadley, and the sidewalk outside Cle' is a popular hangout (usually 10, 12 people, no exaggeration). It's like walking through someone's living room. 
Six of one, half dozen of the other.

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11 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Where did Fiesta say the homeless were the reason?

 

Due to a drop off in customers, a manager told ABC13 they have made tough decision to permanently close its Midtown location this week.
On Tuesday, management said business has been difficult with all the homeless people in the area. A manager said they tried putting up a fence around the property to discourage them from coming on site.

 

https://abc13.com/business/iconic-houston-fiesta-location-permanently-closing-this-week/6304620/

 

Real quick edit: if you're losing business as a grocer during COVID, things musta been real bad. I know at the MPNA meetings people would wish that they could to that Fiesta without the homeless issue, people made it seem like it was the only thing standing between them and patronage of that Fiesta. As I said, I shop there regularly, but I can see how some people could feel uncomfortable. 

Edited by X.R.
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I shopped there regularly when I lived in Riverside Terrace, and I used to still stop there on the way to work to pick up a few things prior to cover work from home. 

 

The homeless never affected my shopping. However, I would see how people who are uncomfortable with them would avoid the area because of the sheer number of them. 

 

Especially after the fence was put up, you wouldn't see many actually on the fiesta property, but there would be a sea of them around it. They never asked me for money or bothered my shopping experience so I didn't care like I said, but walking through them would definitely be unnerving to a lot of people.

 

It's just the optics because as @dbigtex56 said that area on main near the Randalls is just as bad. But that area is more built up and landscaped so they are not as conspicuous to someone going to Randalls.

 

Randalls and especially whole foods are not everyday shopper stores though. Saying that it's ok fiesta is closing because whole foods is right down the street is like saying it's ok the Wendys is closing, you can always go to the Mortons steakhouse across the street.

 

People who are suggesting that everyday regular Fiesta shoppers  go to whole foods have either never shopped at whole foods or doesn't appreciate the struggle many fiesta shoppers go through to make ends meet. 

 

On the bright side, combining the news that the ION may open full with the closing of fiesta hopefully might mean this plot might get developed sooner than planned

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According to KTRK Channel 13 News at 11, Fiesta is closing TODAY.
(and yes, the anchor mentioned the homeless - not sure if she was quoting a Fiesta official or just expressing her own opinion.)
edit: Link to Houston Chronicle article

Edited by dbigtex56
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On 7/9/2020 at 11:30 AM, mls1202 said:

how is nobody mentioning Whole Foods that opened in the Pearl??

WF has a totally different demographic. They don't target lower income people like Fiesta does. It's the same with Randalls. They are an upscale shopping experience.

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2 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

According to KTRK Channel 13 News at 11, Fiesta is closing TODAY.
(and yes, the anchor mentioned the homeless - not sure if she was quoting a Fiesta official or just expressing her own opinion.)
edit: Link to Houston Chronicle article

I live downtown and I’ve been to this Fiesta a couple times and the homeless isn’t more of an issue than the Randall’s I frequent in midtown. Also the gas station across the street where I fill up before getting on the spur, I’m literally harassed every visit by someone asking for something so I doubt the homeless had anything to do with it. Besides the article cited sales decline. 

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21 minutes ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

WF has a totally different demographic. They don't target lower income people like Fiesta does. It's the same with Randalls. They are an upscale shopping experience.

Plus at fiesta you get a good selection of international ingredients that you wouldn't typically get at regular grocery stores. Jamaican Soda, Puerto Rican seasonings, Curry from Trinidad, British Cookies, lots of African, Indian and other Asian foods. All from a store with a Latin edge. That store was a cultural experience. I hope Houston doesn't lose it completely. It is very representative of the diversity of the city.

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28 minutes ago, HoustonIsHome said:

Plus at fiesta you get a good selection of international ingredients that you wouldn't typically get at regular grocery stores. Jamaican Soda, Puerto Rican seasonings, Curry from Trinidad, British Cookies, lots of African, Indian and other Asian foods. All from a store with a Latin edge. That store was a cultural experience. I hope Houston doesn't lose it completely. It is very representative of the diversity of the city.

The Fiesta at S. Main and OST has a much bigger selection of international foods. I go there occasionally when I take my vehicle to the dealership on 610 S. Loop. I know its a little further but overall the store is much better.

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On 7/7/2020 at 11:05 AM, Avossos said:

 

good question...

 

Montrose was definitely considered seedy... So was the Heights. Both of which are on their way to be very 'high end'.

While you’re certainly right that the land value of Montrose has skyrocketed in the last decade+, Montrose still has a ways to go before it’s considered “high end” from a visual perspective. Sure it’s on its way to getting there with Hanover, La Colombe d’Or, and Montrose Collective, but the two flagship Montrose intersections of Westheimer & Montrose and Westheimer & Dunlavy are far from impressive to the eye. At least as of now. 

Edited by clutchcity94
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5 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

WF has a totally different demographic. They don't target lower income people like Fiesta does. It's the same with Randalls. They are an upscale shopping experience.

The Midtown Randalls is in no way an upscale shopping experience. There are HEB's in Texas towns with a population of 3,000 that have a better selection and more room. 

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1 hour ago, Ross said:

The Midtown Randalls is in no way an upscale shopping experience. There are HEB's in Texas towns with a population of 3,000 that have a better selection and more room. 

 

My wife and I call Midtown Randall's "Club Randall's." All it has a good selection of is Gatorade, energy drinks and beer. Rest is a hodgepodge.

 

Wonder why?

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On 7/9/2020 at 3:44 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

They're moving to I-10 and the Beltway. We have most of our consulates there. 

 

They are moving to Richmond (not I-10) and the Beltway.  I believe TXDoT had some surplus land there and they swapped it for the Mexican Consulate's current site on Caroline. 

 

There are indeed a few other consulates in the Westchase area (none that I'm aware of at I-10 and the Beltway) but we do not have most of our consulates there, by far.  (I realize the Chronicle reported it as being Houston's "embassy row", but, you know... the Chronicle.  My dream for Houston is to have reporters who are familiar with their city.)

 

By far our greatest concentration of consulates is Uptown.  There appear to be 5 consulates in the greater Westchase area, that will grow to 6 with Mexico's move.  There are more than 20 in the Uptown area.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Houston19514
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46 minutes ago, clutchcity94 said:


assuming it’s job an “innovation focused” group within the Chevron organization?

Right. Chevron and other oil companies are actually fairly involved with the incubators here in Houston. 

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This building is such a wonderful addition. Totally changes the view from the elevated 59 portion looking Downtown - a total revamp of the area. Apart from the visual win, hearing about the investments from tech companies is the real meat & potatoes.

 

Excited to see how much this will sprout.

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17 hours ago, Fortune said:

$1M is....not very much.

 

Almost feels like tipping $1 on a $100 meal.

 

 

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2 hours ago, mls1202 said:

$1M is....not very much.

 

Almost feels like tipping $1 on a $100 meal.

 

 

 

Given the fact that its related to teaching adults looking for tech jobs, and that the article also mentions that Microsoft is separately sponsoring Yates High and Edison middle school for STEM instruction, I think this is probably related to Microsoft and Houston's "Internet of Things" partnership. Would be very cool, and kind of forward thinking of CoH and Turner since the partnership was established in 2018, if they could use the Ion to push Microsoft to sponsor ($$$) more things at the Ion for adults, young adults and teens to create homegrown tech sector.

 

Talking to people with CoH, I don't know if anyone knew what the Internet of Things was going to do outside of some HISD stuff, but maybe the Ion provides them a more solid path forward. I know NYC's and DC's apple stores have a ton of programming for kids and teens to learn video/picture editing, rudimentary logic based programming, math, etc which Houston's flagship store only sometimes does. If they could get that kind of programming going on, with big name sponsorship, I think thing it will have a big impact not only on the surrounding area but for people in the city generally.

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  • The title was changed to 4510 Main St.
  • The title was changed to Ion District In Midtown

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