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Sage Department Stores


EastEnd Susan

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Actually the store at Airport was never a Globe. I think it was a Wilsons, or something like that. The only Globe I knew of along the Gulf Freeway was on Woodridge right across from Gulgate Mall. The Fed Mart I went to as a kid was at Mykawa and Griggs and the building it was in is where the Fiesta is. Fed Mart moved into the Globe at Gulfgate when Globe closed. After that Fed Mart closed and the building was torn down and a Mervyns was built there. The Airport store did become the original Sam's for the Southeat side on town and was in business there until they built the Sam's at Fuqua and 45 then it closed and moved to the new location.

I remember the Sage on the Gulf Freeway really well. I worked for almost four years during college at the Plank Company which was right across the street. It's now United Rentals. I bought my gas at the Sage, cashed my paychecks at Sage, and bought my beer at the Sage Liquor store. During the gas shortages of that period the guy who ran the Sage Gas Station would be closed all the time but since we bought all our gas for the company vehicles from him, he would let us sneek our cars over and fill up or if he was trying to be real sly we would walk over with gas cans and fill our cars five gallons at a time.

The store at Gulf Frwy & Airport was a "Gemco", before a Sams & a flea market.

Edited by NenaE
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My first part-time high school job was as a box boy in the drug department of the old Sage Discount store at Beechnut and 610. I worked there for three years. It was originally a membership type store like Sam's and Costco are today. As I recall they dropped the annual membership fee somewhere down the line. Each department in the store was basically a separate entity with different ownership and management. Space within the store was leased to the different owners. As I recall they had the Beechnut store, one on I-10 (Katy Frwy), one on I-45 (Gulf Frwy), and one somewhere in Austin. I remember my boss talking to me about fixing me up with a job if I went to UT. Sage was pretty much the forerunner to Sam's complete with annual membership fees and door gaurds to check reciepts. They did not use item counts at the door, they had different colors of tape to put on all the bags each day. Everything needed a piece of tape on it to get out the door smoothly. I enjoyed working there. The last vestige of Sage that I know of in Houston is Arnes Warehouse on Studemont. That used to be the ownership and management of the Housewares Departments of Sage.

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The Sage store at 1-45 & Monroe was intriguing to me, as a kid. Stairs leading to restaurant above entrance, toy section with stairs to storage area/attic looking thing in the middle of it, and a pet store w/ lots of aquariums, side/ back entrance. The school/ art supplies section was great, too.

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  • 4 months later...

When I was new here, there was some talk of a Sage or Globe store (both?) across from Town & Country Mall. But I was talking to someone about the Pasadena area and she said a Globe was opened across from the Foley's at Pasadena, that later became Target. While I would still like to know if the Target is still there, I want to know about Sage and Globe. Apparently one was dumpier than the other, but...

...tell me.

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When I was new here, there was some talk of a Sage or Globe store (both?) across from Town & Country Mall. But I was talking to someone about the Pasadena area and she said a Globe was opened across from the Foley's at Pasadena, that later became Target. While I would still like to know if the Target is still there, I want to know about Sage and Globe. Apparently one was dumpier than the other, but...

...tell me.

I grew up in the Meyerland area and there was a Sage at 610 and Bisonett accross from Meyerland where the Home Depot now sits. I always liked Sage and I bought my first 8 Track stero system there in the 70's. I never cared to much for Globe.

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When I was new here, there was some talk of a Sage or Globe store (both?) across from Town & Country Mall. But I was talking to someone about the Pasadena area and she said a Globe was opened across from the Foley's at Pasadena, that later became Target. While I would still like to know if the Target is still there, I want to know about Sage and Globe. Apparently one was dumpier than the other, but...

...tell me.

There was a Globe across (south) from Foley's at Pasadena, guessing mid to late 1960's. Can't recall what it first became, maybe a Fedmart, do know it was (in later years) a Mervyn's. I don't ever remember a Target located there.

Globe would have been equivalent to a Kmart. Sage had a different feel, to me (independent owner style), maybe because there were only a few of them around. Don't know anything about the T&C one.

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Both Globe and Sage started off as membership type stores. My dad's employer, Dresser Industries offered their employees memberships via the credit union. I don't have many details on exactly how the membership worked. But Globe eventually stopped requiring a membership card to enter the store. Sage never stopped requiring the card until the bankruptcy.

Sage had locations in Houston and Austin. It was locally owned. The departments inside the store were leased by different companies. An example was the housewares department. Arnie of Arnies on Hicks family owned the housewares department "franchise". At one point late in the life of the stores Lewis & Coker owned the franchise for the grocery department.

Globe had locations nationwide if I am not mistaken. Globe was owned by Walgreen's.

Sage went belly-up in the late 80's during the oil bust.

Globe went belly-up in the mid to late 70's. Walgreen's wanted to focus on their drug store chain.

Locations

Sage Department Stores

Beechnut & Loop 610. The building was used by Builders Square for their store when it was there. When Lowes purchased the land they demolished the store and built a new building. The current McDonald's and Ihop replaced the gas station/auto center for Sage.

Beltway 8 & I-10. Currently the site of a detention pond for the newly constructed I-10. The structure sat empty for years until someone tried to put in a flea market. Never worked. I do not recall a gas station at this location. They did install tires in the auto center that was built into the store.

I-45 & College. Building still exists and is a school if I am not mistaken. The auto center was out in the parking lot close to I-45. They did sell gas at this location.

I do not remember the Austin locations. Nor do I have information on their fate.

Sage Drug Stores

Bellaire & Ranchester. The store was converted to a Walgreen's with the bankruptcy and then was converted as part of the center with the now Asian grocery store (formerly a Lewis & Coker). When in High School I worked at this location in the Camera Department and was the manager of the department the summer after my freshman year in college.

Westheimer & Stony Brook. Currently Guitar Center.

Only 2 drug store locations opened. There are some that claim 1 was opened on the north side of town. I've dug into telephone books from the mid-70's and can only find 2 listing. If anyone can find evidence of other stores I would love to know where they were.

Globe Shopping City (official name)--Tag line "Everything Under the Sun for LESS" and they used a smiling sun as a "mascot"

Bellaire Blvd & Hillcroft. Currently is the Fiesta Mart. Previous to Fiesta was a Fed-Mart. Another membership type store that converted to a non-membership format. They had an automotive center that did most mechanical stuff and sold gas. If I recall they had 12 pumps. The building still stands and is where the pawn shop and restaurants are in the parkling lot.

I-10 & Gessner. Structure demolished. Currently is the location of the Memorial Herman robot tower. Previously was home to Oshman's Super Store and before that a Mervyn's. I do not recall an auto center or gas at this location.

Woodridge between I-45 and 610. The building was demolished to build the Lowe's currently at that location. The store was behind Frizzell Pontiac, home of a "Whale of a Deal". This particular Globe store caught fire during the late 1960's if I recall correctly. The news media reported that fire fighters could not advance on the fire because of ammunition and paint cans exploding inside the store. The store was rebuild and reopened very quickly. Mervyn's took over the location after the closing. Then the building sat empty for years. Until Ed Wolfe bought Gulfgate and rebuilt the area. I remember an auto center and gas station, but I do not recall the exact location.

Sage was kept up a bit better than Globe. But I would never characterize Globe as a dump. My family spent many many many MANY dollars at both stores.

Edited by DrFood
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Sage Drug Stores

There are some that claim 1 was opened on the north side of town.

North Freeway between West Rd. and FM 525 in the Randalls Center. It opened in the mid-70s and was there until Sage went belly up. The space became a Walgreens and, as far as I know, has been vacant (along with most of the center) for several years.

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Globe, Sage, KMart, Fed Marts...What about dear old GEMCO...Where and when did they come in and leave??? Never realized that Sage was so compartmentalized !!

Poor old forgotten Shoppers Fair! I think that must have been the first discount dept. store to come to the Houston area back around 1962. It was located somewhere off OST. My first purchase there was a 2 transistor AM radio for $4.95 and a 98 cent plastic model airplane that cost only 69 cents. Wow! First time ever I paid less than msrp for anything. (Ask me what shirt I had on yesterday, I won't remember, but how many pennies I saved almost fifty years ago...Now that's an easy one!)

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DrFood forgot to mention that there was a Globe store on North Shepherd at the corner of Donovan directly across the street from St. Pius High School. This is the location today of the 911 Emergency Center. One would think from the fence around the place now that gold was kept there like Fort Knox. I made many trips to the Globe grocery department with our housekeeper/baby sitter in the early 60's. I thought the conveyer that the groceries were placed on and sent to the front of the store where one could then pull up in his car to have an employee load them directly into the trunk (or back of the station wagon) was cool.

There was also a Shoppers Fair on N. Shepherd at the corner of Westcross which is a short street that connects Crosstimbers with N. Shepherd where Crosstimbers veers south before intesecting N. Shepherd and becomes 43rd west of Shepherd. The lot is vacant now. Directly across Westcross is St. Matthew's Methodist Church. I attended vacation bible school at St. Matthew's during the 60's but I don't remember ever entering Shoppers Fair.

My mother practically wore out the doors at the Sears and J. C. Penny's in Garden Oaks though. I have many memories of visiting Santa Clause in the toy department at Sears and being dragged through rack upon rack of clothes at Penny's. We didn't buy shoes there though. For them we went to the Poll Parrot on 43rd at Ella. It's not a surprise that my mother was in the Sears on N. Shepherd when she learned that President Kennedy had been killed. She and my aunt had just stopped in after lunch to do a little shopping.

My father worked at the Gemco on Airline at I45. I believe that store was opened about 1972 or '73. He worked for about a year at the Gemco on I10 East (it seemed like it was all the way to Baytown) before the north side store opened. That was a boon to him since the store on Airline was only five miles from our house but the one on the East Freeway was almost 30 miles away. There were other Gemco stores in Houston but, at this time, I can not remember where they were. The building that housed the store on Airline is now a Fiesta market and has been for years.

Gemco department stores (which had a grocery department a la Globe) and Eagle grocery stores were part of the Lucky Stores chain out of California. The Houston stores closed in the mid-80's when Lucky was fending off a hostile takeover from investor Asher Edelman (remember him?). My father was transferred to Phoenix, Arizona when the Houston stores closed but was laid off about two years later (just short of full retirement vesting) as Lucky further fought the unsuccessful takeover. That hurt his ego somewhat but his stock in the corporation went way up in value after that which made things less painful.

I should add that Gemco paid its employees very well and had good benefits also. Apparently they were used to paying union wages in California and Illinois and paid cashiers, for example, a good 20-25% more than the going rate in Houston at the time.

Edited by Specwriter
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The Globe store in Galveston was on Broadway at 48th St. It is now a Community Social Services Center. Woolco was also in Galveston, as an anchor store at the former Galvez Mall. The mall was torn down and a Home Depot and Target occupy this site now. KMart had a very profitable store in Galveston on Stewart Rd. at 69th St. The building now houses a Ross and a Marshall's department store.

KMart had specialty licensee departments also. The shoe departments were operated by Melville, which owned Tom McCann shoe stores. Holly Stores operated the ready to wear departments and became KMart Apparel. Others like Shiller Millinery operated the ladies accessories departments, and an outfit out of Royal Oak Michigan operated the sporting goods departments. Automotive departments, (not all stores had them), were operated by Uniroyal. Everything else was operated by Kresge.

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I'll always remember Globe for the swimming pool my parents bought us in '68, plus the parking lot carnivals in summer, plus all the 67 cent 45's I bought in the record department at the front.

Does anyone remember a miniature golf course behind the Sage on the Gulf Frwy and College?

I could be confused--I ain't no spring chicken. :D

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DrFood forgot to mention that there was a Globe store on North Shepherd at the corner of Donovan directly across the street from St. Pius High School. This is the location today of the 911 Emergency Center. One would think from the fence around the place now that gold was kept there like Fort Knox. I made many trips to the Globe grocery department with our housekeeper/baby sitter in the early 60's. I thought the conveyer that the groceries were placed on and sent to the front of the store where one could then pull up in his car to have an employee load them directly into the trunk (or back of the station wagon) was cool.

There was also a Shoppers Fair on N. Shepherd at the corner of Westcross which is a short street that connects Crosstimbers with N. Shepherd where Crosstimbers veers south before intesecting N. Shepherd and becomes 43rd west of Shepherd.

Shopper's Fair was the first "discount store" that I can remember being in Houston. However, I think it was located on Donovan when it first opened, and then moved or reopened at the Westcross location later after Globe took over the Donovan location.

I worked at Globe on Bellaire and Bissonnet in '71. All I can say about the company is that it was a job. My grandmother worked for Danburg's on Yale, and later at Weiner's on 11th and Shepherd. Globe fit right in with those two stores as to how they treated their employees. I was most happy to leave the place.

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  • 5 years later...

I remember both Gemco and Globe! Gemco was definitely Members Only when my mom shopped there,but I don't remember Globe being such. I remember the last things - ok,the only things - I'd bought there with some money mom gave me: two 45's out of (dating myself here!) the 5 for $1 barrel in the record department! They were The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and The Sweet's "Little Willy". I got those while living over on Northline across from the nursing home in the apartments - the two story ones, not the current looking three or four story ones.

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  • 7 months later...

Sage included a gas station near the front-right-hand side (facing the store). I worked at the gas station at 16 years old, as well as a stint inside the department store as a porter. The location was on the east side of what is now called I-45 (we knew it as 75) about 100 yards southeast of the intersection of 75 and Monroe. Sage was walking distance from my childhood home on Glenlea (Gulf Freeway Oaks), and I would do exactly that - walk to work. I remember the upstairs snack bar inside the department store, and while working as a porter, I would have my lunch-break there. The grocery store section was on the south end, with the toy section being on the north end. Later, pretty much directly across 75 from Sage (on the west side of 75) was a Honda motorcycle dealership. There was a test track on the south side of the Honda dealership. My friends, brother, and I would ride our motorcycles on that track either after the dealership closed for the day or on Sundays. The Honda Dealership was replaced by a U-Haul dealership later on, and I worked there too around 17 or 18 years old. It was a great time to grow up in southeast Houston. :-)

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Edited by Ekim Snevig
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This topic brings back a LOT of memories.

 

I have a question which may relate to Globe, Woolco, Gemco, Sage, etc. Does anyone recall either a cheap product line sold by one of these stores, or a store named: "Bright Yellow Wrap"? Seems as though we used to see that name at one of the stores which used to occupy the space at Bellaire Blvd. and Hillcroft, where the Fiesta is currently.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited by Lloyd-TX
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This topic brings back a LOT of memories.

I have a question which may relate to Globe, Woolco, Gemco, Sage, etc. Does anyone recall either a cheap product line sold by one of these stores, or a store named: "Bright Yellow Wrap"? Seems as though we used to see that name at one of the stores which used to occupy the space at Bellaire Blvd. and Hillcroft, where the Fiesta is currently.

Thanks in advance!

That Fiesta was a Globe originally.

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  • 1 month later...

One of the early Globe Discount Stores was located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Bellaire and Hillcroft, catty-corner to Sharpstown Section 1 and directly across from the old Sharpstown Community Center and the Sharpstown Drive-In. One Christmas while I was in college, I worked the cash register at the cigarette counter. (I didn't smoke. But you had to be 18 to sell cigs in those days.) 

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Locations

Sage Department Stores

Beechnut & Loop 610. The building was used by Builders Square for their store when it was there. When Lowes purchased the land they demolished the store and built a new building. 

I'm not 100% certain...But the Hobby lobby next to lowes, looks like an old Builders square. If you drive around the back you can even see the old blue/red cheatline. The inside looks like a BS as well. What was next to it? Maybe it didn't get demo'd

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I'm not 100% certain...But the Hobby lobby next to lowes, looks like an old Builders square. If you drive around the back you can even see the old blue/red cheatline. The inside looks like a BS as well. What was next to it? Maybe it didn't get demo'd

I found this old excerpt on this topic.

"The abandoned Builders Square store, located across the street from Meyerland Plaza, is being demolished and replaced with a Lowe's Home Improvement store. The 150,000-square-foot Lowe's store will be built on a 14.8-acre site that Lowe's is leasing at the southeast corner of the West Loop and Beechnut. The new store will open in late 2002. Before Builder's Square was there, the site was occupied by Sage Store, a now-defunct discounter that operated there in the 1960s and 1970s."

http://m.chron.com/business/article/Bivins-Wulfe-tries-second-Meyerland-turnaround-2013391.php

I believe the Hobby Lobby building previously housed Media Play/Mars Music and originally a Pace Membership Warehouse

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I found this old excerpt on this topic.

"The abandoned Builders Square store, located across the street from Meyerland Plaza, is being demolished and replaced with a Lowe's Home Improvement store. The 150,000-square-foot Lowe's store will be built on a 14.8-acre site that Lowe's is leasing at the southeast corner of the West Loop and Beechnut. The new store will open in late 2002. Before Builder's Square was there, the site was occupied by Sage Store, a now-defunct discounter that operated there in the 1960s and 1970s."

http://m.chron.com/business/article/Bivins-Wulfe-tries-second-Meyerland-turnaround-2013391.php

I believe the Hobby Lobby building previously housed Media Play/Mars Music and originally a Pace Membership Warehouse

 

I can confirm this is correct. Builder's Sqaure was demo'd and the Hobby Lobby building was a Pace Membership Warehouse (both stores were owned by Kmart and later leased by them) Hobby Lobby moved into the building after it was vacated by Pace. Here's an except from The Chronicle from June 6, 1996 on the subject.

 

Hobby store picks up Pace space

The former Pace Membership Warehouse store on the West Loop is finally gaining an occupant after sitting vacant for more than two years. The 108,000-square-foot store was shut down in 1993 when Kmart, Pace's parent company, surrendered in a war of warehouse stores.

Hobby Lobby, an arts and crafts store, leased 55,000 square feet in the Pace building, located near Meyerland Plaza just south of Beechnut. The building will be divided in two. Another tenant is being sought for the other half of the building.

The landlord, Kmart, was represented by Cyndee Smith of the Shelby/Estus Realty Group. Scott Shillings, of Boyd, Page & Associates, represented Hobby Lobby.

 

The Kmart location was across the street, where Target now stands. It was a former Venture Department Store.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

About 1962 there was a Sage on Mykawa just north of what would become the I-610 loop.

I was about 7 years old, and (for whatever reason) decided to ride my bicycle from Cherbourg to Sage through the I-610 site.

At the time, the I-610 had just started construction.  The houses and other buildings had been demolished.  The heavy equipment left huge ruts that were filled with mud.

It took me a long time.  By the time I finally got to Sage my bicycle and I were caked in mud.  I was just dragging the bicycle.  I was exhausted and could not get back home.  Then I got scared.  I told the security guy to call my mom.  She came and got me but left my bicycle as trashed.  I missed that bicycle.

About 1970 or so mom would drive us to the Gulfgate Roller Rink.  We would take I-610 and could see Sage on the way.

Sage used to have billboards like "Louie Welch saved at Sage!"  (Welch was mayor at the time.)  

Then Sage ran this billboard "Jesus saved at Sage!"  People did not think it was funny.  I remember my grand parents saying that it's what the world is coming to.  There were a lot of people that would not shop there anymore.

About 2 months later, I saw that the doors and windows were all boarded up.  Sage was gone.  A Target opened up there some months later.  
 

Edited by Lou
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About 1962 there was a Sage on Mykawa just north of what would become the I-610 loop.

I was about 7 years old, and (for whatever reason) decided to ride my bicycle from Cherbourg to Sage through the I-610 site.

At the time, the I-610 had just started construction. The houses and other buildings had been demolished. The heavy equipment left huge ruts that were filled with mud.

It took me a long time. By the time I finally got to Sage my bicycle and I were caked in mud. I was just dragging the bicycle. I was exhausted and could not get back home. Then I got scared. I told the security guy to call my mom. She came and got me but left my bicycle as trashed. I missed that bicycle.

About 1970 or so mom would drive us to the Gulfgate Roller Rink. We would take I-610 and could see Sage on the way.

Sage used to have billboards like "Louie Welch saved at Sage!" (Welch was mayor at the time.)

Then Sage ran this billboard "Jesus saved at Sage!" People did not think it was funny. I remember my grand parents saying that it's what the world is coming to. There were a lot of people that would not shop there anymore.

About 2 months later, I saw that the doors and windows were all boarded up. Sage was gone. A Target opened up there some months later.

I believe the Sage you refer to was a former FedMart, now Fiesta. The Target used a proprietary build and was just east of there. It later became an indoor flea market, then Auchan, then vacant for years, and is now a scaffolding supply store.

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