Galvez Mall

[Dan H]

I grew up in Galveston and lived right next to the Galvez Mall behind the Hudson Oil gas station which my dad Joe Hixon managed. The mall was my second home and I can remember spending many hours there in the B Dalton book store and at the movies and game room across the hall from it. If anyone has any picture of the Hudson Oil gas station during that time I would appreciate if you would post them or contact me. Thanks for the memories. 

[k5jri radio]

Some years ago when I attended University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette LA, there was a Hudson Oil gas station located in the south part of Lafayette. Because it was on the way to my part-time job, I bought gasoline there fairly often. During the times of my vacation trips from Shreveport LA to Galveston (circa late 1970s) I don't have a specific recollection of the Hudson Oil gas station that was located next to the Galvez Mall, but it's likely I stopped and filled up at your (member Dan H) dad's Hudson Oil gas station at least once, either entering or leaving Galveston. With a full tank, my Pontiac Trans Am had more than enough fuel to make the 285 mile trip nonstop. If anything turns up on my end regarding photos, I'll post them.

Edited February 8 by k5jri radio
more complete information

[Dan H]

del Railroad exhibit, the C.&W. Bar-be-que restaurant, MTI Computer services and the addition of Snack Attack, a self- serve snack display. Fullen Jewelers is relocating to a larger space in the mall in order to further expand its goods and services to better meet the needs of its clientele. In addition to new merchants, the mall features ongoing temporary tenants, the most recent being the Treasured Trails gem display. "We can accommodate such tenants on a per-week basis to enable smaller vendors a chance to display and sell their merchandise," Zuspan said. "We are not working on leasing temporary space for the Christmas season and are able to negotiate very special prices on both kiosk and in-line space." According to Zuspan, Galvez Mall's most recent early summer sales figures showed significant increases for many merchants, including Bealls, Footlocker, Zales, Royal Optical, Denny's, Fullen Jewelers, Gold's Gym and Ritz Camera. Several other merchants have noted increase in sales for June and July. "Galvez Mall has been here for 18 years and we plan to be here for another 18 plus," Zuspan said. "With the continued support of our merchants as well as support from the community, we can all work together to make this a viable and entertaining shopping center for the island." Galvez Mall is conveniently located at 1-45 (Broadway) and 61st Street in Galveston. Mall hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-S p.m. Sunday. For more information about the mall or its upcoming community events, call (409) 744-5241. Eiband's provides quality merchandise and service The latest fashions abound in stores such as Marge's Gift giving is easy with fine jewelry from Galvez Mall Galvez Mall 31 33 24 25 5 M "3 _J 2t L 27 3) CRAIG'sO'8 u • 91 12 31 19 Eiband's • Beall's • Craig's • Schwartz's BOOKS, CARDS, RECORDS 38 Amy's Hallmark 15 B. Dalton Bookseller 8 Sam Goody's DEPARTMENT STORES SO Beall's 33 Craig's 1 Eiband's FOOD' 61 Denny's 24-hour 24 Pizza, etc. 42 Wyatt's Cafeteria 48 Yumm Yumm Tree HEALTH& FITNESS 46 General Nutrition 51 Gold's Gym HOME ACCESSORIES « HOME ENTERTAINMENT 52 Radio Shack 35 Ritz Camera- 1 Hr. Photo •+••••••••<744-8059 744-57.61 744-7344 744-5363 744-5397 744-6613 744-0001 744.7448 744-6239 744-8041 744-8223 744-4653 744-1645 744-8876 140 JEWELRY 47 Fullen Jewelers 744-3650 40 Kay Jewelers 744-5871 58 Piercing Pagoda 740-3622 59 Plumb Gold 744-1812 37 Zales Jewelers 744-3657 LEISURE& ENTERTAINMENT 23 Aladdin's Castle 21 Cinema 1, II, III MEN'S FASHION 43 Schwartz's SERVICE 744-4396 744-5228 744-5742 6 Regis Hairstylists 744-8929 56 Royal Optical 740-2020 56 Or Patti Zein-Eldin 744-5841 31 Lite Defensive Driving 332-1760 22 Mall Management Office 744-5241 SHOES 32 Kinney Shoes 18 Payless Shoes SPORTING GOODS& 1 9 Footlocker 36 Sports Fantasy TOYS .. 744-5521 740-1533 APPAREL 744-8504 744-9709 27 Kay Bee Toys 740-1039 WOMEN'S FASHIONS& ACCESSORIES 3 Claire's Boutique 5 Lane Bryant 16 Limited 28 Margo's 43 Schwartz's 26 Stuart's •••••••4 i 744-4973 744-9292 744-5130 744-5248 744-5742 744-2068 ******

[k5jri radio]

"Galvez Mall has been here for 18 years and we plan to be here for another 18 plus" Galvez Mall opened in 1968, fixing the year of this message in 1986 (1968+18=1986). Unfortunately, the "plan to be here for another 18 plus" (1986+18=2004) did not come to pass. The Galvez Mall declined steadily during the 1990s and was eventually demolished in 2000.

A look at the photos (posted January  2019) depicting exterior views of the mall circa October 1996 show significant grass and weed overgrowth near the mall's entrances.

 According to its pastor, The Island Fellowship Church operated in the former Bealls location from the Summer of 1996 until June 1997 when "Fincher's tax abatement" ended.  

Edited April 27, 2022 by k5jri radio
additional information

[k5jri radio]

The March 1996 departure of Bealls, the last anchor store in Galvez Mall (along with the failure to find another comparable tenant for this or the other two vacant anchor locations), likely made the closure of the mall all but certain. Bealls (Florida) was founded in Bradenton, FL, in 1915 by Robert M. Beall, Sr. The Bealls stores operating in Texas and many other states were owned by another Beall family. As far a I know: the Florida Beall and the Texas Beall families [1] were not biologically related to one another, and [2] conducted their respective business activities separately. The Texas Beall family members later sold their real and intellectual property to Houston-based Stage Stores. Their motive for selling is not known. When Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, Bealls Florida purchased their intellectual property and selected real property. Among other rights, Bealls Florida can use the Bealls brand name throughout the United States. Real property purchased by Bealls Florida include the storage and distribution facility located in Jacksonville TX.

Edited July 22, 2022 by k5jri radio
correction & clarification

[Houston19514]

18 hours ago, k5jri radio said:

The March 1996 departure of Bealls, the last anchor store in Galvez Mall (along with the failure to find another comparable tenant), likely made the closure of the mall all but certain. Bealls was founded in Bradenton, FL, in 1915 by Robert M. Beall, Sr. The Bealls stores operating in Texas and many other states was the result of the split of assets between various members of the Beall family. The Beall family members operating stores in Texas and several other states later sold their real and intellectual property to Houston-based Stage Stores. When Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, Bealls Florida purchased their intellectual property, which included the right to use all brand names formerly owned by Stage Stores. Among other rights, Bealls Florida can use the Bealls brand name throughout the United States. 

Source?  I can find no evidence that the two families were related or were ever in business together. I think the 1988 sale of Beall's to the newly-formed Specialty Retailers Inc was caused at least in part by a family split/argument.  In any event, Beall's (Texas) was founded in Henderson, Texas in 1923. The company (not just it's real and intellectual property) was sold to Speciality Retailers who also purchased Houston-based Palais Royal at the same time and HQ was moved to Houston.  Some years later they acquired Stage Stores and changed the corporate name to Stage Stores.

As you said, Beall's (Florida) bought the IP and other assets out of bankruptcy.

 

[k5jri radio]

Despite the coincidence of the same surname, I have not found evidence to show the respective Beall families in Florida and Texas were biologically related to one another or ever in business together. Bealls (Texas) was a continuously operating business entity under several corporate names until the bankruptcy of Stage Stores in 2020. Bealls (Florida) then purchased intellectual and real property from the bankrupt corporation. Bealls, Inc. continues to operate as a family owned corporation headed (since 2019) by CEO Matt Beall.

Edited November 24, 2022 by k5jri radio
correction & clarification

[Dan H]

To k5jri radio; You probably did fill up at the Hudson Oil service station (6600 Broadway) next to the mall, because it was the last gas stop on the feeder right before the I45 on ramp for those travelers heading out of town. 

[k5jri radio]

To Dan H (and others who lived in or visited Galveston during the late 1970s): The 6600 Broadway Hudson Oil service station would have been the optimal place to fill up before starting a fairly long trip north to Shreveport LA (or other destinations in northwest LA). Once out of the Houston area, most of the 4-hour trip north was through sparsely populated areas of east Texas. My preference for long trips, then and now, was to start out with a full tank and avoid (or at least minimize) having to stop for gasoline along the way.

HAIF members and visitors might like to check out the recently posted You Tube video, "Galveston in the 70s," which shows photographs of two Hudson Oil gas stations, one of which is the 6600 Broadway Hudson Oil gas station Dan H's dad managed during that time period.    

Edited October 28, 2022 by k5jri radio
more complete information

[zaphod]

The mall looks like it was pretty nice up until a few years prior to its demise.

I had a thought, it seems like nowadays the "pace of change" for places like malls is slower. Like, many malls of the 1960s and 1970s only lasted about 30 years. 30 years ago was 1992, there aren't as many dead shopping centers from 1992 around today. I wonder if the retail industry was more volatile back then, when it was a new and growing thing. Nowadays there are only a handful of major chains, a lot of malls have vanished, so of course that means what remains are regional or flagship stores operated by giant publicly traded corporations that have deep pockets.

Kind of like how when the internet was young there were a lot of different search engines and a lot of major websites and a lot of different brands of PC's and early smartphones and many of them came in a flash and vanished. Now there's just a few giant social media platforms, and a handful of companies that sell the majority of mobile devices.

[Dan H]

I remember that the new Mall of the Mainland built in 1991 across the causeway in Texas City became the place to be seen and to shop also contributed to the demise of the Galvez Mall during its last years. The Mall of the Mainland was new, and the old Galvez Mall was deteriorating, and it was only a short drive and a much shorter drive than going all the way to the Baybrook Mall on I45 in Friendswood.  

[k5jri radio]

Interesting posting with photograph about the Mall of the Mainland located at Texas City TX, approximately 16 miles across the causeway from Galveston Island. In addition to being 23 years newer (opened in 1991) than the Galvez Mall (opened in 1968), the Mall of the Mainland had twice the enclosed area (800,000 sq.ft.) than the Galvez Mall (400,000 sq.ft.). When Sears left the Galvez Mall (circa late 1991 or early 1992) and relocated to the Mall of the Mainland, the resultant loss of "foot traffic" in the Galvez Mall may have been a factor prompting another anchor store, Eibands, to vacate the Galvez Mall at the end of the summer in 1992. In March 1996, Beall's, the last remaining anchor store, closed its Galvez Mall store location.

Although it may be coincidental, the last owners of the Galvez Mall renamed it, The Island, giving it a geographical identification similar to the Mall of the Mainland. More research is needed to determine if the Galvez Mall renaming was deliberate or coincidental.

Over time the Mall of the Mainland declined to approximately 65 percent occupancy (circa 2002) due in part to competition from Baybrook Mall in Houston (Friendswood mailing address, but within Houston city limits), approximately 10 miles north. The Mall of the Mainland had several changes in ownership until developer Jerome Karam bought the property in 2015. That same year he sold part of the property (the building formerly occupied by Dillard's) to First Baptist Church of Texas City and renamed the remainder of the property, Shops on the Mainland. After another renaming In 2020, the property is now named Mainland City Centre.

Edited July 14, 2022 by k5jri radio
more complete information

[k5jri radio]

The comments about the Mall of the Mainland (Texas City, TX) during the early to mid 1990's being a place to "be seen and to shop" underscore the social aspects inherent in enclosed shopping malls and similar retail venues.

Edited July 6, 2022 by k5jri radio
clarification

[k5jri radio]

According to another Galvez Mall posting, prior to the opening of the Eibands department store in one of the anchor locations at the Galvez Mall, there was a Globe department store in the same location. Per online sources, Globe stores operated in Texas and other states in the southwest as a big box retail unit of Walgreens for much of its existence (1960-1999). The posting's author stated his recollection of shopping at the Globe store in Galvez Mall coincided with the time The Warriors movie was creating a lot of controversy. The Warriors was released on February 9, 1979 and grossed $22.5 million (approximately $91 million in 2022 dollars) against a $4 million production budget (approximately $16.5 million in 2022 dollars). The Warriors movie is currently available for streaming on ROKO, VUDU, and possibly other services. Also, The Warriors movie is available on  DVD & Blu-Ray disc formats from Amazon.com.

Edited July 8, 2022 by k5jri radio
more complete information

[coastiestevie]

Hello! Does anyone know specific details about Galvez Mall? Such as the opening date, closing date, etc?

[BigJoeTX]

Resurrecting a screename I haven’t logged into in 15 years here… I beg to differ on the decline of Mall of the Mainland being because of Baybrook, Baybrook was always the better mall to go to (and it was built in 1978 I believe).  I was born and raised in Galveston and we frequently drove right past Galvez and Mall of the Mainland to go to Baybrook.  It’s a testament to Baybrook’s strength as a mall, that even these days, in a era where malls are have become a bygone relic, Baybrook is bigger and stronger than ever, having added an outdoor mall area too.  
 

I would describe Mall of the Mainland as a blip, it was never “the place” to be, it really only had about 5-10 year heyday if you could call it that.  As a Galvestonian the main reason to go to Mall of the Mainland was the movie theater (or sheer laziness if you were shopping and didn’t want to drive 12 more mins to Baybrook), which after the closure of the Broadway Theater and Galvez Mall theaters became the closest theater.  This even fell off after the megaplexes came into fashion in the late 90s.  Suddenly, rather than bother with the dinky old 12 screen at Mall of the Mainland you’d drive 20-30 miles to go to the AMC 30 at the beltway or Cinemark in Webster.  Then they built the small theater in Galveston which was good enough and left pretty much no reason to go to Mall of the Mainland at all.  

[player1videogames]

I worked at Aladdins castle in Galvez Mall in 1992 and loved this little mall. I saw so many free movies because I would give free games to the guys that worked at the theater. Loved Kay Bee Toys. They had a great selection of Nes games back then. Wished you had pics of that area. Eibands had great hamburgers too believe it or not. 

[august948]

3 hours ago, player1videogames said:

I worked at Aladdins castle in Galvez Mall in 1992 and loved this little mall. I saw so many free movies because I would give free games to the guys that worked at the theater. Loved Kay Bee Toys. They had a great selection of Nes games back then. Wished you had pics of that area. Eibands had great hamburgers too believe it or not. 

Aladdin's castle...now that brings back some memories.

[k5jri radio]

As far a I know, none of the postings pertaining to Mall of the Mainland, state that Baybrook Mall was the main causal factor for the decline of the Mall of the Mainland. The language in my own posting, "due in part to competition from the Baybrook Mall," clearly allows for the existence of other causal factors for the decline of the Mall of the Mainland.

The statement about the Mall of the Mainland being "a place to be seen and to shop" is the opinion of one Galveston resident at the time explaining why he and others he knew (at the time) went there. Likewise, the contrasting statement about the Mall of the Mainland as "never the 'place to be be'" is the opinion of another Galveston resident at the time explaining why he and others he knew (at the time) went elsewhere.

Causal relationships allow for reasonable inferences to be made, but the only way to establish actual cause and effect is a controlled experimental model. For example, if it were possible to create an alternate reality in which Baybrook Mall was never built, but all other variables were identified and left unchanged, then what happened to the Mall of the Mainland in this alternate reality would be likely to prove or disprove a causal relationship between the two malls (but only within this alternate reality).  

Edited September 23, 2022 by k5jri radio
grammar

[Dan H]

K5jri radio; I posted that video showing photos of Galveston and the Galvez Mall under my YouTube Channel;

(31) Sky Bar Wisdom - YouTube

Thanks for the plug;

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Dan H

[Ross]

5 hours ago, Dan H said:

K5jri radio; I posted that video showing photos of Galveston and the Galvez Mall under my YouTube Channel;

(31) Sky Bar Wisdom - YouTube

Thanks for the plug;

 

Great video, although I can't believe you didn't censor the pornography on the Flagship Hotel🤣🤣🤣

The old railroad causeway is still there, but the drawbridge was replaced.

The SS Galveston Hotel was awesome. It must have disappeared before I ever went by the location.

Those cars on the beach would be gone from rust fairly quickly if they weren't washed well

Galvez Mall looked pretty good for a city the size of Galveston

I am still annoyed they demolished the cotton compress machine that was there for a century. It should have stayed as a hiistorical item

[Amlaham]

Wow.....everyone was so pretty, skinny, and fit 😅

[brucesw]

Awesome video.  Thanks.  I had a silly grin on my face all the way through.  I remember the SS Galveston, Jack Tar, most of the others (but not all).  Never went in the mall - fancier than I would have expected and the exterior in a couple of shots was in a lot better shape than I think I ever saw it.  Would love to see another video of other parts of the island that most of us from this area would be familiar with, not just along the seawall.

[Dan H]

On 10/27/2022 at 8:13 PM, brucesw said:

Awesome video.  Thanks.  I had a silly grin on my face all the way through.  I remember the SS Galveston, Jack Tar, most of the others (but not all).  Never went in the mall - fancier than I would have expected and the exterior in a couple of shots was in a lot better shape than I think I ever saw it.  Would love to see another video of other parts of the island that most of us from this area would be familiar with, not just along the seawall.

Brucesw; I'm working on gathering pictures of the interior of Galveston (61st street, Ave S, West End, Broadway, 45th St, Downtown, Parks, etc) in the 70s time frame in order to make another YouTube video. Thanks

Edited October 29, 2022 by Dan H

[Dan H]

What was the name of the diner on 45th and P (now Johnny Mitchell Boys & Girls Club) that many students at Ball High used to go eat lunch at in the 70s/80s?

[k5jri radio]

Having a diner within walking distance must have been really convenient for the Ball High students who preferred not to eat at the school cafeteria and could afford to pay somewhat more for their lunch.      

[Dan H]

K5jri Radiol; Sure was. Most of the time money was short though, so we just went to the donut shop down the street located at 2001 45th street and then went to a lounge/bar across the street located at 1924 45th street and played pool or to the 7-11 located at 1902 45th street.  Good times. 

[k5jri radio]

Dan H;  On Saturdays when I have free time, one of my favorite activities is playing pinball and console games at Anastasia Island's Arcade Museum located in St. Augustine Beach, FL, about 33 miles from my house. Usually, I pack food and drinks in a cooler, but when I don't, there's a modern, well maintained 7-11 store across the street from the pinball museum with a good selection of packaged sandwiches, drinks, etc., along with self-service gasoline pumps. Similar convenience store brands commonly seen around this part of FL are: Circle K, Gate, and WaWa. Likely you are more familiar with Circle K than with Gate or WaWa.

Edited February 6 by k5jri radio
name correction

[Dan H]

K5jri Radio; Yes I am familiar with Circle K as there are a few on Galveston Island along with 7-11 as well. They disappeared for some years in Galveston but now they are expanding around Texas in a big way again. 

[pilotca86]

What a great thread.  Just returned from a Galveston visit two days ago.