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txn4art

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  1. txn4art
    Is this actually in the works or just a proposal?
  2. txn4art
    Although the previous renovation job on Meyerland Plaza is outmoded, I don't think many of the stores there are suffering for lack of customers. Even people who live in million dollar mansions shop at places like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, SteinMart, etc. Anyone who wants upper-end merchandise will find plenty of options just a short drive away in the Galleria, Highland Village and adjacent shopping districts.
  3. txn4art
    Is this actually planned?
  4. txn4art
    Sears has been there more than 50 years. When was the lease renewed?
  5. txn4art
    True, but one still has interesting experiences at Disco Kroger, among other places in the area.
  6. txn4art
    I shop there weekly, usually during the day. The clientele varies -- sometimes ordinary in appearance and behavior, sometimes not. These are incidents I observed during recent months: A middle-aged woman stopped in the cookie aisle, opened a package and stuffed her mouth full of sandwich cookies until her cheeks bulged out. She then carefully rolled up the package with the remaining cookies and hid it behind other items on the shelf. She looked at me and continued her shopping. A couple of 20-something men felt compelled to stop their cart and kiss lovingly in the middle of every aisle. They happened to be ahead of me at checkout and entered the debit card pin number with their hands clasped It took three tries with all those fingers getting in the way. While waiting in line at checkout, the guy ahead of me complained to the cashier (also male) that his feet still hurt from the heels he wore for a performance two days prior. The cashier agreed that heels were torture but necessary. I chimed in and suggested several things to make their shoes more comfortable. The guys hadn't thought of them and appreciated the information. Yogurt is in two places at Disco Kroger. Premium Greek and organic yogurt is on the wall in the produce department; all other yogurt is in the dairy case between fruit juice and eggs..
  7. txn4art
    Dare we hope that a grocery store (HEB or Kroger) is included in the retail mix?
  8. txn4art
    I'm delighted to see a conservation center is part of the plan. MFAH once owned a handsome Carl Milles fountain that suffered internal damage due to corrosion and was no longer on view. According to a former museum staffer, "no one could be found to repair it. so they got rid of it". I've always wondered if this is true, or if it still languishes in a dusty storeroom corner somewhere.
  9. txn4art
    When I was teaching in HISD, a colleague told me that she once attended a social event event in a Riverside home and was astounded to see that it had an actual escalator installed between the first and second stories. She said wasn't the add-on chair type, but a moving stairway similar to those in commercial buildings. It sounds fanciful, but perhaps others have heard of this.
  10. txn4art
    Wow...that must be a distraction during Sunday services, weddings, funerals, etc.!
  11. txn4art
    It's been decades since I've spent any time out-of-doors in downtown Houston and the sound of the chimes seem to float over high over the city. Back then, the only churches that were truly considered as being "downtown" were Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Christ Church Cathedral, First Methodist Church and Annunciation Catholic Church. For a variety of reasons, church bells usually don't sound every hour.
  12. txn4art
    I'm amazed that it still exists! If memory serves correctly, there was the famous Westminster chime on the hour, followed by a repeated bell note striking the hour.
  13. txn4art
    Security seems to be lacking at grocery stores, even in what one would consider "good" areas of town. My vehicle was broken into in the parking lot behind Trader Joe's on Shepherd in the middle of a weekday afternoon. That shopping center (a Weingarten property) has no cameras and no security patrol, as I found out later. On another occasion, I was shopping at Costco on Richmond and a woman managed to distract the staff and push a cart loaded with items past the cashiers and out the door without being stopped. Amazingly, I recognized her as a notorious shoplifter who had been arrested at the Galleria Lord &Taylor store when I worked there. And let's not forget the petty theft incidents I've seen at Disco Kroger on Montrose. One of the funniest was the woman who opened a package of Oreo cookies, stuffed her mouth full of them like a squirrel, and then hid the damaged package behind others on the shelf. This may not sound like much of a misdemeanor, but shrinkage adds up and grocery prices go up.
  14. txn4art
    Another sign on the building is for Joseph Finger, the architect who designed Houston's City Hall as well as other local buildings in the Art Deco style.. The small metal decorations and the light fixtures on the edge of the canopy in the old photo are interesting details.
  15. txn4art
    Are you familiar with Houston's East End and what Frank Liu's companies have built recently in the area? What do you think would be the best redevelopment plan for the former Finger's site?
  16. txn4art
    White bread was what most Southerners ate at that time. Wonderful homemade cornbread, too! When I was a child, my aunt from Chicago came to visit and was appalled at how few good bakeries were in Houston. She was used to neighborhood bakeries selling Swedish Limpa Rye, European-style pastries and other delicacies. A marvelous cook and baker, she offered to make homemade bread while she stayed with us, but the only types of flour sold in local grocery stores was all-purpose white (bleached) and SwansDown Cake Flour -- no bread flour, whole wheat flour, or any of the other types now available.
  17. txn4art
    I forgot all about that brand! My parents bought it for awhile, too. Seems like our parents were interested in nutrition, although mine were considered "health food nuts" because they always had a salad and a vegetable along with the usual meat and starch for dinner every night.
  18. txn4art
    To answer your question -- yes, I remember Holsum Bread. Fair-Maid Wheat Bread was what we usually had at home. I believe the bakery was sold to the Rainbo Baking Company in the late 1940's or early 1950's. My parents thought the quality of most locally available bread was poor. They preferred 100% whole wheat bread, which was not popular or widely available in the Houston during the 1940's-50's. Rye and pumpernickel were not widely available here either -- nearly everyone ate only the softest white bread and for kids' sandwiches, any trace of brown crust was cut off. A few bakeries in town made "Louisiana French bread" loaves, which had somewhat of a crust and were considered a specialty item. The Federal Bakery - small and locally owned -- was downtown and occasionally we would buy a loaf of dense, delicious whole wheat bread there.
  19. txn4art

    METRORail Green Line

    txn4art replied to a topic in Transit

    Does anyone really believe this?
  20. txn4art
    Well, HEB didn't poll anyone in EaDo or the close-in East End neighborhoods when they reset the merchandising of their Gulfgate store a couple of years ago! Seems like the HEB Big Bosses wanted that location to compete with nearby Sellers Bros., Fiesta and all the small Hispanic supermercados..The resulting lack of selection in every department means that many of us who live in the East End now drive to Midtown or Montrose for weekly grocery shopping. As far as quality produce, meat, seafood at the new Walmart on I-45@Wayside -- no thanks!
  21. txn4art
    The building that burned this evening was once known as the Magnolia Glen apartments. It has been vacant for a decade or do, but last year there were plans afoot to convert it into some sort of SRO residential facility. When I drove by a few days ago, it didn't look as if any work had been started.
  22. txn4art
    Brown Bookstore originally stocked books in all subjects before specializing in technical publications. At one time, there was a medical book store on Main near the corner of Holcombe; I believe it was in the same building as a large, important-looking restaurant whose name I've forgotten. The Museum of Fine Arts used to have a tiny bookshop in the Law Building. Currently, there's an extensive selection of books on art and architecture.in the gift shop in the Beck Building.
  23. txn4art
    The stretch of Elgin next the UH campus needs some serious concrete work. Portions have sunk several inches and the asphalt patches-on-top-of-patches have broken down. Its condition certainly doesn't reflect well on the importance of the University to the city. Dr. Khator and the Chancellors really need to pressure COH so Elgin gets on the street repair priority list.
  24. txn4art
    All traffic lanes on both Montrose and Hawthorne were open yesterday afternoon, so getting in and out of the Disco Kroger parking lot was a snap. The building site is now piles of rubble surrounded by a fence.
  25. txn4art
    I'm looking for someone to restore the large, original wood windows for a 1930's bungalow in the Eastwood area. Sashes are still in good shape but cords and a few panes need replacing. For various reasons, it's not something I can put on my DIY list.
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