Wildcat51

Exceptionally thin on specifics, so any implementation looks pretty far out. 

On July 6, 2008 at 5:20 AM, Subdude said:

It was an interesting time. It is easy now to forget just how serious the situation was. Almost every large bank failed and had to be bailed out (Bank of the Southwest, Allied, TCB, First City, Interfirst, RepublicBank et al.). Dozens of construction projects were canceled. Not just oil, construction and banking, but lots of other industries were gutted as well. The Shamrock, Savoy, Sheraton, Towers, Plaza and Whitehall hotels all had to close. I had forgotten what rps324 pointed out how gentrification came grinding to a halt, but it certainly did. I had friends who lost bundles when they were stuck with rehab properties in the Heights after the market collapsed.

The rest of the country didn't seem to be terribly sympathetic. It was thought that we had benefited while the rest of the country was hurting in the 1970s, and that Texas was getting its comeuppance for being too arrogant and boastful during the boom years. There was a saying around at the time to the effect of "Lord please bring back the good times, and I promise not to blow it this time." Perhaps something to bear in mind today.

I put that in because it was a big deal when the Alabama Bookstop opened! It was so cool and so big it just blew every other bookstore out of the water. Every store in that center was always packed.

TCB didn't fail. The others that you mentioned did, however. 

Piccadilly at Memorial City was always terrific. 

Houston's best TV days were in the 1970's when we had Channels 2, 11, 13, 26 and 39. It was all we needed and was a great combination of network and local broadcasts. 

Town and Country was much better in the 1970's before the mall, when it was open collection of shops.

On August 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM, jetbeetle said:

We used to get music shirts from H&H music that said stuff like HAMMER GUITARS and D-DRUMS, we couldn't play a single note but the girls didn't know that. Parachute pants and Go Round are still things tied together in my mind and Chess King always reminds me of Michael Jackson's Jackets.

HAMER

On February 22, 2014 at 10:45 AM, plumber2 said:

For the longest time, San Felipe stopped at Voss. Later it was extended up to Buffalo Bayou but the bridge connecting to the other side was held up for years. I think Elanor Tinsley was the person who finally got the Memorial Villages (Kinkaid types) to finally drop their objection to completing the road. Now it's just another thoroughfrare that thousands of people drive everyday, never knowing that it was once the center of a controversy between the working types and elites of Houston.

The Memorial Villages are an incorporated group of cities and have nothing to with Kinkaid, other than the fact that the school is located on the edge of Piney Point. The Kinkaid School draws its student population from all corners of Houston. Only a small percentage of the students actually live in Memorial Villages. 

On March 23, 2007 at 3:46 PM, FreakyDude said:

Wasn't Best sold to Wilson's or something? I was under the impression that Best was bought by another company.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m309..._v27/ai_6749652

Best Products was taken private by the private equity firm of Adler and Shaykin in 1989 or 1990. The catalog merchandise business was in a severe decline and the two largest companies - Best Products and Service Merchandise - each ceased operations within the next 10 years or so. 

Music quality was exceptionally high in the 70's and 80's, then went downhill thereafter. The combination of deteriorating quality and technology that enabled easy duplication unfortunately put record stores into a death spiral. I spent a lot of time at Cactus Records and the Record Rack and as a result I still have a great collection of both albums and singles that goes back to about 1964. Fortunately I never got into tapes. 

In the early 70's the mall had an H&H music. I bought a guitar and Fender amp there that are now worth multiples of the price I paid for them. The mall also had record and tape stores, and odd little shops like the House of Fabrics and Spencer Gifts, Piccadilliy Cafeteria and an Orange Julius stand. Back then the mall attracted a nice crowd too. They ruined it in the 80's and now the only store worth going to is the Apple Store. Other than that, I avoid it.