Back When There Were Kmarts In Houston

[LTAWACS]

http://www.lib.utexa...sadena-1967.jpg

...in this Pasadena topo. map, you can see the location of the Kmart. It was at Allen-Genoa & Spencer Hwy. it's the square bldg. to the left of Pasadena Plaza. The PP shopping center was unique in it's crescent design. I would like to know who designed it. The long, narrow bldg. (in between them ) housed various shops, including the August Moon Chinese food restaurant & a liquor store. The large store to the right of PP was Montgomery Wards. My mom drove from Allendale (Oak Meadows) to visit K-Mart and The Plaza. Seems like a long way, today, looking at the map.

I think most of it used to be a craft shop and it's now some kind of storage place.... I'll try to swing by tomorrow.

[foxmulder]

So i went to the Kmart on College...There is a "Bargain Outlet" next to it. It appears to be a whole other small 25k sq ft building. Does anyone know if this was something else? The inside looks real dated so i doubt it was cornered off. 

[GEM]

Bought a S&W .38 special at the "Stinkadena" K-Mart store in 1966.Also bought many Kool albums during the '68-70 time period..

[etheriemma]

In 1978, I worked in the photography department of the Kmart located at 59 @ S. Gessner.  I once caught a guy using a stolen credit card but the store manager was hesitant to arrest him so the creep ran out the front doors.  Sadly, I didn't get a reward.  

 

In the mid-70s, I worked in several departments at the S.A.G.E. department store at W. Belt @ Katy Freeway.  If anyone remembers, S.A.G.E. was the first department store to figure out a way to skirt the Texas Blue Laws and at the time, was the ONLY store fully open on Sundays, selling anything you wanted.  S.A.G.E. was crazy-busy on Sundays!

 

S.A.G.E. was also noteworthy in that each department was separately-owned by different companies, so customers had to pay for all items from each department in THAT department.  Each department had its own registers with clerks/managers who only worked in that department.  Which was a huge pain in the butt for customers who didn't understand how the S.A.G.E. system worked.  

 

Anyway, I have photographs that I took of both the Kmart and S.A.G.E. that I worked in during that time period.  Eventually, I plan to scan all the photos and then I'll post them online.

[Samuel Herrera]

http://www.khou.com/news/khou-112099049.html

[august948]

The Kmart at Beltway 8 and Beechnut was remodeled and expanded and is now the heart of the Viet Hoa shopping center. The Kmart at Hwy 6 and Westheimer became a Burlington Coat Factory.

[etheriemma]

http://www.khou.com/news/khou-112099049.html

 

Thanks for the link to the news story.  I had wondered what had become of the Homestead Rd. @ Parker Rd. KMart since it was one of the last KMarts to finally close in Houston.

 

I once went to that Homestead Rd. KMart store twenty years ago to buy some curtains.  At that time, the store was a bit run-down but still in pretty good shape.  What was most interesting was that the store still had the original 1970s color theme and decor -- the colors used for fixtures and signs were brown and tangerine-orange -- exactly like the old S. Gessner KMart I had worked at in 1978.  Sadly I never had the time to go back to the Homestead KMart and photograph the interior.

[SpaceGhost]

Thanks for the link to the news story.  I had wondered what had become of the Homestead Rd. @ Parker Rd. KMart since it was one of the last KMarts to finally close in Houston.

 

I once went to that Homestead Rd. KMart store twenty years ago to buy some curtains.  At that time, the store was a bit run-down but still in pretty good shape.  What was most interesting was that the store still had the original 1970s color theme and decor -- the colors used for fixtures and signs were brown and tangerine-orange -- exactly like the old S. Gessner KMart I had worked at in 1978.  Sadly I never had the time to go back to the Homestead KMart and photograph the interior.

 

Would you happen to have any interior photos of Houston Kmarts? Specifically Super Kmarts.

[etheriemma]

Would you happen to have any interior photos of Houston Kmarts? Specifically Super Kmarts.

 

The only KMart photos I have are of the S. Gessner KMart in 1979 (because I worked there at the time).  

 

Sorry...no Super KMart shots!  It's a shame that the KMart chain moved out of Texas.  I always liked shopping there.

[foxmulder]

The only KMart photos I have are of the S. Gessner KMart in 1979 (because I worked there at the time).  

 

Sorry...no Super KMart shots!  It's a shame that the KMart chain moved out of Texas.  I always liked shopping there.

 

Post some pics!

[IronTiger]

There's a Kmart in Killeen...it's the only one left in the Texas Triangle area.

[august948]

As I understand it, "Sears Grand" stores function like a Kmart now. They've got at least one, maybe more, in Austin but I've never been in one so I don't know for sure.

[GBryant]

The only KMart photos I have are of the S. Gessner KMart in 1979 (because I worked there at the time).  

 

Sorry...no Super KMart shots!  It's a shame that the KMart chain moved out of Texas.  I always liked shopping there.

 

Hey, I would be really interested in seeing those pics!

[plumber2]

There's a Kmart in Lufkin, and there are Kmarts in the Corpus Christi market and the Rio Grande Valley.

[gcmartin1]

My next door neighbor was the general manager for the K-Mart on Southwest Freeway in the early seventies.  He later was the general manager for all of Houston.  In 75 he was transferred to Memphis to wrok at corporate.  I used to spend all of my yard mowing money on plastic models in that store.

I don't remember for sure when it closed. The address is 630 W LITTLE YORK RD. HCAD says that TRADING FAIR IV INC has owned it since 2005 and that the building was built in 1968. For some reason it doesn't show the ownership history before then.

BTW this website has a bunch of the address of the Kmart stores that used to be in Houston and other areas.

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/permitting/pstregis2/pstregis2.pl?ownerid=7671&query_type=OwnerID&abc=&previousrow=100&increment=25&totalrows=183

[gcmartin1]

The only KMart photos I have are of the S. Gessner KMart in 1979 (because I worked there at the time).  

 

Sorry...no Super KMart shots!  It's a shame that the KMart chain moved out of Texas.  I always liked shopping there.

 

Do you mean the K Mart at Beechnut and 59?  If so, post the photos!