Sharpstown Mall/PlazAmericas At 7500 Bellaire Blvd.

[cottonmather0]

Do a lot of people GO downtown to shop? Just curious.

That store is mostly weekday business and it's huge in that regard, but I'm pretty sure the answer to your question is no.

[Vertigo58]

That store is mostly weekday business and it's huge in that regard, but I'm pretty sure the answer to your question is no.

Correct you are. I worked just blocks away for near 14 years and I can assure that the only customer's in Foley's and or other retail stores around were mostly workers like me. The only ones loitering around were the Main street loafer's. True.

[memebag]

Correct you are. I worked just blocks away for near 14 years and I can assure that the only customer's in Foley's and or other retail stores around were mostly workers like me. The only ones loitering around were the Main street loafer's. True.

When I was a kid my mom dragged me to the downtown Foleys a couple of times. Since it's been Macy's, I've only been once, when I forgot to wear a belt to work and needed to buy one in a hurry. The saleslady said they get a lot of that.

[Vertigo58]

On a much happier note, does anyone know if the store will ship all remaining merchandise to other local Macy's stores?

Or have a huge get rid of everything sale?

When they shut down Penney's at Almeda Mall they marked everything to insane low prices and even sold the display stands and just everything!

I could dodge a few bullets for a sale like that! They could advertise as "Macy's Sharpstown Gangbang/Drive By - out of business SALE"!

Edited January 2, 2008 by Vertigo58

[stan the man]

Another shoe has dropped at Sharpstown...Fingers is leaving.

[Vertigo58]

Another shoe has dropped at Sharpstown...Fingers is leaving.

It's a miracle they stuck around this long? Sure would be interesting to see how many customers defaulted on payments and furniture had to be repo-ed at this specific local?

I'll order more roses to drop from above.

[LarryDallas]

I seem to recall reading that Gillman moved because Pontiac told them they had to have a freeway locaiton, and Gillman was pretty peeved about having to move from property they owned to a new location. I bought my first new car there in 1980, but never went back.

That location did not have Pontiac at the time of the move. Only Honda and Mitsubishi were there for the last 5-10 years they were located in Sharpstown. They now have Mitsubishi, Honda, and Subaru at the NW corner of the belt and 59.

I used to buy Mitsubsihi parts from them at the old place. It was very run down and shabby. The walls had the fake wood panneling from the late 70s or early 80s on it and there was a calander of a woman in a biniki holding a marlin from the early 90s on the wall. The parking lot had weeds growing in the cracked blacktop.

[musicman]

Sharpstown Center, operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is for sale, according to court documents.

"Several major players in the real estate market are taking a look at it," said Stephen Roberts, an Austin-based attorney with Strasburger & Price, which is representing the mall's owner, Urban Mall Houston. "No one questions the potential the mall has. I'd expect that the buyer would want to do some kind of major redevelopment."

According to court documents filed by Urban Mall, the court's protection was needed to stave off an attempt by a creditor to take control of the property and to work out refinancing. Urban Mall owes its creditors more than $53 million, according to the company's filings.

In December, Urban Mall, led by developer Tracy Suttles, was given court approval to put the 46-year-old shopping center, which the company's court documents indicate is worth $70 million, out for bids.

full article

[Subdude]

Note dual Sharpstown Mall topics merged.

[LarryDallas]

They are probably going to end up getting a mega HEB where the mall now sits once it is sold and razed. Grocery stores seem to do well in high crime areas whereas other business would just die a fast death. Look at the HEB on Beechnut at the belt. How the Circuit City in sharpstown survives is a mystery.

I forecast an outdoor Meyerland like mall with a mega HEB as the anchor. The NE corner of Hilcroft and 59 was recently redeveloped with great success. The new strip mall has low vaccany and has gotten WaMu and Starbucks to open shop. I can't recall what exactly was there before but it look pretty bad. Hard to think that the Ferrari of Houston dealer was right around and corner on the feeder of 59 back in the late 80s. Well, the Ferrari dealer is still is a really bad area next to the flea market on the other side of 59 north of Westpark.

[jmancuso]

that i don't understand...why that ferrari dealer remains in that area. you'd think they move closer to where their prospective costumers work/ live.

[mkultra25]

that i don't understand...why that ferrari dealer remains in that area. you'd think they move closer to where their prospective costumers work/ live.

Ferrari dealers generally don't have to go looking for customers - they know customers will come to them. Ferrari manufactures a very small number of cars compared to larger car companies, so there are frequently more prospective customers than there are cars allotted to a dealer. For a new model that's very much in demand, it's common for Ferrari dealers to give preference to customers that they already have an established relationship with and who have purchased several cars from them in the past.

That said, there's not really a compelling reason for them to move, especially when the property taxes are probably a lot lower in their current location than they would be in the more upscale parts of town.

[ssullivan]

Wow, just catching up on HAIF and saw this. My mother and grandmother both worked in that store years ago when Sharpstown Mall was the "nice" mall in Houston and that store was Foley's. I'm not surprised. Sharpstown Mall has been dying a slow death for about 20 years now. Last time I was there was about 1988 or 1989 and it was already showing signs of decay. Maybe I'll venture down to Macy's one day before they close just to check it out one last time.

[jmancuso]

Ferrari dealers generally don't have to go looking for customers - they know customers will come to them. Ferrari manufactures a very small number of cars compared to larger car companies, so there are frequently more prospective customers than there are cars allotted to a dealer. For a new model that's very much in demand, it's common for Ferrari dealers to give preference to customers that they already have an established relationship with and who have purchased several cars from them in the past.

That said, there's not really a compelling reason for them to move, especially when the property taxes are probably a lot lower in their current location than they would be in the more upscale parts of town.

i dunno, if i were plunking down 150 grand for a car, i wouldn't want to look over and see some homeless guy peeing against the front window as i was signing the paperwork.

[Trae]

The Sharpstown Fingers was the second best performing store in Houston.

[stan the man]

Just passed by Sharpstown yesterday while picking up my laptop and I noticed part of the Macy's signage gone on the south side (sans the star). Not to mention getting ripped off at the $3.46/gal gas station further up 59 (one week after being ripped off at another one near Sharpstown).

[gwilson]

They announced that Macy's closure months ago. Along with a dozen or so other Macy's stores.

[Vertigo58]

The Sharpstown Fingers was the second best performing store in Houston.

The Fingers in old Pasadena closed recently. It was in a section of town that was just not visible any longer. It days were numbered.

and someone mentioned that Macy's at Gunspoint Mall was closing as well. The Sharpstown closing was a no brainer. Big liability. Maybe if this Sharpstown Macy's had a gun & rifle/ammo section it would have succeeded!

[TAK]

i dunno, if i were plunking down 150 grand for a car, i wouldn't want to look over and see some homeless guy peeing against the front window as i was signing the paperwork.

if you were plunking down $150k on a car, you probably wouldn't notice the homeless person...

[WAZ]

There was just another shooting at the Sharpstown Mall.

It raises the question: should the Sharpstown Mall be torn down?

Lots of people think it should. But being an architect I can't help but dream big. In the vane of what I wrote in the "How Would you Change - West Loop/ Galleria/ Uptown" thread, here's my pipe dream for the Sharpstown Mall.

1: Shut down the Sharpstown Mall as we know it, and do a gut renovation along the lines of what they did at the Memorial City Mall. A cool gimmick could be to give it a retractable roof.

2: Demolish part of the property and turn it into a park.

3: Build a train that runs express from the Sharpstown Mall to the Galleria and Uptown. (In my dream it stops at that Uptown Transit Center I was talking about in my West Loop/ Galleria/ Uptown post).

4: Gut and re-skin the Jewelry Exchange building and turn it into first-class office space.

5: Build new high rise condos, luxury apartments, and offices in the air rights over part of the mall parking lot. Connect them to the mall and through there to the new Uptown train/BRT. Market them at prices between 75% and 85% of similar offices/apartments/condos in Uptown.

I'm of the view that surrounding areas will come back if the Sharpstown Mall can be addressed. I would let those work themselves out.

OK, I'll end my pipe dream here. Reality is that I guess the Sharpstown Mall should be torn down - but as an architect I am a dreamer.

[TexasVines]

nothing will make a difference until you address the "people" that "bez chillin der"....until that is cleaned up no one will want to come near there for anything

[Dan the Man]

Is the mall the main reason for the area's problems? I had always heard that the rundown apartments in the neighboring Gulfton area had more of a negative impact than the mall itself; ie apartment residents go to the mall to steal things for drug money/meet with gang members/etc. I would focus on getting rid of the apartments before redeveloping the mall.

That said, I'd like to see that area turn back around. Sharpstown is surprisingly close to Bellaire and the Galleria.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Dan the Man

[N Judah]

nothing will make a difference until you address the "people" that "bez chillin der"....until that is cleaned up no one will want to come near there for anything

I don't think so. Memorial City was once the same way but remodeling encouraged the gangstas to go elsewhere.

Edited December 5, 2008 by N Judah

[kylejack]

If you tore down Sharpstown Mall, where would TV Johnny go? His grills are world-renowned!

[Fringe]

I'm afraid the area has gone downhill to much to support anything.

[IronTiger]

Not too long ago, I conceived a plan that would put a theme park across from Greenspoint Mall, thus reviving Greenspoint as the "tourist mall". I don't think it would work. But Sharpstown? I think that one's finished.

[WAZ]

If you tore down Sharpstown Mall, where would TV Johnny go? His grills are world-renowned!

You said "grills" and I had to Google TV Johnny. I thought maybe TV Johnny cooked up some mean cheeseburgers on his grills. But you meant "grillz."

That's the dichotomy of Sharpstown. There's the Sharpstown Mall and the apartments near it - where people have grillz in their mouths. And then there are the single family neighborhoods of Sharpstown - where people like to cook on grills.

:-) (or should it be :-( )

[VicMan]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6147934.html

Speaking of complexes - the shot men were actually shot at an apartment complex. They just came over to Sharpstown mall and were found there.

[jmancuso]

the mall needs to be put out of its misery but the houston jewlery exchange is booming and they could take over the mall.

[houstonmacbro]

I like the retractable roof idea. Is that being done anywhere already?

The transit routes you mentioned is pretty cool too.