Sears At 4201 South Main St.

[Subdude]

In the new issue of Cite there is an article about the old Sears on South Main at Wheeler called "When Good Buildings Go Bad". The article is about how the beautiful old art deco building was remodeled to look like a giant metal storage shed. It says that the metal cladding was added in 1968. In the old HAIF I remember there was a thread about Sears, and someone posted some old photos of Sears shortly after the facade had been added. I could swear that they were from the early-mid 1950s, not the late 1960s. Can anyone verify if this is correct? Thanks.

Before remodeling:

[foxmulder]

In the new issue of Cite there is an article about the old Sears on South Main at Wheeler called "When Good Buildings Go Bad". The article is about how the beautiful old art deco building was remodeled to look like a giant metal storage shed. It says that the metal cladding was added in 1968. In the old HAIF I remember there was a thread about Sears, and someone posted some old photos of Sears shortly after the facade had been added. I could swear that they were from the early-mid 1950s, not the late 1960s. Can anyone verify if this is correct? Thanks.

Before remodeling:

Wow the building is butt ugly now.

[Jeebus]

Why would the building be re-faced? WTF were people smoking back in the day??

[mkultra25]

Coincidentally, I remembered a previous thread here about that Sears last night when I was driving by it. I got to wondering what, if anything, would be left of the original facade if all the metal cladding were stripped off.

I'm inclined to believe the cladding went up in the late 60s, in the absence of any other evidence save the Cite article. To my eyes it looks more like something of that era than something that would've been done 10-15 years earlier.

Edited July 31, 2006 by mkultra25

[musicman]

In the new issue of Cite there is an article about the old Sears on South Main at Wheeler called "When Good Buildings Go Bad". The article is about how the beautiful old art deco building was remodeled to look like a giant metal storage shed. It says that the metal cladding was added in 1968. In the old HAIF I remember there was a thread about Sears, and someone posted some old photos of Sears shortly after the facade had been added. I could swear that they were from the early-mid 1950s, not the late 1960s. Can anyone verify if this is correct? Thanks.

Before remodeling:

Sears on Main is clearly at a 90 degree angle to the main/wheeler intersection on google maps. The post card isn't. The post card also said it is a photo, which is clearly isn't. guess i'll have to take a trip on the train soon for confirmation.

Edited July 31, 2006 by musicman

[westguy]

Why would the building be re-faced? WTF were people smoking back in the day??

Art Deco really went out of style in the 50s. I guess they thought the metal looked more modern.

I remember that thread. Was there a picture of some Art Deco Sears in Los Angeles that was restored into a Wal-Mart?

[Subdude]

Sears on Main is clearly at a 90 degree angle to the main/wheeler intersection on google maps. The post card isn't. The post card also said it is a photo, which is clearly isn't. guess i'll have to take a trip on the train soon for confirmation.

I think it is just the angle of the picture. Maybe it was taken with a wide angle lens.

I'm inclined to believe the cladding went up in the late 60s, in the absence of any other evidence save the Cite article. To my eyes it looks more like something of that era than something that would've been done 10-15 years earlier.

To me it seems the golden age of building "modernization" with new facades would have been earlier than 1968, but that's just my take. Downtown 806 Main, the West Building, Stowers, and Lamar Hotel all got the treatment.

[gonzo1976]

Here's a picture circa 1940.

[marmer]

I remember the before and after posts too. As I recall there was some discussion about the sign, too, and I posted that I had seen a very Art-Deco Sears sign on ?Durham? ?N. Shepherd? in Garden Oaks.

Marty

[57Tbird]

I remember, from the 40's, a huge display window on the northwest corner of that Sears, where, at Christmas, they had a big "audio-animetronic" Santa who would move his arms and head and shout HO-HO-HO's over speakers outside. That looks like the window in Subdude's postcard. I don't remember exactly what was on the southwest corner at Main and Wheeler or the northeast corner on Fannin....probably similar display windows. The parking lot was on the north side. I know, that in the 50's-60's, there was a Sear's auto service center for tires, batteries, etc. on the north side across the parking lot from the store. I think most of the Wheeler south side was a delivery and loading dock area.

Here are a couple of pictures. Looks like some serious remodeling was done before the early 60's. The best I can date these is by the car in the southwest corner shot of the intersection of Main and Wheeler. I think it's a 1961-62 Pontiac.

Looks like this was taken from about where the Delman theater was at the time.

This was taken looking straight down Richmond

Edited July 31, 2006 by 57Tbird

[gonzo1976]

Wow. That change was by no means an improvement.

I remember the Art Deco sign on Shepherd. I also remember a restaurant at that particular Sears, Cattlemen's Club? Something like that.

[57Tbird]

After looking more closely at the postcard and the later pictures, I think the postcard shot is of the north, or parking lot, side of the building. There is no step in the upper structure as in the other pictures. Therefore, Main would be on the right in the post card. Subdude is correct about the angle. I've seen other photos of buildings at a 90 degree corner that appear to be less than that.

I would guess that Gonzo's 1940 picture is of the Main-Wheeler corner.

[Subdude]

57Tbird, you are correct that the postcard is of the northern facade. Thanks so much for posting the pictures. These are what I was saying had been posted in the old forum. They don't prove that the aluminum cladding wasn't added until 1968 as the article states, but it certainly appears to be the case, since the newest car shown is the 1962 Pontiac pulling out on Main.

I think the article was probably correct though in saying that the windows weren't bricked in until 1968.

You really have to wonder what they were thinking when they added the facade.

[Zippy]

One thing maybe to consider on the reason was the adoption of air conditioning. Windows may have been covered to help "insulate" and aluminum added to help deflect the sun. Just a guess.

I always wondered if that is also why ranch style houses were so prevalant in the 50-60's as well. Since A/C was probably not so efficient, they decided to have small windows and 1 story "compartmentalized" houses to try to make the most of the A/C available. Just a guess again....

/no formal architecture history training

//returning to lurk

[MidtownCoog]

Does anyone really refer to this area as "South Main" like Cite does?

[sevfiv]

Does anyone really refer to this area as "South Main" like Cite does?

i think of the loop/astrodome/holmes rd. when i hear south main

Edited August 1, 2006 by sevfiv

[MidtownCoog]

Same here.

But now that I think about it, South Main Baptist Church is across the street from Sears.

It's still Main to me.

[gonzo1976]

Does anyone really refer to this area as "South Main" like Cite does?

I think of everything south of 610 as South Main.

[marmer]

Here are a couple of pictures. Looks like some serious remodeling was done before the early 60's. The best I can date these is by the car in the southwest corner shot of the intersection of Main and Wheeler. I think it's a 1961-62 Pontiac.

I would vote for earlier than '68, too, By 1968 you didn't see fifties cars as commonly or in as good of shape as the ones in the Richmond photo. I know because at that age I was totally obsessed with cars and ones that old would certainly have caught my attention. In those days a ten-year-old car would have been much closer to the scrap heap than a ten-year-old car is today.

Oh, and South Main is actually from about Elgin or so south, at least in the old vernacular. Rice University changed its address from 6100 South Main to 6100 Main Street within the last six years or so.

Marty

[KinkaidAlum]

It would be great if the art deco form was still underneath after all those years.

The best thing that happened to this property was the general vicnity's overall demise. Otherwise it most likely would have been torn down to make way for something even less desirable than the current Sears!

[MidtownCoog]

I love that Sears. It's a bit funky, but still functional even today.

I bought my garage workbench there a few years back. The Crafstman tool area in the basement is the store's best asset.

I remember eating french fries in the restaurant in the mid 70s. Then the restaurant morphed into a bookstore, phone store and now looks like a storage area.

Check out the Sam Houston/Texas mural in the store's south stairwell.

They don't make murals like that anymore. Heck, you don't even see stairwells anymore.

[marmer]

Wondering about the cladding:

I wonder if the original concrete? stucco? walls had deteriorated (Hurricane Carla, maybe?) and the metal cladding was a cheaper alternative to redoing them? I can't think of another building that has that kind of cladding as an architectural feature.

Yes, good store, that Sears. I don't live there anymore, but when I did live in the area it was a very good (reasonable price, good quality) source for car stuff, clothes, photo studio services, things like that.

Marty

[native_Houstonian]

Does anyone really refer to this area as "South Main" like Cite does?

My mother, who is 70, still refers to this store as the Sears on South Main. I think it's because that's what it was called when she went there as a young girl.

[enviromain]

I remember, from the 40's, a huge display window on the northwest corner of that Sears, where, at Christmas, they had a big "audio-animetronic" Santa who would move his arms and head and shout HO-HO-HO's over speakers outside. That looks like the window in Subdude's postcard. I don't remember exactly what was on the southwest corner at Main and Wheeler or the northeast corner on Fannin....probably similar display windows. The parking lot was on the north side. I know, that in the 50's-60's, there was a Sear's auto service center for tires, batteries, etc. on the north side across the parking lot from the store. I think most of the Wheeler south side was a delivery and loading dock area.

Here are a couple of pictures. Looks like some serious remodeling was done before the early 60's. The best I can date these is by the car in the southwest corner shot of the intersection of Main and Wheeler. I think it's a 1961-62 Pontiac.

Looks like this was taken from about where the Delman theater was at the time.

This was taken looking straight down Richmond

We used to live on the corner Greely and S. Main. I remember my mom walking my brother and I to that Sears right up the road. Used to play with a kid named Billy up the street.

At one time there was an elementary school located on Greely and S. Main across the street from where we lived. It's since been torn down and HSPVA was built there.

[dbigtex56]

We used to live on the corner Greely and S. Main. I remember my mom walking my brother and I to that Sears right up the road. Used to play with a kid named Billy up the street.

At one time there was an elementary school located on Greely and S. Main across the street from where we lived. It's since been torn down and HSPVA was built there.

HSPVA is at the corner of Greeley and West (not S.) Main.

[WestUNative]

It was South Main! Now, I am unsure where the south picked up but right about there would be right. The appellation covered Main Street all the way out to Prince's Drive In, Playland Park and the race tracks.

I remember shopping at the old Sears with my Grandmother in the mid to late 1940's. She had a particular corset she liked that was only still carried by Sears. The section of the store was called Foundation Garments and had torso mannequins dolled up in same on high shelves above the merchandise. I mostly recall the constant "dings" sounding about the store, never figured those out.

It is a shame that more preservation of original buildings did not take place. Fort Worth is a delight with its downtown of restored, beautiful art deco and before architectural gems.

[gonzo1976]

I mostly recall the constant "dings" sounding about the store, never figured those out.

Now that you mention it, Foley's used to do the same thing. It sort of sounds like the same dings you hear when you're flying in an airplane.

Never did figure out what it had to do with department stores!

[Alpha]

Now that you mention it, Foley's used to do the same thing. It sort of sounds like the same dings you hear when you're flying in an airplane.

Never did figure out what it had to do with department stores!

At Sakowitz, the 'dings' were ways of paging people without disturbing the shoppers. Each store manager had a page. Three dings were security. Five dings meant the store was opening or closing.

[dbigtex56]

The Delman Theater was next door. The lobby survived up until a few years ago.

The exterior was covered with a dark greenish cultured marble. My coffee table's top strongly resembles it.

[Guest danax]

Wondering about the cladding:

I wonder if the original concrete? stucco? walls had deteriorated (Hurricane Carla, maybe?) and the metal cladding was a cheaper alternative to redoing them? I can't think of another building that has that kind of cladding as an architectural feature.

I wonder why they haven't done us a favor and removed that garbage and restored the original. Maybe the store's not profitable enough to warrant the investment. I'm guessing they hadn't really even considered it.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the store. The proposed Wheeler rail junction being so nearby should make that a hot spot for developers.

Looking into the crystal ball in Houston usually means seeing a wrecking ball.