In The News

Frank Sharp celebrated the opening of Sharpstown Center, Houston’s first enclosed air-conditional mall, on this day in 1961 with a crowd of 8,000 and a speech by Ted Kennedy, the brother of the then-president. Sharp, who

Weaver, a national accounting firm based in Houston leased, 11,000 square feet in One Hughes Landing Blvd. in The Woodlands. Scott Morse and Katherine Jessen of Dallas-based Citadel Partners represented the tenant. Jillian Fredericks and Norm

A new Piada is coming to Fulshear this summer. On Feb. 23, Houston-based commercial real estate firm Baker Katz announced the lease of a 2,387-square-foot space at the Market at Cross Creek Ranch for the fast-casual

Woodside, a Fort Worth-based real estate fund manager, bought 12012 Wickchester, a 110,000-square-foot office building on 3.7 acres in the Energy Corridor. Marty Hogan and Kevin McConn of JLL Capital Markets represented the seller, CapRidge Partners.

For small businesses trying to relocate or expand in the Houston area, it’s a tough time to be looking. Houston’s retail occupancy rates hit a six-year high in 2022 — 94.7 percent, according to commercial real

Restaurants, businesses and entertainment businesses could come to Willis as Houston-based Baker Katz has purchased 1.89 acres at FM 1097 at Canyon Falls Boulevard. The land sits near two residential developments: The Woodlands Hills and Moran

Willis anticipates a boost of nearly $500,000 in monthly tax revenue spurred by a new grocery store opening in a shopping center that city officials have called “the largest development project.” The 200,000 square foot shopping

The pandemic was supposed to kill brick-and-mortar retail, which had struggled for years against online competitors. As stores shuttered and malls emptied, online shopping only became more entrenched, and customers only more accustomed to clicking, buying

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, a chain patterned after a Rocky Mountain lodge serving comfort food, handcrafted cocktails and craft beers, is expanding in the Houston area. After opening in Cypress in 2019, the restaurant announce

Phenix Salon Suites leased 7,500 square feet in Gateway Memorial City, at 947 Gessner, from MetroNational. It will be the second location for franchisees Greg and Susan Gordillo after opening in Katy in 2019. The business

Seventy-foot spaceships and intergalactic tunnels now occupy a 40,000-square-foot space in Village at the West Oaks that once housed shelves brimming with bedding and home goods. Gone is traditional big-box retailer Bed Bath and Beyond, and

(Cover Photo: Carl Carlock, left, goes through the order line at Cleburne Cafeteria on Thursday, March 18, 2021 in Houston. The Restaurant has seen an increase in business by about 20 percent over the last month.)

Charming Charlie, a women’s apparel and fashion accessories chain retailer, announced plans to open 14 locations in March and April in Texas, California, New York and the Midwest. The openings include stores to open March 12

The Midtown Sears is being converted to a tech hub. Crews are tearing down the Memorial City Sears in West Houston. Now, the freestanding Sears on North Shepherd, the last active Sears department store in the

Volunteers distribute backpacks Tuesday during The Alliance and PlazAmericas’ Back to School drive in Houston. This is the 13th annual drive for the nonprofit and mall. Photo: Houston Chronicle / Elizabeth Conley / Staff Photographer

PlazAmericas, Houston Premium Outlets, Katy Mills and Galleria are ready for patrons Nine Houston-area malls are planning to reopen in early May after being closed for more than a month to slow the spread of the

The Sears at Deerbrook and Willowbrook malls are reportedly closing, opening up a rare opportunity for the malls to redevelop a large portion of its retail space. The closures would join Sears locations that have shuttered

Academy Sports + Outdoors on Monday opened a store in Richmond with a revamped floor layout and design, part of the Katy athletic retailer’s initiative to improve customers’ shopping experience amid increasing brick-and-mortar and online competition.

Bellaire Town Center, a redevelopment project of SDI Realty Advisors under construction at Bellaire Boulevard and South Rice Avenue, has signed Salata and JuiceLand as its latest tenants. Salata, represented by Wade Greene of Transwestern, signed a 2,804-square-foot lease. JuiceLand,

Jamba Juice’s new store at 9303 Highway 6 in Missouri City is one of nine locations in the Houston market.Photo: Jamba Juice Jamba Juice has opened at 9303 Highway 6, at the entrance of the Sienna

Margaret Mitchell has lived in Sharpstown for nearly her whole life, watching in dismay as stores closed in the neighborhood’s main shopping center and the property slid into disrepair, despite efforts by owners to make the

PlazAmericas, the former Sharpstown shopping center that has struggled to find its footing as regional malls have fallen out of shoppers’ favor, has a new owner that wants to turn around the property while maintaining the

Mendocino Farms, a casual restaurant based in Southern California, will become another dining option in Uptown Park, a project of Edens undergoing a renovation at Post Oak Boulevard and West Loop 610. The 3,205-square-foot restaurant will

Rtic Outdoors has designed a flagship store that’s just begging to be Instagramed. Customers are greeted by a 24-foot “R” inlaid with a polar bear, the company’s logo. A Ford F-150 truck, displaying coolers, is parked

The Houston grocery chain Randalls will shutter three more local stores by year’s end as the company continues to struggle in the region’s hyper-competitive market. Randalls, a unit of the national supermarket company Albertsons, said Tuesday

Sears, an icon of American retail for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday morning, the latest casualty of the headwinds facing brick-and-mortar retailers. The embattled department store chain, once the world’s largest,

Colorado-based American Furniture Warehouse has purchased land in Katy and Webster for its entry into the Texas market. Houston-based Baker Katz represented American Furniture Warehouse in the transactions. “We worked diligently to secure high-profile sites within super

Luxury athletic clubs in the Houston area are bulking up in size and amenities, part of a national trend to capture the growth in fitness spending. Life Time just opened one of the region’s largest gyms,

Download   Randalls — once the go-to store for grocery shopping in Houston — has been edged out over the years by its competitors offering lower prices and wider selections. The homegrown company, now a subsidiary

Rent for Houston retail space has risen to an all-time high, despite a long-term decline in brick-and-mortar businesses. The average asking rent for Houston retail space during the first quarter rose to $16.90 per square foot,

VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa will kick off the next phase of the Stableside at Falcon Landing retail center in the Katy area with its third location in the Houston market. The private club has leased

What will 2018 bring to Houston’s bustling business community? We turned to some of our reliable sources for their observations and predictions for the year to come. Here’s a compendium of what we learned: Economy to

Houston retail construction is tapering off as the rising popularity of online shopping gives developers some pause. An estimated 3.3 million square feet of new shopping centers are slated for completion across the Houston area this

Crossroads Trading, an eco-friendly retailer dealing in gently used clothing, will relocate its Montrose store to Rice Village. Crossroads Trading, which made its Houston debut in early 2016, has leased a 3,010-square-foot store at 2517 University

Discount chain is eager to expand beyond its Midwestern stronghold, and its local growth has been speedy By Dylan Baddour Grocery discounter Aldi will invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. presence by 900 stores in

By Andrea Rumbaugh Total Wine & More is taking over two Houston-area Goody Goody liquor stores as the Maryland-based company continues its aggressive growth and goes head-to-head with local stalwart Spec’s. Goody Goody spokesman Armando Gonzalez

Retailers are on track to expand rapidly throughout the Houston area this year in an effort to keep up with population growth and cash in on a steadily improving economy. Developers are expected to build and

Set your alarm clocks: The popular Snooze breakfast and brunch spot will open two more locations this summer. Snooze, which made its debut in Houston in a midcentury-mod space at 3217 Montrose last year, draws a

Dick’s Sporting Goods recently opened in Katy’s The Shoppes at Parkwest, at Interstate 10 and Katy Fort Bend Road. Dick’s Sporting Goods joins Houston’s retail scene Friday with six new stores. The Pittsburgh-based newcomer is planning

Their poll numbers have gone up and down, but Donald Trump holds a 10-point lead over Hillary Clinton in one notable demographic: Halloween partygoers. While young trick-or-treaters are looking to be heroic this year, with superhero

Just when it seemed Mattress Firm’s growth had flattened, a South African company has swooped in to buy the Houston-based retailer for about $2.4 billion. Steinhoff International Holdings NV on Sunday announced it would pay $64

On the heels of two Austin debuts earlier this summer, Snooze: an AM Eatery on Thursday formally launched its Houston location in Montrose. The popular, decade-old, Denver-based chain restaurant soft-opened earlier this week where Interfaith Ministries

Retailers continue to expand in metro Houston, despite economic headwinds from the oil bust. Two years of a prolonged dip in energy prices have caused some areas of weakness in housing and auto sales, but retailers

Whole Foods Market is doubling its commitment to Houston’s Westchase district with a 40,000-square-foot store that is more than twice the size of the one it replaces. “This is really going to bring this area up,”

Highlights of real estate activity in the Houston area: Dollar General will hold a grand opening of a new store at 15625 Aldine Westfield at 8 a.m. Saturday. The first 50 adult shoppers will receive a

The economy may be softening, but developers in 2016 are set to add more new space for Houstonians to buy groceries, sporting goods and sundries than in any year since the last recession. Driving the growth

Several new tenants have brought the Four Corners Shopping Center to 90 percent occupancy, the latest indication that a $10 million overhaul of the center at a major intersection in Tomball is drawing tenants. Houston-based real

Momentum Indoor Climbing has purchased nearly 4 acres in Katy for its first location in the Houston market. The land at Kingsland Boulevard and Katy Mills Parkway will be the site of a 36,000-square-foot rock climbing facility with

Scout & Molly’s has inked a deal for its second boutique in the Houston market in a shopping center between West University Place and Greenway Plaza. Scout & Molly’s will occupy 1,200 square feet in the Plaza in the

Look for the competitive local grocery scene, shaken in recent years by scrappy newcomers and established players alike, to be stirred further with the forecasted addition of more than 30 new stores in the coming year.

Space has been leased for Houston’s first-ever Snooze, an A.M. Eatery restaurant, commercial real estate firm Baker Katz announced. Snooze is a Denver-based restaurant chain founded in 2006. The restaurant brands itself as serving “creative twists”

Houston retail firm Baker Katz has made another eastside acquisition with the purchase of Federal East Shopping Center 9 miles east of downtown. “This highly visible property has been underutilized and is well-suited for redevelopment,” the company’s

Ted Mandel calls himself a “city boy at heart” even though he lives in suburban Kingwood, 30 miles from downtown. He arrived decades ago via New York City and Los Angeles, drawn by the reputation of

Sales Office JEKA Ventures has purchased the Gateway Building, a recently constructed three-story building with 23,051 square feet at 26865 Interstate 45 in Spring. Lisa Hughes of the J. Beard Real Estate Co. represented the seller,

Fiesta Mart, founded in Houston four decades ago to cater to Hispanic grocery shoppers, has had to fight for market share in recent years amid fierce competition for those same customers. Now, in a deal that could

Houston-based Baker Katz has acquired the Baytown Seafood restaurant in east Houston and plans to replace it with a new shopping center. “It’s a site that we have had our eye on for years,” said Kenneth