IronTiger Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Prior to the new fancy Fiesta Market Place opening last summer, I didn't think that Fiesta operated any "fancy" stores. I'm aware that the 99 Ranch Market (or Ranch 99 Market, one of the two) opened in a former Fiesta on Interstate 10 (Fiesta closed during the Katy Freeway widening). Problem is, I'm having a difficult time believing it opened as a Fiesta, since it seems to be at home with second-run grocery stores (old AppleTree/Safeway stores, particularly). Was the Interstate 10 Fiesta originally something else? Sure seems like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Where is this fancy Fiesta Marketplace? We had a Fiesta take over the old Kroger space at Westheimer and Dairy Ashford and it's slightly nicer than the one at Bellaire and Hwy 6 (not that that's a good thing as you can't get fresh made tacos at the new one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 The fancy Fiesta is in Sugar Land, in a former Gerland's. It has a sushi counter, Caribou Coffee, and other rare (for Fiesta, at least) features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The new Fiesta at Westheimer and Dairy Ashford had a coffee bar for the first few months. Never saw anyone buy coffee there. Now it's the floral department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 The store I was asking about was at Blalock Market at Blalock and Interstate 10. I have a strong feeling that although it used to be a Fiesta, didn't start out as one. Rice Epicurean, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Could have even been something other than a supermarket. For some reason it reminds me of a furniture store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 The parking lot, even when accounting for the adjacent strip, is quite large (about 3-4 rows were cut in the highway expansion), too large for anything but destination furniture stores. It wasn't STØR, I know that much. Kroger doesn't make a lot of sense: why would they abandon it for the nearby old AppleTree? Winn-Dixie didn't have it either (no Houston stores). Mystery indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 There once was a HUGE fancy one down 45 south and FM 528. they had hydroponic gardens all a bunch of other stuff as well. It was really way ahead of its time when it was opened. I think it is a Burlington coat factory now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I'm not 100% sure but I believe this location may have at one point been a Weingartens. They appear to be the current owners of the property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 Weingarten's got into the real estate business after it dumped their stores in the '80s. It by no means proves it used to be a Weingarten's. When I can sit down at a computer again, I might be able to nail down when the building was built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I don't think it was groceries prior to Fiesta. I'm having a hard time remembering much retail at all on that stretch of the north feeder road in the olden days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 It looks like the building was built c. 1989, so it's plausible it was built as Fiesta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Bbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) After reading about the fancy one in Webster (very un-Fiesta like), I'm starting to wonder if it really did start as a Fiesta after all. I'm betting they became more like the Fiesta of today when they absorbed all the relatively small and dumpy AppleTree stores... CONFIRMED! New Fiesta to anchor I-10- Blalock centerHouston Chronicle - Sunday, JUNE 4, 1989Author: StaffWeingarten Realty Investors will develop a west Houston shopping center anchored by a Fiesta Supermarket, the Houston-based real estate investment trust company announced. The 115,000-square-foot center, located at Interstate 10 and Blalock , will be anchored by an 80,000-square-foot Fiesta Supermarket, Weingarten said. Construction will begin within weeks and opening for the Fiesta store is scheduled in January 1990. The Fiesta store, designed by Hermes Reed Hindman, will feature a large archway through a 95-foot skylighted tower. The Blalock store will be the 19th in the Houston-based Fiesta grocery chain. Fiesta 's in-house construction company will serve as general contractor for the Fiesta building and Sun Builders will be general contractor for the remainder of the Blalock center. R.G. George and Associates is mechanical engineer and Haynes Whaley is structural engineer, said project manager John Marcisz of Weingarten. The retail center, called 10 Blalock Square, will be the third new retail development to be built by Weingarten in the Houston area in the last two years. Last year, Weingarten developed The Shops at Three Corners, located at the intersection of Main, Kirby and OST, near the Astrodome. The Shops at Three Corners is 99 percent leased. An 86,000-square-foot K mart is under construction as Phase II of the project. Weingarten also is developing the 200,000-square-foot Centre at River Pointe in the Conroe area on Interstate 45 at Loop 336. The River Pointe project, anchored by Albertson's Supermarket and K mart, is expected to open in November. Edited August 19, 2013 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I think my phone burped out that last post of mine on this thread, but before it was confirmed, I was going to say I think it was this store that figured pretty prominently in some of their commercials back in the very early 90's. Will have to hunt for that, perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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