A Look at Boyett Businesses

This post will show some of the businesses of Boyett Road in detail, except, of course, the Blackwater Draw Brewing Company. The problem is that because of the way that tenants absorb each other and the spotty nature of the city directory, it's been exceedingly difficult to figure out what actually went where.

The current tenants in the here and now are the following:
103 - O'Bannon's Taphouse (an Irish-themed pub, if the name didn't give it away)
109 - Paddock Lane
113 - Tipsy Turtle

It's been difficult to find out buildings about this strip simply because they change addresses. For example, there was a Marine recruiters at 105 Boyett in the mid-1990s (likely absorbed into O'Bannon's), and even until the late 2000s there was "Pinky's New School Tattoos" at 113 Boyett. Here a few more ads for your viewing pleasure.

One of the countercultural "back to nature" stores inspired by the late Whole Earth Catalog, this ad is from 1985 and is still around in Houston, Austin, and other major cities...just not in BCS.

Almost a decade earlier, you could get a motorcycle there (University Cycling).

Such a way to respect the elderly.

At 109 Boyett, there was a small café here in the 1980s.

Doesn't sound like a bad place, but I like eating outside when the weather's nice, which sadly doesn't happen very often.
Gizmo's Cafe & Bar: it's from an old copy of InSite Magazine, this is now the site of Paddock Lane. Gizmo's was not the first tenant here, but it's what I have information for.

Above Paddock Lane and Tipsy Turtle is some 1-bedroom apartments, located at 214 Patricia.

Other tenants I've picked up from city directories:
107 - Boyett Properties (I'm not sure if this was actually an office or just a placeholder since the Boyetts still probably everything on the block, found in 1986 and 1991 directories)
113 - U.S. Marine Corps (recruiters have been around since at least from 1986 to 2005...and to back it up about the directories being spotty, it wasn't listed in the 2000 one)
105 - The Cue (found in '96 directory)
103 - Hole in the Wall (2000 directory, I believe it was interconnected with Shadow Canyon)

By no means is the list complete! If I missed anything ("Ozone", "Vertigo" being among the not-here), please mention it in the comments!

Some other changes:
- You'll notice that the link to the "Forum" has been down for the last several days. In my quest to create one, much like how Houston Architecture.info Forum became a life of its own, the first step to have a better forum is to have a popular website to begin with, of which this was not. The forum hasn't been deleted but has gone nowhere, and is likely to remain so.
- This will probably be the last Wednesday post for a while due to Christmas break. This means that they're probably MORE posts overall, though I need to fix some of the older posts.
- As of when this post went live, a sudden change in information meant we had to temporarily pull our Mariel's post. Weingarten's did really exist!

Weingarten, Mariel's, and Post Oak Square

It cut off "The New" part of the logo. Sorry about that.

I originally wrote this back in August but never got around to it because I had been posting something every day and had not gotten around to it because of burnout. I was doing something nearly every day but eventually stopped. This is about Post Oak Square, but I won't go into the "complete" history. Ninfa's opened in the mid-1990s (January 1995, according to InSite Magazine) before it moved and eventually became Wolfies. Cavender's Boot City was located here directly behind Pier 1 Imports, later a mattress store. The building, which was difficult to see, was demolished this year. There were a few other memorable and less memorable stores in the shopping center. T.J. Maxx has been there for years, and always had some budget educational software for the Mac on sale (it wasn't horrible software, it was just several years old). There was also a branch of Wild Birds Unlimited but it closed in the early 2000s.

The intrigue I've had with this building goes back some time, as according to the HAIF's DrFood, "Weingarten's in College Station in the shopping center next to Post Oak Mall. The store was very upscale when it opened. They had gourmet food like Central Market does, a coffee bar, and a huge candy/nut bar. They had a bakery that today would rival Central Markets. Being a Weingarten's they had the only Kosher section in the [greater area]. It then became another name when Weingarten's sold out on the verge of bankruptcy. I don't know what it is now, I think a Toys-R-Us."

After some discussing on message boards and reading other archived material, I determined that the intel was false. Others independently remember Mariel's (or the inaccurate "Muriel's", like the also wrong "
Royder's"), which is right. But there REALLY WAS a Weingarten there...for a period of two months, existing from about November to December 1983, making it the shortest-lived supermarket in town to this day. (Something I did NOT realize when I originally published this post, by the way!)

And that "another name" was Mariel's, which didn't last too long itself (don't know when it took over Weingarten but it lasted until at least November 1984). The article on the bottom mentions how Safeway took over the other Weingarten in Bryan, but I found nothing else in the January 1984 paper about the exchange (it may have been mentioned somewhere, but I didn't see anything). The reason that Safeway didn't take over this Weingarten was the result of the Safeway at Culpepper Plaza, a store with a comfortable long lease and a great location.

Listed as "Mariel's Fine Foods" in the phone book, "Mariel's Home Town Foods" was now competing head to head on "good quality, low prices" like the other stores in town were (Kroger, Six Star Foods d/b/a Piggly Wiggly, and Safeway). Here's a newspaper ad from Mariel's in '84, which was presumably after its fall from grace. Enjoy. Note that although it wasn't the upscale store it was, it still had a number of perks, including video rental (uncommon at the time, though Skaggs Alpha Beta also did it) and grocery delivery (I don't think any supermarket in town does grocery delivery for a reasonable price).

Both the College Station Weingarten's and Mariel's are obviously not well remembered, but part of the problem was that there just weren't very many people living on that side of town. Safeway at Culpepper Plaza wasn't very far away and was a slightly larger, more established store in a better location.

I think (but can't prove this because I don't have the proper old city directories on hand) that Mariel's occupied what is now both the current holder of 1200 Harvey (Burke's Outlet) and the adjacent 1210 Harvey Road (Tuesday Morning). I remember that when Hobby Lobby was at 1200 Harvey (before it moved circa 2003) that it occupied the entire area. After it left, it was divided into The BOUNCE and 99 Cent Stores. The BOUNCE was a bit overlooked. The storefront was colorful, but it didn't last. A surviving ad that I found had this:

"The BOUNCE! [is a] locally owned and operated 12,500 square foot party facility featuring your favorite inflatable castles, obstacle courses, huge slides, rock climbing walls and more, all in a safe, climate controlled environment. Four private party rooms with a private jump arena are available. Great family fun! Has diner seating with drinks, coffee and snacks plus WiFi access."

These things tend hinge their existence on birthday parties, and for whatever reason, it failed within a few years (maybe lasting from 2006 to 2009). It reminds me that I should get to Gattiland soon, as also alluded to earlier. The BOUNCE! would eventually become Tuesday Morning, which would move from Bryan (it opened at about the same time as Burke's Outlet, a few months before). 99 Cent Store would move to Bryan and apparently closed, then reopened, then closed for good (or so I heard: they never did take down their sign). Burke's Outlet then opened.

(Update December 8th: All references to "Village" replaced with "Square". See an error? Report it! Thanks)
(Update December 11th: Weingarten was found after all!)

Square One

Remember when we talked about Stover Boys over at Westgate Center, and Charles Stover acquiring Square One Bistro?

Square One was a restaurant in downtown Bryan that was probably the first non-Mexican restaurant to enter downtown Bryan, beating even Mr. G's by one year. Square One at first seemed like a great fit for Charles, as it was what he always wanted: a small fine dining establishment. Square One was primarily Italian cuisine.

However, as it turned out, the Square One Bistro building in horrible shape: wiring was antiquated (the building was built in the early 20th century, expansions to the building were powered with extension cords) and the plumbing was in poor shape (pipes went up before going down--which has all sorts of potential problems, including grease build-up and sewage backups), and Stover had to spend an astronomical amount to fix those problems.

Nevertheless, the renovations were well-received: Yelp! reviewers were pleased at the fact that everything was redone so nicely. The ubiquitious BCS Yelper, "Greg D." said as much:

As it turns out the new ownership has remodeled it, respectfully. Gone is the chalk board menu (which my wife missed), gone are all of the mismatched tables and chairs adorned with cheap Walmart dinnerware, replaced with black table cloths and red cloth napkins and heavier silverware that feels much better. And little white candles at each table. Gone is that annoying breezeway folding wall-whatever it was and now what do you have? A dimly lit much wider open space with the romantic meter shoved up dramatically setting the stage for remarkable food that the "old" Square One proved that they can pull off. All with the perfect music at just the right level. The staff now operating with a sense of urgency in new uniforms were all pleasant and helpful, service was remarkable and relaxed.

Unfortunately, this renovation marked the beginning of the end. While Stover Boys and Square One were both profitable (Square One's wine list grew from 10 to 110, and offered class and variety like no other area restaurant did), the problems stemming from Square One's renovation caused the owner to go into debt and it just got worse. Instead of turning profits and fueling what could be a prosperous chain bound for great places, the profits were funneled into debt payoffs. According to an old The Eagle newspaper, in October, Square One closed down and converted to the lower-end but more profitable Stover Boys brand, but it was far too late. Stover Boys was crushed under debt by late 2010, and the Westgate and Downtown Bryan location shuttered.

At the time, great debate ran on TexAgs on how Stover "destroyed" Square One, without taking into account said expensive remodel (or the fact that Square One possibly would've closed if it hadn't been for Stover).

After the shuttering of Square One Bistro, the building was reopened in Summer 2011 as "Square 1 Art Studio". There's loft space above the gallery on the second level (don't know use during the Bistro days).

The historic name of the building is the Ward Building, unfortunately, I haven't found out too much about it.

211 West William Joel Bryan Parkway

Editor's Note: I had meant first NEW restaurant. Unfortunately, this wasn't caught until I had been called out on it.

Parker-Astin Hardware

The passing of Parker-Astin Hardware (alt. Parker-Astin Hardware & Gifts) didn't go unnoticed here on this site (the "Gifts" part was known even back in the 1970s), so I added a picture I took to memorialize the store. I'm happy to say I went into it once but unfortunately didn't take any pictures, and pictures are pretty rare today (sorry). An alternate photo of the facade can be found here.

108 North Bryan Avenue


Other stuff:
- From Ramada Inn to Rubble, the newly renamed "Part One" post has had minor updates.

- The Buildings at Luther Street and Wellborn Road has been updated to correct some errors and integrate with a more recent post by historian Henry Mayo.

- Holiday Inn sees some more information on Garfield's, another former restaurant.

- The Northgate/University Drive post has a few new updates, like talking about food trucks and adding an ad for the Onion Ring.

- Your author waxes on the potential of the old Northgate Albertsons, since the original post was a bit of a downer.

Otherwise, since comments and such have been down recently (the forum is still a failure, and rather than actually try to even suggest anything for new content, some anonymous coward* took the opportunity to criticize the blog without actually giving any constructive criticism or specifics), there probably won't be anything in the near future.

* The term "coward" is used as after making generic criticisms, they disappeared without a trace. To said commenter in question: reappear and I'll remove that label.

You can use that thread that I linked though to add your thoughts. Please do!