6900 East Bypass
Where Cavender's Boot City is today, used to be a plant nursery called Wolfe Nursery, and the only reason I remember it so well is its carcass sat vacant for years (but not THAT well, apparently, as I called it "Wolf Pen Nursery" erroneously. No wonder I had so few Google hits). It isn't that old. A few people report there being a go-kart track here at one time, and indeed a go-kart track was granted a permit in the late 1980s, so it's probable that Wolfe Nursery came in-line in the early 1990s. [6/30/14 Update: This was "Post Oak Go-Carts Amusement", 609 Holleman Dr. E]
These two pictures, snagged from Google Earth, shows how much the building was reconstructed. These were in 2004 and 2008, respectively.
This is what the building roughly looked like from the front.
The font in the front was greenish, and a more bold variant of Helvetica that was common in the 1980s. The building was tan and had green trim as well.
It closed in spring 1998 when the chain went bankrupt (after a fast expansion in the early to mid 1990s), and I remember being inside of it once. It had skylights but had a fairly empty feel (it also had different sections of the store that felt like rooms, maybe). Bankruptcy information from the Houston Chronicle.
In addition to Houston-area locations, I remember seeing a "Wolfe Nursery" was going out of business...in Austin. That at least solves the mystery when I thought it was "Wolf Pen".
In terms of the Houston locations, here's a former one according to the old addresses, now serving as a "distribution center" of sorts for Houston Garden Centers. It looks familiar, doesn't it? The College Station location didn't have a lit sign, but still--not bad on the facade memory, huh? Too bad I never got the NAME right!
Anyway, it's a Cavender's Boot City these days (as well as a different address), part of the future Wolf Pen Village development, which was put on hold after the recession. And frankly, plant nurseries don't live that long anyway.
Editor's note: I doubt they sold orchids. ;)
