Former Edelweiss Floral Shop

This is from Loopnet but archived here as these pages have a nasty habit of disappearing after a while.
As I mentioned in my recent Numbered Exits post on Super 8 in Hope, Arkansas, I'll be updating the "blog family" (Brazos Buildings & Businesses, Numbered Exits, and The Houston Files) three times a week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday), though it's spread between the three sites (and might be off by a day). This doesn't count post re-dos, of course, the post covering La Bodega was overhauled and had the Church Street Blues & Barbecue post merged into it and the Northpoint Crossing article will be overhauled in the near future.

Today we're returning to the Rock Prairie corridor which I haven't had a post about since 2020. This building was built in 1999 for Edelweiss Floral Shop, a locally-owned florist which closed in 2002.¹ The building spent some time vacant later (I have in my notes it was "Brilliant Illusions" in 2004-2005, based on tax records, though there's no newspaper presence). In 2006, gift shop Baskets on the Brazos moved in. Baskets on the Brazos has its own history, which I haven't yet told of.

In 1986², Pop-abilities Unlimited opened at 3737 East 29th Street, featuring gift baskets, gourmet popcorn, chocolate, balloons, and snow cones. If you follow Carbon-izer.com, it was one of the sponsors drawn onto Jim Wodark's Camptoons map. In 1995, it merged with Baskets on the Brazos, though it seems it was more of a buyout than a merger, considering that Baskets on the Brazos was a much newer business (this was its first storefront) and like any "merger" where one is clearly more dominant, the older company disappeared. The business was renamed as "Baskets on the Brazos/Pop-abilities". A 1998 phone book I have said they had a second location at "3952 S Texas Avenue CS" (likely in this retail center). From what I can determine between tax records, this article, and other archives, is that the business didn't move to Villa Maria (I can't find anything on it, though it's possible a 2001 phone book or directory could disprove that) but did revert to the Pop-abilities name before it was purchased in 2003, moved to 1200 Briarcrest Drive Suite 1000, and renamed as Baskets on the Brazos from the article says, killing the Pop-abilities name for good, before new ownership of Baskets on the Brazos (in 2006) moved it to 112 Rock Prairie Road. In 2008, Tricia Barksdale Design, a floral shop that was located within Martha's Bloomers in Navasota (Martha's Bloomers does not have an article on this website, but it is discussed on Carbon-izer as part of the Highway 6 entries) at some point (Martha's Bloomers opened in 2000, so Ms. Barksdale hadn't been renting for long), moved into the new Baskets on the Brazos space. Eventually, Tricia Barksdale Design took over the operation entirely. In 2018, Tricia Barksdale moved to 4444 State Highway 6 South before closing the storefront in 2020 (COVID-19) to a home studio where she's been since. I suppose that's just how these things go. The socials are still active for Tricia Barksdale Designs as is her website, and it's still way less unsatisfying than what happened to Petal Patch or the final fate of the 1930s-era business Student Co-op (later history discussed here).

Back to 112 Rock Prairie Road, by the late 2010s it had become Oakwood Roots, a therapy center (an outgrowth of Oakwood Counseling, which was across the street at the time) and like Tricia Barksdale eventually moved to the bypass (now known as Roots Psychotherapy). As of November 2024, it was "TenantNow" (renamed to "TenantFirst" by 2025), which has also moved out to the highway (all three moved out to the 4000-4500 blocks of Highway 6 South...go figure).

1. Despite the name, it was over a block away from Edelweiss Avenue, and had no access to it.
2. Possibly 1985, 1986 was just the first time I found an advertisement

Editor's Note:: I've talked about a "post every day of the year" for this site specifically, which for this blog falls on August 5th, a Wednesday, so that's when this blog will get its next new entry...go and check out Numbered Exits and The Houston Files in the meantime!

Before Sabi Boutique

520 University Drive East in its original form. Later on, bigger windows were added in the front, but the side views are original.
Haven't really posted a "real" post in a while, and recently it's the first time I've been skipping months since 2023 (when I wasn't in the area at the time). I guess I just lost interest. You can only do so much if you're not making any money off of something. But I haven't abandoned this blog, just switched focus to places like Houston (and those entries don't typically have photos). I had also wanted to continue the "post on days I didn't already have posts on" project but another opportunity won't come until August 5th.

When working on an updated version of my FM 60 page for Carbon-izer (Version 5.2 here until August 1st, Version 6.0 here after August 1st) I came across 520 University Drive East and decided that there was enough information on it and that it was an interesting enough subject to do a full post on it.

The current tenant at 502 University Drive East, Sabi Boutique, opened in spring 2019 shortly after opening a second location at Century Square (this one replaced the Holleman Drive East location).

Originally, this was an office building that was first the home of a podiatrist (feet) by Dr. J.P. Beal, DPM, and soon became the home of the local Protective Life Insurance Company. (A 1974 directory lists the aformentioned Dr. Jacob B. Beal Jr. and Protective Life Insurance Company, as well as Farmers Insurance Company and Charles E. Thomas & Associates, which was the official name of the Protective agency). In 1982, Shellenberger's moved in as a second location from Townshire Center. In 1993 (by this time the Townshire location was gone) it was renamed as "The Suit Club at Shellenberger's" (advertising only—it only had "The Suit Club" on the sign outside) until closure in 2008. This 2008 article sheds a bit more light on the subject, The Suit Club wasn't exclusive to the area, it was a co-op with other independent menswear stores, though by 2008 this one was the only one left.

By January 2009, there were "two stores under one roof", Lew's Mens Wear, a store that replaced The Suit Club after it liquidated (there was a gap of about a month) and Sprout, a clothing store that was a spin-off of Old Bryan Marketplace.

Next from what I can tell, Harley's of Tyler purchased Lew's and converted it to their name in 2012, booting out Sprout in the process. This closed in December 2018.

I do have one more announcement to make: I will be permanently removing the post on T.G.I. Friday's (seen here, originally posted February 8, 2025). Like many of the posts from a decade ago, it doesn't really meet the same quality standards and without even a good picture, can't really be grandfathered in. (The only way it could remotely work is if I went by and grabbed a picture as the existing Willie's, which is kind of missing the point, or sullying the quality of my site with a Google Street View image...and I'm already annoyed with how poor quality the Rockfish Seafood Grill article is. In any case, effectively we're trading Sabi Boutique with Carbon-izer in exchange for T.G.I. Friday's. It was not a decision I took lightly, I don't really remove posts anymore.

Other Dairy Queen Locations

I added this post originally as "The Texas Avenue Page - The Brands", which covered a variety of labels featuring many of the brands along the road (Exxon,UtoteM,Circle K,AutoZone,Church's Chicken,Dairy Queen,Texaco,McDonald's,Whataburger,Starbucks Coffee,Sonic,Taco Bell,O'Reilly Auto Parts,Dollar General,Shell,7-Eleven,Conoco,CVS,Enco,Max Food Mart ) but as of late October I decided to change it to "Other Dairy Queen Locations", which includes the two operational Dairy Queen stores on Texas Avenue, rather than the defunct ones covered on this website in more detail. This is still not a complete listing of the Dairy Queen stores in the area, it lacks the 29th Street location.

Texas Avenue (two locations)

404 University Center

This was taken in 2014, the rest are all mine.
Well, it happened again, the rate of posts was completely unsustainable for the last three months (certainly not worth the effort I put into them) and I crashed out. (See Editor's Note). Today we're doing 404 University Center, with the last of the pictures I used from the summer 2014 set. The rest of the photos are below.

The center was built in 1980 and this article mentions that there were additional warehouses behind the center that were intended for tenants but I'm not sure if that's still the case now.

The problem is, without a main anchor, the center is just a bunch of little smaller tenants that have moved in and out over the years. Some of the first tenants included Conway's (moved from Downtown Bryan)¹, The Loading Zone restaurant, Italian restaurant Cenare (which operated up until March 2019), Harold's (at suite A), and Kelly's Toylane (moving from Townshire), DeAngelos (a gourmet food store with wines, meats, and cheeses, similar to Ira's).

It would be difficult to go over the full history of this center when places entered and exited, but Cashion-Cane (aka Cashion-Cane/The Christmas Store) moved here in the late 1980s from 504 Harvey Road. If it was originally a year-round Christmas store it wasn't by the late 1980s, and while it had a big seasonal influence it was mostly the "gift" department featuring silver, bridal china, stationary, and collectibles (see clipping). This occupied suite D before disappearing sometime around the mid-1990s. Suite A is currently (as of 2026 and since 2011) Thorn Music Center. In the late 1990s they opened Scott & White Pharmacy here, a S&W-owned pharmacy (not much in the way of other non-medical items) before moving it to 1100 Earl Rudder Freeway next to their clinic.² By 2000 it was already the home of Wiggles & Wags, a dog grooming boutique which later moved to Bryan.

404 University Drive East (Partial Update Shown) There was a TCBY location from at least 1991 to 2005. There are other defunct tenants I dug up in trying to find stuff, there was a storefront for McCaw Cablevision in the mid-1980s³ and a locally-owned sandwich shop called Deb's Deli (owned by one Debbie Sherman), and numerous others.

Going around the shopping center as of 2022 (not much has changed since that time), apart from the aforementioned Thorn Music Center, we have Brazos Coin & Jewelry (B, still there), Fast Signs (C, still there), Century 21 (D, extra offices), a vacancy at E (last home to Nit Not (2018), lice clinic), Vixen (F, still there...we're moving onto the next building now), Attitude Dance Boutique (G), Myra's Custom Framing (GG), and Century 21 (H, main storefront).

The last building a bit strange, Anytime Fitness (I'm not sure if it moved from Tower Point, as one used to be next to the H-E-B there, if it moved from Southwest Crossing, or a new operation altogether) replaced Cenare/Mr. G's Pizzeria. Cenare was an Italian restaurant (one of the first-generation tenants, as mentioned above) and in 1997 went under the same ownership of Mr. G's Pizzeria in Bryan, and in 2007 the restaurant was expanded with a full Mr. G's addition. There was a full storefront (I believe I took suite Y), though the restaurants were connected together on the inside. At some point they disconnected, the Mr. G's signage was removed from the pizza side and the doors were moved to the main entrance before closing in 2019. Chef Cao's at Suite Z opened around 2004.

1. Their old address was 103 N. Main Street, for future reference.
2. This closed around the late 2010s.
3. McCaw sold its cable business a few years later (ultimately, it fell to Suddenlink/Optimum) in order to focus on the burgeoning cellular phone industry. McCaw's ultimate fate was being sold to AT&T ("Ma Bell") in 1994, which they already had a part ownership in, and ultimately forming the foundation for the modern AT&T Mobility we know today.

UPDATE 07-23-2026: Mild rework by adding a paragraph of the existing tenants (which added a few tenants I didn't previously talk about, plus elaborating on Cenare a bit). One unnecessary footnote has been removed, as well as the Editor's Note, which apologizes for burnout and outlines future plans.