Smetana Grocery

Picture from May 2021. It's hard to capture this building in one shot.

Smetana Grocery is one of those old rural Exxon stores with the store name in a large red rectangle on the building, and originally opened back in 1972. It didn't become an idea for a post until I noticed an ad copy in a 1989 phone book. I didn't scan it (no logos, just text) but it is reproduced below:

SMETANA GROCERY

SPECIALIZING IN HORMONE FREE BEEF B3-R BRAND

• HOMEMADE POLISH SAUSAGE
• PARTY TRAYS & BEER KEGS
• BIODYNAMICALLY GROWN ORGANIC VEGETABLES (IN SEASON)
• WELEDA HEALTH FOOD PRODUCTS
• CAFE ALTURA COFFEE

775-9337

EXXON & OTHER MAJOR CREDIT CARDS
2 1/2 Miles West of Loop 2818 W Hwy. 21.....775-9337

Well, I was intrigued. Who knew that some rural gas station was selling a bunch of organic health foods and products that regular groceries at the time wouldn't touch? And this gas station is still in business today at 7700 Highway 21? And it's a 12-sided building with two stories? I had to check it out.

With the relatively recent passing of Brazos Natural Foods (mentioned over at this post which is in need of a re-do one of these days), there's no dedicated store for "natural" and "upscale" foods, but even before the situation last year, those types of stores were dropping off, with Earth Fare and Lucky's Market both closing in high-profile bankruptcies.

Sadly, but expectedly, this is not the case here. The merchandise mix is very much ordinary convenience store fare. The few notable exceptions are some bulk items that I'm not sure were meant to be sold as retail, like frozen Hunt Brothers Pizza, but there's no gourmet items, no produce. It also is no longer an Exxon, transitioning to Citgo between 2012 and 2016.

It's dark and dusty up there. The big white glow is sunlight coming in from a window above.

The mysterious upper level only seems to include storage. It doesn't look like living space...or anything finished at all. The current building was built in 1986 and appears to have added the gas station. (The older building pre-dated 1972 and may have a different name originally as it still had a parking area). Oh, and one more thing--it's not great, but here's my attempt at stitching two photos together to make a more panoramic view.

UPDATE 10-05-2023: As for the older one, I believe I correctly ID'd it on Vintage Aerial.

C.C. Creations + Red Oak Sportswear

I'm not fond using Google Earth aerials but this is the best way to show the buildings.

Moving down Holleman from the old Valero, which as of this writing is basically a crater, 112-114 Holleman is the subject of today's post, with C.C. Creations at the spot for 30 years, more or less, but it's a bit more complicated than that. This is the way I've best understood it so if there's any inaccuracy, be sure to tell me (my email's in the side column).

The earliest site plan I can find for the building is from 1988 (BCAD says the buildings were built in 1989) shows 112 Holleman as a stand-alone business to be occupied by C.C. Creations (at the time at 205 North Main in Bryan). By 1993, Red Oak Sportswear was built at 114 Holleman, a larger building directly next to 112 Holleman Drive.

Based on what resources I have and what I can put together, including listings from the sales taxpayer database, Red Oak Sportswear was founded as a subsidiary of C.C. Creations, and became a business proper in 1993 following the purchase of C.C. Creations by Clute, Texas-based Brazos Sportswear Inc. in 1992.

114 Holleman. (Picture by author, December 2020).

What I do know is that during most of the 1990s, 114 Holleman was occupied by both C.C. Creations and Red Oak Sportswear, leaving 112 Holleman "vacant" although all indications are C.C. Creations still used the building and its name was listed as the address.

In 1997, however, Brazos Sportswear was sold to Sun Sportswear out of Batavia, Ohio. Sun took Brazos' name (despite still based out of Ohio) but it had a much worse financial record, and within two years, filed for bankruptcy. By that time, C.C. Creations and Red Oak were back in local ownership.

After the ownership by Brazos Sportswear ended, C.C. Creations officially moved into 112 Holleman again while Red Oak Sportswear took over the 114 Holleman entirely, possibly preparing for the "divorce" of the two companies. In 2005, Red Oak was sold to Knights Apparel, while around early 2007, C.C. Creations moved out and to a smaller location at Southwest Crossing.

112 Holleman. (Picture by author, December 2020).

Both warehouses became empty when Knights Apparel shut down Red Oak in early 2008. However, by November 2012, C.C. Creations moved back to their old stomping grounds, this time in Red Oak's old space. Meanwhile, the 112 space was replaced by Maroon U, a new subsidiary of C.C. Creations, offering Aggie branded apparel with higher-priced labels, and between both warehouses, the The Warehouse at C.C. Creations, which functionally replaces outdoor tent sales C.C. Creations used to have.

This is the configuration that currently exists today. I should also mention that C.C. Creations had a trophy business at the strip mall at the northwest corner of Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Southwood which was merged back into the main business.

Jose's

Picture from August 2020 by author.

It's been a really long time, hasn't it?

Despite some updates to several posts behind the scenes (mostly in regards to new tenants—nothing groundbreaking), there hasn't been a new post since Christmas of last year. That changes today.

From 1964 to 1991, 3724 South Texas Avenue was the home of Randy Sims Bar-B-Cue, which for decades was a popular barbecue restaurant, but in late December 1991, Sims retired from the business to focus on other pursuits including working as county commissioner. This page from The Eagle has some articles on it.

In 1993, it reopened as Jose's, a Mexican restaurant that continues operations to this day, with Jose's being in the building longer than Randy Sims' ever was. Jose's has a history of its own, from 1977 to the early 1990s it was located at 4004 Harvey Road. (The restaurant site burned down).

The exit/entrance signs are original to Randy Sims. (8/20, by author)

There's not a lot I can say about either since I never went to either, and as a result it comes off a lot of what I've been working on Carbon-izer recently, which is a bit like this blog but a wider scope, like a whole page on Westheimer Road in Houston, Loop 340 in Waco, and many more to come.

UPDATE 08-12-2021: Added in information on the old location of Jose's.
UPDATE 08-14-2024: Around 2022 Jose's added an atrium to replace that covered overhang as seen in the picture. The signs are still Randy Sims' originals, though.

Former Valero at Holleman and Wellborn

Pore Jud's is Daid (Picture by author, 12/15/20)

The Valero at Holleman and Wellborn was demolished this month. The original convenience store at the station at 1011 Wellborn, dating back to at least 1993 was Jud's Food Stores out of Brenham. The station was built in 1989 as per BCAD but Jud's Food Stores was established in 1990, so depending on when the station opened, it may or may not have had that name. In fact, by the time the station opened, it was Jud's Food Stores #9. The first four stores were located in Brenham, with store 5 being in Seguin (2999 North Highway 123 Bypass) and 6 at 701 East Pierce Street in Luling. (This indicates that stores one through eight were older rebranded stations).

In any case, 1011 Wellborn was originally branded as an Exxon and remained that way for years. It also had a drive-through car wash and when I was younger it was occasionally used by my folks. I believe this was because there was a deal where you could use for free or very cheaply if you purchased gas, but at some point in the late 1990s this was dropped.

In 2000, the station was expanded with U Wash, which opened at the same address (though technically, the address by BCAD's number was 1001 Wellborn) and same ownership. U Wash was a self-serve car wash with several docks and was accessible only through the Exxon's parking lot. More change would come to the station a few years later, when it became a Valero in the mid-2000s (2006?). This Valero came slightly before the local Diamond Shamrock conversions to my memory, and was the first time I saw such a station.

Sometime around the same time of the Valero conversion, the convenience store became "Cross Roads Corner Store Aggieland" (the signage where Jud's was, on the left side of the door, was whited out). From then on, the station didn't see much activity in the station. The station did add Krispy Krunchy fried chicken inside in 2016 but this wasn't well advertised (not even on the outside of the store). However, U Wash was later closed and torn down within a few years of that without much fanfare, signifying (if subtly) that things were coming to an end.

In any case, I found in December that the Valero had removed the prices from the sign (though it was not covered in any way), with the gas station store emptied of merchandise, though the power was sill connected, given how the Monster and Coca-Cola coolers were still glowing. The drive-through car wash also had not been gutted yet. The whole thing looked as if it might reopen as something else, or at least be weeks away from being torn down.

Not so much—when I got around to it a few days later, the canopy was gone, the sign was gone, and Jud's wasn't much more than a foundation. (The car wash was still intact but gutted).

The rumor mill states that the corner of Holleman and Wellborn will be the home of a new McDonald's restaurant, moving from the corner of Marion Pugh and George Bush as part of the underpass construction. Unfortunately, this almost certainly means that the new restaurant will be a soulless brown building with silver accents rather than an example of the slightly nicer restaurants McDonald's was building/renovating with in the early 2000s, as the current restaurant is.

Merry Christmas!

UPDATE 04-06-2021: Took out the other Jud's Food Stores mention, as it looks like the numbers were wrong, and they reused #7. Maybe if we ever do Brenham-related stuff, it might be worth a mention. Either way, College Station was the largest market Jud's settled in.
UPDATE 11-30-2021: McDonald's has been confirmed for the site, at least one half of it.
UPDATE 10-2-2023: In or around September 30, 2023, McDonald's opened at the site, replacing the location at George Bush Drive and Marion Pugh.