Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Frost: beach, hot)

[HillCountryHotRodMan]

Originally Posted by Willsatx

So what year did HEB on wurzbach and ih 10 open? Was handy andy there first?

Oh wow, you got me on that one. I moved to SA in 1979 and they were already there. I'm going to take a guess and say that Handy Andy was there first because it was already old school when I got my job there and the original HEB was relatively new.

[outafocus]

Handy Andy was there first. It opened in Colonies North Mall in 1970. HEB came a few years later, then they expanded it, then tore it down and built the one that's there now.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by Willsatx

So what year did HEB on wurzbach and ih 10 open? Was handy andy there first?

It opened on Wednesday November 29th, 1972. Long after the Handy Andy which opened in the 1960's.

And it wasn't called just HEB at the time, it was called the "HEB Future Store" and it was also referred to as the "HEB Future Market" and it was the very first of its kind. It was one of the first grocery stores that featured an in-store deli, in-store bakery, an "appetizer Deli" (not sure what that is or if its different from the regular deli), and old fashioned fish market with daily deliveries from the Gulf of Mexico, gourmet, and health foods. About a year later, the North Star Mall HEB was converted to a "Future Store" and so was one near Nacadoches and 4-10. This became the template for all future HEB stores and was among the first of its kind in the entire United States. HEB had special advertising for specials that were only available at the "Future Stores".

It's amazing to realize how much HEB followed this concept to today's superstores. I remember in college one of my professors talking about how innovative HEB was and that they had the highest margins of any grocery store in the country. To think that all started in my own neighborhood is pretty cool.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by Willsatx

So what year did HEB on wurzbach and ih 10 open? Was handy andy there first?

Great response GWhopper....down the road with the trivia....Anyone know the year the Albertsons opened? I want to say it was in the 76-79 frame? I remember the Popeye's went up at the same time and they opened pretty much the same time. Then i remember the first phase of the colonade opened up a few years later.
I remember when that whole Albertson/Colanade corner was woods and a field. I also remember next to the Popeyes at Wurzbach & Ironside where the present day Frost bank drive thru and CVS is...there was still a spookey farm house up until the early 80s...and you could tell someone lived in there but never came out. Anyone remember that or the story on it.

[HillCountryHotRodMan]

Originally Posted by Primo

...there was still a spookey farm house up until the early 80s...and you could tell someone lived in there but never came out. Anyone remember that or the story on it.

I remember seeing the farmhouse but I do not recall a story about it. I would love to hear about it, though. I remember when they opened that Phase I of the Colonnade. I worked at the I-10 diner there when I was a kid when it first opened. I worked many jobs as a yunsta'....and not for very long at any of them haha. I also remember when the Fuddruckers opened and it was so cool being able to dress your own hamburger.

[BudB]

Originally Posted by RGJ

Baptist Temple...Was Rev. White there at the time? One of his sons was a friend of mine in the mid to late sixties and early seventies....

Rev. White came to BT just before I left SA for Austin tho I never got to know him but my folks were very fond of the Whites. My pastor from age five at BT was Dr. Vernon Elmore who left SA for Corpus Christi as I recall. Then came Pastor White who was part Native American and really looked it; he was a fine minister. For many years the Baptist Temple parsonage was on McKinley Street just off New Braunfels while we lived a couple blocks east at 1730, about a half block off Gevers. Anyhow at some point in the late 1970s BT sold the McKinley St. house in order to buy a larger, nicer home elsewhere for their minister's family to live in. Ironically, a group practicing some kind of Far Eastern religion moved into the McKinley St. house and it became a temple or mosque. It was always a bit odd seeing bearded guys with turbans and women wearing robes or saris, etc. coming and going from a house that was formerly home to a Southern Baptist preacher and his family. But the place was always nicely maintained and the people friendly so it gradually became just part of the neighborhood. "God Bless America" seems to covers it i reckon.

[Boss Rider]

Originally Posted by BudB

For many years my hair was cut every two weeks at Clarence's Barber shop owned by Mr. Clarence Proffit. First he was on Gevers at Denver in a small strip then he moved a few blocks down to New Braunfels next to the strip between Essex and Westfall that had a Piggly-Wiggly, a Winns, a bakery and Seiberts Pharmacy.

Bud, you and I were probably at Clarence's at the same time. I was living on Delmar at the time and my Dad and I went there every two weeks as well. Dad used to take all the laundry to that little place on Gevers and Drexel. After I joined the Navy I took my whites over to get them done while I was home on leave and they ironed them right side out. Owner had me go in the back and show them how to do a Navy uniform, which is ironed inside out.

[BudB]

Originally Posted by Boss Rider

Bud, you and I were probably at Clarence's at the same time. I was living on Delmar at the time ...

Hey Bossman do you recall your Delmar address? We lived on Cooper at 231 a half block off New Braunfels until selling the house in 1960 for the move to McKinley. 231 Cooper was smack in the middle of the block between New Braunfels and Nopal so how close or far were y'all? Were you on Delmar when the old ice house on the corner burned up about 1956 or '57? Man what a fire that was especially when the refrigeration unit's ammonia tanks went up and the billowing smoke turned a dirty yellow color. It took most of the afternoon to put it all out but the mountain of smoldering cork insulation continued smoking for a few days after. If you lived in that block you may recall SAPD Captain "Babe" Matheny who lived on the opposite corner right across the street from Poe Jr. Hi's old red brick, wood and metal shops building. Or were y'all up toward Gevers way?
Besides being a prime spot for cold drinks, bread, candy, ice or whatever, it was also the gathering site for the neighborhood newspaper boys who threw daily routes from bicycles. Every afternoon about 4 pm the route managers dropped off bundles of the News & the Light onto the ice house loading dock. Then a dozen or so boys would show up and beginning rolling papers and filling the wood framed canvas bags on either side of the bike's rear wheel. They then hit the streets for a couple miles radius throwing rolled papers into yards, driveways, or onto porches and front steps or anywhere special a customer requested. Now that's something that you just don't see anywhere anymore as far as I know. Then once a month it was door to door time to collect the monthly charge from customers.
Thanks for chiming in ol' buddy about Clarence's Barber Shop and the cleaners which was katty-corner from Baptist Temple tho I can't remember its name.

[Sweetie Pie]

Originally Posted by Nix54

I can't recall the name, but it was a Mexican bakery. I don't remember Dietzel's but then again I may have been too young when they were there.

I just looked at the address for Dietzel's Bakery. It says Alamo & Market, CA-6868.

..............and Bud, I remember the S.A. Light being delivered to my folks house mid to late 60's. I knew a few paperboys, and happened to marry one 30 some years ago in 78201~~~

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by Primo

Great response GWhopper....down the road with the trivia....Anyone know the year the Albertsons opened? I want to say it was in the 76-79 frame? I remember the Popeye's went up at the same time and they opened pretty much the same time. Then i remember the first phase of the colonade opened up a few years later.
I remember when that whole Albertson/Colanade corner was woods and a field. I also remember next to the Popeyes at Wurzbach & Ironside where the present day Frost bank drive thru and CVS is...there was still a spookey farm house up until the early 80s...and you could tell someone lived in there but never came out. Anyone remember that or the story on it.

It had to be between between 1980 and 1984. The San Antonio archives end at 1977, but I remember the farmhouse. In addition to the Popeye's, the structure which became Sea Island and later Blockbuster was originally built as Pat's Hot Dogs, which was like a Hot Dog version of Fuddrucker's. It was also built at the same time (or shortly after) as the Albertson's. I remember going to Pat's with my best friend, Trent Clark, prior to his family moving to Oklahoma. I think the year was 1982 or 1983. To be honest, that whole time in my life I measured by the release of the original Star Wars movies. Empire came out in 1980, Return of the Jedi came out in 1983. By then my friend had moved. I think Pat's was closed by then, but am not sure. The Albertson's was definitely well-established by then.

Grocery shopping with my Mom at that time was bouncing between the HEB, Handy Andy, and Albertson's looking for the best deal. I remember when HEB was selling cassette tapes, and I remember buying the original Star Wars Soundtrack from HEB after saving up my allowance for weeks. Later in the mid-eighties, I remember buying all the Night Ranger tapes from there as well.

In 1986, Pat's was out of business, and there was a short-lived Italian restaurant in that same building. I was 16 at the time and applied for a job there. I didn't get it.