Eat well, give back

Small Business Saturday: Food trucks flock to Lower Westheimer boutiques for "AMoveable Feast"

Golden Grill is just one of six food trucks teaming up on Saturday ato collectnonperishables for the Houston Food Bank.

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
The food trucks are taking over Lower Westheimer, an area full of shopping spotsand watering holes where you can escape your extended family for a while.

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If you're anything like us, you've had quite enough of family by Saturday, thank you very much. Local businesses are to the rescue, with a good (and do-gooding) excuse to get you out of the house.

The boutiques, salons and cafes along Lower Westheimer have teamed up with a handful of Houston's favorite mobile food units to host A Moveable Feast, a food truck festival on Small Business Saturday, a shopping day on the Saturday after Thanksgiving organized by American Express to encourage shoppers to patronize small businesses.

The trucks will be situated between Mandell and Dunlavy streets, while shopping takes place along several blocks in both directions along Westheimer.

They are competing against each other to see which truck can collect the most non-perishables for the Houston Food Bank, so head over to the Westheimer Strip with your canned goods between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, when Koagie Hots, Golden Grill, Bernie's Burger Bus, the Rice Box, the Waffle Bus and the Goodie Box will compete to collect the most nonperishable food items for the Houston Food Bank.

Want to bide as much non-family time as possible? Stroll and shop local along the street, where Space, Domy Books, Cool Stuff, Duo, Wish and more will be open to fill your holiday shopping list.

As an incentive to shop on Small Business Saturday, American Express offers cardholders a $25 credit on their statement when they spend $25 or more at a qualifying small business. Cardmembers must enroll at shopsmall.com by midnight on Nov. 24 to qualify for the credit.

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return of the paperback

Beloved used bookstore returns to Montrose 5 years after closing

Photo courtesy of Half Price Books

Half Price Books closed its original Montrose location in 2021.

One of Houston’s most beloved place to buy used books, movies, gifts, and more is returning to Montrose. Half Price Books has acquired the former Soundwaves spaces at 3509 Montrose Blvd for a new store that’s expected to open next year.

The real estate sleuths at the Houston Architecture Info forum discovered that the deed for the property had recently been transferred to a LLC owned by Half Price Books.

The new store represents Half Price Books’ return to Montrose, after closing its location at 1011 Westheimer in 2021 after almost 20 years. That property will become the Starling, a mixed-use development from real estate developer Skanska that will offer both a residential component and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Half Price Books closed its popular Rice Village store in 2019.

Once Houston’s premier, locally-owned music store chain, Soundwaves closed its Montrose location in May. It had been open since 1997.

Half Price Books president Kathy Doyle Thomas provided a statement to the Houston Chronicle about the company’s decision to return to Montrose:

"We were thrilled when we had the opportunity to purchase this building," Thomas said. "Our previous store in the Montrose neighborhood closed in early 2021 when the landlord decided to redevelop the area. We’ve heard from countless customers in the last five years how much they miss the Montrose store, so we’re looking forward to being back in the loop."

Half Price Books was founded in Dallas in 1972, according to the company’s website. It has more than 100 locations nationwide, including six in greater Houston — Westchase, Pearland, Sugar Land, Humble, Copperfield, and Clear Lake.

half price books montrose