Northwest Houston and Cypress News

Enjoy your cool, Northwest Public library in a whole new way this August with daily activities ranging from crafts to storytime!

Every Wednesday from 4 – 6 p.m., you and your family can enjoy a kid-friendly film including refreshments at the Family Film Night! On Thursdays at 10 a.m., it’s Computer Comedy Hour. The oft-boring topics surrounding computers get a new twist and guaranteed laughter in this educational outtake. Computers not your thing? During the same hour participants are welcome to Sit and Stitch, a time for the knitting folks to crochet, quilt, and share skills and fellowship.

Each Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the library will offer a ticketed program called “Toddler Time”, where young children and their parent can participate in fun projects targeting the youngest visitors.

There’s a lot more to do, and books to check out too! For more information, please visit Harris County Public Library - Northwest Branch. Enjoy the library!

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Registration is open until August 1st for the annual Cy Woods High School (CWHS) Crimson Cadettes Summer Dance Clinic.  The clinic runs from 8:30 - 11:30 a.m., Wednesday through Friday, August 11, 12 and 13, in the CWHS gymnasium. The clinic is open to children in grades K-12.  Three separate age banded clinics will be held: K - 5th Grades in “Little Lights”, 6th - 8th Grades in “Trendsetterz”, and 9th - 12th Grades in “Hopefuls”.  On the last day of camp, participants will perform what they’ve learned at the “Showoffs” in the gym.

This dance clinic is very popular each year for Fairfield families, and it is the main fundraiser for the CWHS Crimson Cadettes Drill Team. Early registration is a must, and the registration form can be printed online - checks are mailed directly to the organizers - and, for those with multiple participants, the 2nd and 3rd child’s fees are discounted! For more information and a link to the registration form and pricing, please see CrimsonCadettes.com/dance_clinic.html.  

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The 2nd Annual All Star Specially Challenged Martial Arts Championship and Banquet will be held July 25th.  Whether you’re participating or just watching, it’s an enjoyable and full day of martial arts competition for folks ages 4 and up with physical, emotional, and developmental disabilities at nearby Salem Lutheran Church, just west of Tomball.  

The organization “Inspiring Possibilities” is presenting the event, and it will include competition in patterns/forms, weapons, board breaking demonstrations, and sparring (including wheel chair). Inspiring Possibilities’ mission statement is to provide long-term martial arts training to children and adults with special needs; they’ve already had graduates go on to teach martial arts to others, and their work is very effective and inspiring.

The tournament is on Saturday, July 25, at 9:00 a.m. with doors opening at 8:30 a.m. at Salem Lutheran Church New Community Center, 22601 Lutheran Church Rd, Tomball, TX 77377. If you would like more information, please visit InspiringPossibilities.org.

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Take the short ride north on SH 290 this June, and for just $3 a pound you and your family can pick tasty, organic blueberries at the Chmielewski Blueberry Farm!  

Not only can you pick blueberries this June, but the Chmielewski farm is also holding a Scarecrow contest with judging to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 19.  You can build and drop off your Scarecrow for judging anytime before the judging begins. The First Prize winner will receive a $60.00 Gift Certificate to Pappasito’s, Second Prize will be a $40.00 Gift Certificate to Chili’s Restaurant, and Third Prize will be a $30.00 Gift Certificate to the Chmielewski Blueberry Farm!

The picking orchard is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Wednesday. The Chmielewski Blueberry Farm is located at 23810 Bauer-Hockley Rd., Hockley TX  77447.  For complete directions, and some great blueberry recipes, please visit Chmielewski-Blueberry.com or contact Dawn at 281-304-0554 and dawndc@pdq.net.

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Do the play names “Abracadabra Aladdin”, “Kung Fu Kitty”, and “Hansel and Gretel” sound exciting to your kids?  The Houston Family Arts Center (HFAC), located near the intersection of Jones and Grant Road in Northwest Houston, will host these shows on a schedule that runs from June through August, 2010.

To make things even more exciting, these classic performances will be presented during the hottest part of the day and cost less than a movie.  For only $5, plan to see one – or even all three – of these childhood classics!

First up is “Abracadabra Aladdin”, a live-action play based on the famous and popular Disney characters, running June 23rd through the 26th.  The second performance is “Kung Fu Kitty”, a slapstick kung fu comedy, running July 21st through the 24th. Finally, the children’s play season wraps with the classic story of “Hansel and Gretel”, running August 11th through the 14th.    

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The Houston Family Arts Center (HFAC), located near the intersection of Jones and Grant Road in Northwest Houston, will host the famous, long-loved musical “West Side Story” with shows from June 25th to July 11th.  “West Side Story” produced many famous songs from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and won two Tony Awards, going on to become one of the most successful Broadway shows ever—and also took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.  It’s a wonderful play for the whole family to enjoy this summer!

HFAC is a great part of the community surrounding Cy Fair, producing plays, holding actors’ workshops, supporting home school classes, and more.  HFAC always has a great production with the family in mind!

Tickets for “West Side Story” are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and $12 for children.  For full ticket price information and show times, please see HoustonFAC.com.

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Houston Premium Outlets has started construction on a major expansion that will add high-end clothier Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th to the successful retail center.

The outdoor center will grow in size by 27 percent — from 427,000 square feet to 541,000 square feet of leasable space. There will be room for 25 new stores, which will add an estimated 250 employees to the large regional center.

In addition to Saks Off 5th, retailers that have pre-leased space in Phase II include A/X Armani Exchange, Esprit, J.Crew, Joe’s Jeans, Lacoste, Talbots and Tumi. New stores will begin opening as soon as November.
All existing space in the two-year-old center is leased. Some of the 120 stores include Ann Taylor, BCBG Max Azria, Burberry, Coach, Michael Kors and Nike.

The 75-acre project is located on U.S. Highway 290 in Cypress, northwest of Houston. It’s part of Premium Outlets, a group of upscale outlet centers owned by Indianapolis, Ind.-based Simon Property Group Inc.
The move comes as shopping center executives are finally breathing a bit easier after a national survey reports improving sales and expectations during March.

Michele Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for Premium Outlets, says the center is a destination for local, regional and out-of-town shoppers. The center has more stores than the average outlet center, she says, which helps draw more visitors. “People will travel farther,” Rothstein says. “That’s serious shopping.”

The troubled economic times may be contributing to the strength of the center, which offers discounts ranging from 25 percent to 65 percent on merchandise.

“We’re all living through tough times,” Rothstein says. “Outlets are getting a fresh look from people.”Paula Rosenblum, managing partner of RSR Research LLC, says fewer over-stocked, name-brand items are available at outlets because retailers have adopted leaner inventory habits, meaning they have less merchandise left over to pass along to the outlet. Plus, many outlet stores, like Saks Off 5th, buy merchandise geared toward the stores.

“Most of that is not excess merchandise from Saks,” she says. “Even if you buy a designer product there, it was often bought specifically for that outlet.”

Saks Off 5th will be the largest new store in Houston Premium Outlets, with nearly 29,000 square feet. The store will complement the Saks Fifth Avenue in the Galleria mall by selling value-priced designer clothes and accessories.

This is the third Saks Off 5th location in the Houston area. Others are in The Fountains on the Lake Center in Stafford and Katy Mills Mall, also owned by Simon Property Group.

The new store will be designed like a chain prototype that was launched two years ago.

TURNING POINT
Rosenblum, a retail consultant in Miami, was surprised to hear about the expansion at Houston Premium Outlets.

“I really thought outlet malls had peaked,” she says. “Obviously they found a place where there was a hole, and they’re filling it.”
The expansion of Houston Premium Outlets may be coming at a good time.

A survey of shopping center executives conducted monthly by the International Council of Shopping Centers recently posted its first gains in 32 months, with executives reporting an improvement in business during March.

The Shopping Center Executive Business Barometer increased by 4.5 percentage points to 52.6 percent. That’s the first time results have surpassed the 50 percent mark since July 2007. Results are based on sales growth, customer traffic, occupancy rates, rental rates, capitalization rates and executives’ expectations.

“March 2010 marked an important turning point for the U.S. shopping center industry,” notes Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers, in a prepared statement. “After nearly three years of contraction, shopping center executives are finally optimistic on the current state of industry conditions across all five performance measures.”

Source: Houston Business Journal

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Houston Premium Outlets, located adjacent to the master-planned community of Fairfield, has announced new Sunday hours. The center will now be open from 11 am to 7 pm on Sundays. Monday through Saturday the center is open from 10 am to 9 pm.

For more information, visit premiumoutlets.com/houston.

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Starting in 2010, Friendswood Development Company has expanded its highly popular Open House weekend event from Fairfield to Graystone Hills and Oakhurst at Kingwood. Now, residents, Realtors and home shoppers have even more opportunities to tour new and resale homes and find out why so many people are making these outstanding Friendswood Development Company communities their home.

For years, the highly successful Open House weekend event has taken place in master-planned Fairfield and due to the strong demand and response from home shoppers and Realtors, the event will now be a monthly occurrence in Graystone Hills, Conroe’s only mater-planned community, and Oakhurst at Kingwood, offering direct access to US 59.

“Realtors love this event because it gives them so much support for their listings,” said Christine Draughn, marketing director for Friendswood Development Company’s north Houston communities. “Often, residents who live in the community are selling their home because they either need more space or are ready for less space. It’s very well received by residents as well as those visiting the community.”

The Open House weekend events are scheduled on the third Sunday of each month. Visitors can tour new decorated model homes by top Houston builders, available inventory homes and resale homes.  New homes are open on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. Resale homes are open on Sunday from 1-5 p.m.

Fairfield, Graystone Hills and Oakhurst at Kingwood offer an impressive selection of homes that range from luxury courtyard and patio homes to elegant custom homes.  

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In early September we shared the story of Captain Daniel Moran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who had been wounded while on duty by valiantly trying to help his team. Moran received a Purple Heart for his courage and commitment, and upon returning home to Cypress he also received a brand new 3,300 sq. ft. home built by Helping A Hero, and complete with special accommodations for Moran’s physical condition. When Moran received the keys to his house he was welcomed by hundreds of Boy Scouts and military personnel welcoming home to Cypress.

Then, three months later Moran was again honored with a big surprise for Veteran’s Day. Local Boy Scouts from the Sam Houston area Council came to Moran’s house on November 10, the 234th Anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Marine Corps, to honor Moran by landscaping his yard. Moran has been a long time supporter of the Boy Scouts and is himself ranked as a Life Scout. To show their honor and respect of the fellow scout member the Boy Scouts brought a variety of plants and shrubs and transformed Moran’s patio and yard into a greener haven. Moran is still glad to be home, where he can enjoy his family from the comfort of his true home – Cypress.

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