Olives from the 25-foot olive bar at Phoenicia's west Houston store
The immersive stores are stocked with olive oils, Greek honey, thousands of rare spices, wines, handmade flatbread, European pastries, fresh seafood and meats, as well as prepared foods. But the most distinguishing feature at the original Westheimer store is the 150-foot pita conveyor belt that has produced half a billion loaves in 40 years! It can create 40-50,000 loaves of pita per day, which is the top-selling product. A smaller pita belt sits adjacent to the large pita belt and produces specialty handmade breads such as Iraqi bread, pizza dough, cheese bread, zaatar bread and more.
Zohrab and Arpi Tcholakian
Legendary shawarma sandwiches
Phoenicia's Westheimer market
Famous pita bread
Traditional baklava at Phoenicia
Fans of the delicious puffy pitas will get bonuses with bag purchases during Phoenicia’s Golden Ticket Grocery Giveaway through Nov. 5. Prizes include $5 or $10 Phoenicia “Yummy Bucks,” as well as swag such as the anniversary tee shirt or tote bag. Other surprises could be free food items like a pita pack, baklava, or a legendary shawarma sandwich at Arpi’s Phoenicia Deli (this is located next to the superstore). One very lucky customer will find the top prize in the pita bag: a $1000 grocery gift card.
Think you’re a social media whiz? Then the #YUMANDTELL Challenge is just for you. Here’s how it works: Competitors can show off their favorite Phoenicia Specialty Foods products by posting videos or photos on Instagram mentioning @phoeniciafoods and including hashtag #YUMANDTELL. The top posts will be featured on Phoenicia’s social media channels. Bonus points for music, singing and dancing, as well as posting on multiple platforms.
Owners Arpi and Zohrab still got to work every day, but now their grown kids who grew up in the biz are also a part of the team. Many Phoenician staff members have worked with the Tcholakians for decades, too. The company accepts online ordering and can ship specialties to other cities and states, including remote places without many options for Mediterranean culinary delights. Phoenicia has expanded its wholesale side of the business and added curbside pick-up and local delivery at both locations.
There are ongoing plans to modernize and grow the business, and of course, keep spreading the YUM.
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A condo at 5000 Montrose Blvd. in the Museum District went under contract after just four days on the market.
The Q3 update utilized data such as average sales price and number of transactions that took place in 2023 compared to the same timeframe of 2022. The number-one community was Fulshear/South Brookshire/Simonton, located in Fort Bend County, with an average sales price of $506K — well above the Houston average of $417K. The number of transactions increased by more than 56 percent, and homes there took an average of 40 days to sell.
Five of the top-10 slots are occupied by communities whose average sales price came in well below that $417K average: Santa Fe, Tomball, Sugar Land North, Huffman and, finally, Denver Harbor, whose homes are selling for an average of $283K with a whopping 38 percent increase in the number of transactions year-over-year.
Another section of the report analyzed which “luxury” neighborhoods, with homes priced $1M and above, are among the market’s highest-performing. At the top of this list is Rice/Museum District, with an average sales price of $1.1M and a 25 percent increase in the number of transactions, followed by River Oaks, Tanglewood and Bellaire.
The Jordan Ranch master-planned development in Fulshear has tons of amenities.
602 Orchard Ln. just hit the market in Sugar Land North.
29731 Orchard Grove Dr. in Tomball is on the market for $750,000.
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