Last week work crews descended on the Main Street Sonic in Tomball to close its doors, shutter its windows and pull down its sign. The vacant building now leaves an ominous stretch of desolate acreage on the north side of the 500 block of Main Street.

Photo by Holly Dutton

Sonic’s closing is the latest in an alarming trend in Tomball. It is the third restaurant to close its doors in three weeks in the city. Last week, Gatti’s Pizza and Bamboo Chinese Buffet also closed up shop.

The owners of Gatti’s cited declining business as a result of the opening of Tomball Parkway, while Bamboo’s owners blamed the struggling economy.

At left, a worker removes a portion of the roof at the Tomball Sonic on Main Street last week. The drive through was the third restaurant in three weeks to shut down.

Betty Reinbeck, executive director of the Tomball Economic Development Center, said she believes the Sonic closing resulted from a dispute in making improvements to the building.

“It’s my understanding that they (the lessees) wanted to make improvements to building, but the owner wouldn’t sell them the property,” Reinbeck said. “And since they were leasing the space, the decided not to make any improvements and just operate at the location over by Target.”

According to Harris County Appraisal District records, the former Sonic property is owned by Parsons Enterprises in Oklahoma City. The Tribune sought comment from Parsons, but the phone number listed was not a working number.

While the closing of three restaurants in three weeks may not necessarily be a harbinger for things to come, city leaders are a little less optimistic than they were six months ago when they were touting the city’s job growth.

“It’s happening in a lot of areas,” Reinbeck said. “The unemployment is just now hitting Tomball. You’ve got to be really strong in this economy.”

The retail business itself is tough enough to succeed in, and a sluggish economy is scaring off potential development.

Last July the city council approved funding for a study by the Buxton Group, which matches cities to potential retailers. Reinbeck said the city received a list from Buxton of 100 potential matches and city staff and Mayor Gretchen Fagan identified the top 20 they would like to see open in Tomball.

Reinbeck said the EDC has contacted all of the businesses suggested by Buxton and is still working with some of the high priority companies, but many are hesitant.

“We don’t have anything at the moment,” she said. “We’re making calls to retailers to see if they’re interested. But the companies we’re calling saying they’re looking at it in 2010, or even 2011.”

Another roadblock the EDC is facing are state laws regarding financial assistance to retail development. According to Reinbeck, the EDC was previously only allowed to help pay for utility extensions and drainage improvements. However, state laws have loosened up and Reinbeck said the EDC is making plans to assist struggling retailers.

“We will be rolling out a program for our board to review at its November meeting,” she said. “There will be more assistance. If they’re already here and existing, there’s very little we can do. But with this (new) grant program, that will provide minimum assistance for certain businesses.”

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