Piecing together the history of this tenant has been a bit difficult. This was constructed as Stop N Go around the late 1960s (open by 1967) but changed hands to rival UtoteM by 1970. By 1979 it was Soapsuds Sawdust & Scents.
Soapsuds Sawdust & Scents was short-lived, though. Sometime around 1980 or 1981, SS&S closed and by September 1981 it was 74 Ranch Beef, a specialty meat market.
In 1985, 74 Ranch Beef closed this location and it briefly became Window Tint U.S.A. before ABC Video, an "adult video movie" store (as in, pornos) opened.
Sometime around 2013, ABC Video was replaced with another store, High "N" Dress, which was more of the same, a "smoke shop" selling everything from vaping products to sex toys, as well as body piercings and tattoos.
In 2018, Street View showed the "lingerie" part of the sign was removed, with the store advertising tacos through interior signage, but still with "Smoke Shop" and "Piercing" on the outside, and while the High "N" Dress signage remained, a smaller banner for Lanka-Mex was added near the ground, featuring Mexican and Sri Lankan grocery products.
The banner for Lanka-Mex read that they had the usual convenience store fixings (lotto, beer) while also advertised being a smoke shop, and the facade on the store removed "Lingerie" but left "Smoke Shop" and "Piercing". By 2021, all pretenses of it being a "smoke shop" were dropped, and the windows reflected this (check Google Maps Street View). This indicates that High "N" Dress was bought as-is and then slowly legitimized.
This post is adapted from the Westheimer Road page at Carbon-izer.com.
