The store cat, a gray-and-black tabby named Max, bats around a red string hanging from a display case of pet vitamins as workers stock shelves and wheel dollies stacked with feed bags.

Behind the counter, a clerk assures a customer on the phone that there are roosters in stock, while a young woman in yoga pants and sunglasses hurries in to buy a bag of dog food.

The Wabash Feed & Garden Store, an old-school feed store on Washington Avenue, has held onto its countrified charm and appeal even as trendy restaurants, hipster bars and luxury townhouses in the Rice Military and Memorial Park areas began to surround it. But in recent years, property taxes have soared, and the store loses business because there's not enough parking.

So after 26 years, Wabash is moving to a new home about five miles to the north where the land is cheaper and gentrification hasn't completely taken hold.

"We're going to be a bit of a pioneer again," said store owner Betty Heacker.

When she bought the Washington Avenue property in 1990, there were a few blue-collar bars, a two-pump gas station, a Mexican restaurant and a Shipley's Do-Nut shop.

Back to Gallery Wabash, the beloved urban feed store, is moving 30 1 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 2 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 3 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 4 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 5 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 6 of 30 Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff 7 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 8 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 9 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 10 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 11 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 12 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 13 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 14 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 15 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 16 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 17 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 18 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 19 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 20 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 21 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 22 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 23 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 24 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 25 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 26 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 27 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 28 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 29 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff 30 of 30 Photo: Nancy Sarnoff



























































When Heacker got a building permit for her store, it was the first one issued for a property on Washington Avenue in a decade.

"Ten years later," she said, "it just went crazy."

The "Washington Corridor" as it's now called - a commercial strip running from Westcott to Houston Avenue at the foot of downtown Houston - is now lined with one bar or restaurant after the next with the neighborhood around it filled with high-end apartment buildings and three-story townhouses.

Heacker's tax bill has shot up over the years, and when she moves it will go down by half.

Her new location will be in an old plumbing supply store at 4537 N. Shepherd, between Independence Heights and Garden Oaks. The store will have 7,000 square feet (compared to 4,000 square feet on Washington) and 45 parking spaces with the option to add more. It will also have a greenhouse and community room for classes and other events.

"We're like the old lady and the shoe here," Heacker said.

Wabash sells organic edible plants and gardening supplies as well as yard decor, pet supplies, livestock and livestock feed. The store's tagline reads: "A little bit of the country in the heart of the city."

The store has operated since the turn of the century. Heacker bought it in 1987 from a previous owner who ran it mostly as an antique shop.

As she planned the store's relocation, Heacker put the property up for sale last year. She was asking $85 per square foot, or around $2.3 million.

Several months ago, Heights resident and longtime customer Gary Mosley stopped in to pick up feed for his chickens and saw a for-sale sign in front of the property.

Mosley, who owns the popular Onion Creek restaurant and bar in the Heights, told Heacker he was interested. She told him he'd have to move quickly because she was expecting an offer in writing the next day.

Mosley did and he closed on the property at 5701 Washington about two weeks ago.

"It's a 'Creek' piece of property," said Mosely, whose owns three other Heights-area cafes with the name "Creek" in them. "It has a country feel to it. And I've been shopping there for years."

Mosley plans to open a cafe there, perhaps by the end of the year. He wants to hang onto the feed store feel and also intends to preserve the structure, part of which was built around a 125-year-old pecan tree.

Heacker is leasing the property from Mosley until June, when her new property will be ready.

Wabash, an inner-city institution, has a loyal following.

The brokerage firm that sold the property had to add the words "business relocating" to the for-sale sign because it was getting so many calls from people concerned the store was closing.

Heacker said many of her customers who buy garden supplies live in the Heights and River Oaks, but increasingly more are coming in from neighborhoods like Garden Oaks and Shepherd Forest that are farther north. Pet owners from the surrounding townhouses stop in for cat and dog food.

Each spring, the store is a destination for serious gardeners who drive in from Freeport, Galveston, Sealy, Brenham and Livingston for Wabash's large selection of tomato and pepper plants.

The store also has a pottery yard with clay pots and funky metal sculptures of farm animals, cactus plants and mariachi singers.

In addition to the chickens, ducklings, pigeons and rabbits -including nearly a dozen baby bunnies on a recent visit - there are often pets for sale, too.

The previous owner of the business had a beer license that Heacker kept current. When a couple comes in to shop but only one is interested in gardening, the other can sit on the store's front porch and have a beer. They may even meet someone new.

"There's something about being in this space that makes it safe for people to talk to people they don't know," Heacker said. "I think that's a little bit of the magic about Wabash."