The original segment of this complex, facing Travis Street, was resurfaced with the rest of the building in 1948, and the result has been modified piecemeal over the years. What distinguishes this building is that it was the prototype of the 20th century American suburban shopping center: it introduced the concept of off-street parking, toward which the grocery store itself was oriented. Its present role as an Indo-chinese retail center demonstrates the durability of the concept. Vietnamese names appended to city street signs in 1998 recognize the distinct identity this section of the South End acquired in the 1980s as a center of Vietnamese commercial life in Houston.