Description: Auchan, the popular French hypermarket, opened a second location in Houston in 2000. Although Auchan had a previous 1988 location in Houston that was larger (230k square feet compared to this one's ~180k) and a short-lived Chicago location. The location is a former Target which closed in the 1990s due to the depressed part of town (Gulfgate). Regrettably, both locations of Auchan in Houston (and America) closed in 2003. This was because of poor sales and competition (particularly from Wal-Mart Supercenter and H-E-B).
More Info on The Subject: Auchan in Houston.
Potential in SimCity 4: I think cities in SimCity should look realistic and also fairly-comfortable places to live (unless, of course, you try to avoid that) so Auchan would be a good fit. After all, Sims need hypermarkets besides Wal-Mart Supercenter to thrive. It would do great in a Houston CJ or possibly a European CJ (it could do double-duty as a European location...but I could make a Euro version if necessary).
Location in RL: Houston, Texas
Building Exists?: Yes, but it's been a vacant shell since 2003.
Intention on Modeling: Started in SketchUp, undergoing conversion to gmax.
Current Equivalent: A STEX model was released in 2004. I left a comment that sums it up: "While this must have been innovative and amazing in 2004, sadly, it has not surpassed the test of time. Proportionally, it is sized to be the end-all of hypermarkets, but in Real Life, that's just not the case. Furthermore, there are textures are missing. Bummer, because I was looking forward to this one."
Wikipedia: Auchan
Official Website: Groupe-Auchan
Photo Credit: sam59 from forum-auto.com
What is This Stuff, Anyway?: This is a new feature, derived from the old Planning Board, where I write up about interesting buildings in hopes of someday making one. However, there is no actual guarantee is that I will actually make one. Many of these are for infotainment purposes only.
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