A string of closures among longtime Market Street tenants is upsetting residents who say the shopping center is losing the neighborhood character that made it popular in the first place. Schilleci's New Orleans Kitchen, which had been at Market Street for 15 years, shut down its 9595 Six Pines Drive location in early January and is looking to reopen on Research Forest Drive. Uni Sushi is also gone.

The departures come as Gucci, David Yurman, and other luxury brands have moved in. Trademark Property Company, which manages Market Street, has called it an "evolution." The center is still about 95 percent occupied, but the mix of tenants looks very different from a few years ago, and longtime shoppers have noticed.

Former tenants and residents point to rising rents. The independent operators who gave Market Street its identity when it opened 20 years ago are getting priced out. Trademark declined to talk about specific lease terms.

The argument has spilled onto social media and local Facebook groups. Some residents say the luxury brands are pushing out what made The Woodlands special. Others say the upgrades will bring more shoppers from across the Houston area. It's the same fight playing out in fast-growing suburbs everywhere, but it stings more when it's the place you used to grab dinner every Friday.