Category: Grocery

Posts Relating to Grocery Stores

Did Fleming tank a Minimax to let Randalls flourish in Spring?

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today, we’re looking at a former Randalls at the corner of Louetta and Kukyendahl. The carcass of this former grocery store has been one of three stores to open and close at this corner since the 1980s. Let’s start with some regional history; this portion of Northwest Houston was an early swing and a hit for Houston’s Remarkable Store. Randalls hit the ground running with the …

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Seafood City at 15235 Southwest Fwy

Retail News: Houston nets two new Asian grocers on the West Side

99 Ranch Market and Seafood City opened new Houston-area locations last week. Both stores are established specialty Asian grocers based in California, with large followings of loyal fans. While they share many similarities, there are some stark differences between the two chains. 99 Ranch Market is a broad Asian market importing products from many different countries and cultures but mostly focuses on mainland Asia. On the other hand, Seafood City primarily focuses on Filipino products …

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Retail News: Arlan’s Markets purchased by owner of La Michoacana

Rafel Ortega, owner of La Michoacana Meat Market, among other grocery chains,  purchased the 15-store chain last week, according to the Galveston Daily News. Arlan’s was the brainchild of Ames Arlan, who was already a veteran of Cox’s Foodarama when he set out to open his first store in the Seabrook area. For the most part, Arlan’s focused on smaller communities along the South side of the Houston area, taking over when other independent grocers …

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This Joe V's building was originally a Service Merchandise

Retail News: Joe V’s holds Katy Grand Opening

Joe V’s Smart Shop opened its first store since 2018 in Northern Katy last week. This new store marks the start of a new chapter for the discount HEB banner. Joe V’s first hit the Houston market in 2010 and has somewhat filled the void left by the discontinuation of Pantry Foods. Joe V’s has become well known in Houston for generally lower prices than a full-line HEB in exchange for some of the amenities …

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There is no better way to close this series than with some nighttime Art Deco!

The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike It is quite hard to believe that the end of the year 2023 is near! This means, of course, that The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail is concluding with this post. I’ll reflect on The Year of Kroger series at the end of this post, but first we’ll discuss the …

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A look at NewQuest’s plan to “WoW” Houston

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today, we’re taking a quick look at arguably the most prominent development in Houston right now, West on West. WoW, as it’s abbreviated, is a project spearheaded by local developer NewQuest, which looks to redevelop a forty-year-old shopping center on Westheimer. Their plan came to light over a year ago with the announcement of a new 99 Ranch Market in the shopping center. While the full …

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The Randalls that helped rewrite two corporate histories

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re looking at an ex-Randalls that had an interesting impact on two different chains. The location we’re checking out today is at 1804 W 43rd St, Houston, TX 77018, and has roots all the way back in 1964, when the building first opened as a Randalls. However, it’s not the chain you’re thinking of, but the first iteration of Randalls. This would be their seventh store and …

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Two Westside Kroger Stores With Unique Safeway and AppleTree Designs

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike This month’s The Year of Kroger post will be a bit unique for a couple of reasons. For one, this post will be about two different, but similar Houston-area Krogers. Also, a unique aspect of this post is that we will be looking at stores which both started out as Safeway stores, then became …

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Here’s how the store looks at night. The black signs turn white when they are lit. It is interesting to see curtains on some of the mezzanine windows! It makes the mezzanine look like a fancy hotel!

Kroger Goes Upscale With The KTRKroger in West U

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike, who has recently published a new page covering the history of Henke & Pillot. In Houston at least, Kroger has long had a reputation as being a ‘middle of the road’ type of grocer. This has helped Kroger in many ways as the combination of good prices and a traditional supermarket experience appeals to …

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Here is a closer look at the Kroger logo in the vestibule. It may or may not be obvious from this sign, but the natural wood looking sign is a ‘sign’ that this store is carrying a décor package which contains elements initially designed for an organic grocery concept.

Pearland’s Kroger Has an Unexpected History of Innovation

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike Now that we’re well into The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail, there are two categories which describe most of the stores we’ve featured so far in The Year of Kroger. One category of stores are those which had new or rare features such as the Kroger Signature stores we featured …

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