
An iconic store closed last month, as Food Town shut down their outlet at 570 El Dorado Blvd, Webster, TX 77598. The store started as a Randalls and was famously visited by Boris Yeltsin in 1989. The stop was impromptu and was requested by Yeltsin after a planned trip to the nearby Johnson Space Center. Yeltsin wanted to see a “typical” American grocery store, and what he found shocked him. The store was fully stocked, and customers were buying not just bare essentials but treats as well. He famously commented that not even the highest-ranking Soviet officials had the choices afforded to everyday shoppers at Randalls. During the tour of the store, Yeltsin insisted on talking to employees and shoppers, likely in an attempt to gauge if the store was a staged stop. Many close to Yeltsin feel that the interaction with this store was a driving force in turning Yeltsin against Communism. While it’s worth mentioning that Communism was already faltering in the USSR, there’s no doubt that Boris Yeltsin’s trip to Randalls impacted him. Randalls eventually shuttered the store in 2005 after their own internal struggles ended with Safeway running the show. Gerland’s Food Fair would reopen the store in 2009, although under the Food Town brand, which they franchised. While not exactly as nice as the Randalls that preceded it, Gerlands and Food Town ran a clean operation from this store for the next 15 years. In February 2024, HHR contributor Anonymous in Houston was the first to notice that a building permit had been filed for 570 El Dorado, the location of the Food Town. While I tried to reach out for comment, Food Town kept this one close to their chest. Unfortunately, the grim demise was confirmed when the lease plan for the property was updated to replace Food Town with Autozone. While some have been quick to point to the new HEB, further up El Dorado, as the demise of this store, just like the fall of the USSR, it’s multi-faceted. As of this article, the fixtures from the store were being removed by Food Town, which sparks hope that a new Food Town location may be on the books.
Check out this blog post from 2022 for a more in-depth look at this store, including a comparison to a Soviet grocery store of the day.
how many food towns closed aside from that location & the auchan location with the bissonnet @ dairy ashford/cook road
The closed Food Town locations which I can remember off the top of my head, in addition to those mentioned above, are the ones at Stuebner Airline & Louetta (by Klein High School, HEB is across the street) and Spencer Highway & Underwood near La Porte (Wal-Mart and HEB are just down the street).