Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Hisotirc Retail. Today we’re looking at an independent conversion of a former major-owned grocery store. A concept that is not unfamiliar to any longtime HHR reader. Houston still has a decent number of independents in operation. Mostly split up between Food Town, Foodarama, and El Ahorro/La Michoacana/Sellers Bros, each chain taking a unique approach to decor. Foodarama has mastered a very standardized look of replacing department signage with …
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Scarsdale Safeway The final location to open in Houston
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at the last Safeway to open in Houston. Now, it should be noted that while it was the last store to open, it was not the final location built. Rather, this store has an interesting history tied into larger troubles at Safeway that, other than the creation of AppleTree, had very little direct effect on the Houston Division. Today’s store at …
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The best Food Town I’ve ever been to: The Grocery Palace
Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re taking a look at a grocery store I’ve been waiting to bring to you for a while! This store is the second in my “best” category, calling back to the original Foodarama post. This doesn’t mean it’s giving an outright superlative ranking as this chain’s “nicest” location. Rather, it’s the best that I have visited thus far. Today’s Food Town is located at 2770 North …
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Weingarten’s Food Fair is over, now it’s Lewis’ Food Town
Weingarten is a grocer I never knew, They were gone by the time I was born but oddly were still held in high regard. The chain folded in 1983, after a buyout in 1979. While many put the blame onto an over-eager chain wanting to expand but incompetent in running stores in unfamiliar territory. While this is partly true, the issue was in fact much broader and stems from a little-known origin story, which is …
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Return to Food Town: Revisiting the former Kosher Albertsons in Meyerland
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR! Today, we’re looking at a Lewis Food Town in a Former Albertsons. Located at 9725 Fondren Rd, Houston, TX 77096 I’d call it an Alberstown doesn’t really roll off the tongue, sounds more like an actual town to me. In my mind, Food Town is a store without much context or connotation. If you asked me to “picture a generic Food Town”, I’d have a hard time describing …
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It’s your town Boris! A visit to and the history behind the former Iron Curtain Smashing Randall’s
Howdy folks, today we’re taking a look at what is arguably the most significant grocery store in all of Houston. A humble Lewis Food Town located at 570 El Dorado Blvd, Webster, TX 77598. Starting out as a Randall’s in 1984, this grocery store served an important role only a few years later as an impromptu stop by Soviet politician Boris Yeltsin. Aiming to see how “average Americans” lived, many have drawn a direct line …
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Safeway, to David’s, Come in Gerland’s, Do you read me? This is Food Town!
Howdy Folks, in preparation for Thanksgiving we’re taking a look at somewhere you’ve probably stopped this week, a grocery store! Specifically we’re talking about 1455 Wilcrest Dr, Houston, TX 77042 which as of 2021 is a Food Town. However, it has been at least 3 other grocers over the past 47 years. The location originally opened in 1974 as a new build Safeway for Houston’s rapidly developing Briar Forest neighborhood. At the time, the Westchase …
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