Gordon Food Supply continues to make inroads on its stores in the Houston area. While an expected grand opening date has not yet been set, it seems likely that these stores will open either before the end of the year or slightly after. Most locations are at the same level of progress, with new foundation level power and drainage lines being installed, prior to interior work. It seems, however, that this former Belden’s in Braeswood …
Read moreCategory: Grocery
Posts Relating to Grocery Stores
A postmortem in-Spec’s-tion of Rice Epicurean
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR! Today we’re checking in on the former final Rice Epicurean. After closing late last July, Rice left nearly everything in the store without their name on it, for new tenant Spec’s. While I attempted to reach out to Spec’s about plans for their future store, I did not hear back. At the moment, nothing has been changed structure-wise, and as of this article, I couldn’t find any permits …
Read more
Weingarten’s lives on through Kroger in the Heights!
Weingarten’s was a grocer I never knew, and if I had to take a guess, it’s a store most of my readers never knew either. Even though Weingarten’s was long gone by the time I was around, the name was still eponymous for a grocery store in Houston. As well, despite a less than stellar exit, the opinion most Houstonians held of Weingarten’s was still overwhelmingly positive, with most chalking up those final years to …
Read more
El Rancho-Randall’s, a match made in Boise
Howdy Neighborinos, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re entering new territory and checking out an El Rancho in a former Randall’s. For those not in the know, El Rancho is a Hispanic grocery chain originating out of Garland. An investment was made in the grocer by Albertsons in 2017 while looking to diversify their extensive mainline store operations with something more niche. This began a special partnership, where El Rancho stores would …
Read more
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 …
Read more
Checking on a former Minimax nearly 70 years after it opened
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re checking on a blast from my past, this is a store that I have visited many times since I was a small child. Today’s store started off around 1953 as Love’s Minimax. At the time of its opening, Love’s was the largest supermarket in Richmond. Located at 512 Morton St, Richmond, TX 77469, they would quickly drop their Minimax name, running the store simply …
Read more
North Houston’s Remarkable Handy Randalls in Champions
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos being taken by Mike For close to 50 years, the supermarket featured in this blog post has been one of, if not the, most upscale supermarkets in all of the northern half of Houston. With that in mind, it’s fair to say that this supermarket is truly remarkable! This remarkable store, the Randall’s Flagship store at 5219 …
Read more
So long Rice, and thanks for all the Epicuriousness
After nearly 85 years of operation, the final Rice Grocery store will close its doors for good today. While this isn’t coming out of the blue, it’s still a sad event to have to witness. While many of us remember Rice as the exotic Epicurean chain, the company served many people of many different backgrounds under many different names during its tenure. The building that housed this final Epicurean location will once again find another …
Read more
Why did Safeway close the Fuqua and Sabo Randall’s?
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re checking out a 1980s Randall’s that has had quite an interesting second life. This former Randall’s at 11021 Fuqua St, Houston, TX 77089, opened store opened in 1984. Taking part in a triple grand opening stunt, which is just as it sounds. Two newly built Randall’s stores and one old Weingarten that had been acquired about a month before all held a grand opening …
Read more
This former Safeway #1 in Houston, is having a Fiesta of a second life
Howdy, folks, and welcome to Houston HIstoric Retail! Today we’re taking a look at a store that has stayed a chain grocer from inception to present, somewhat of a rarity in Houston! Today’s store, located at 7510 Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77061, was the first Safeway location to open in Houston. The first-ever plans for Safeway’s expansion to Houston occurred on the heels of the Dallas division expanding into Austin in the 1950s. While locations …
Read more
Recent Comments