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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Posts Relating to Grocery Stores
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Arlan’s a modern take on the Traditional Independent
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! It’s been a while since we have done a grocery (2 weeks in fact!) store post, so make sure you’re buckled up for this one! We’re taking a deviation to the South of Houston to find out about one of Houston’s most respected independent grocers, Arlan’s Market. Now, if you’ve been around HHR for any length of time, you’ll know that overall I like independents. In …
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Vintage Ads: Finding Bargains at North Oaks Mall and Elsewhere in 1989
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Longtime readers here at Houston Historic Retail might remember our Vintage Ads series of posts. It’s been a while since we’ve posted a new Vintage Ads post so it seems like a good time to make a new installment in the series. This installment of the series will look at retail ads from the August 16, 1989 issue of the …
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This HEB was an Albertson’s Grocery Palace, not so much lately though
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re checking out another Heberstons, this one at 10251 Kempwood Dr, Houston, TX 77043, if you were here the last time we took a look at an Albertsons turned HEB, it was down in Clear Lake. While we were there we discussed how the closing and relocation of that store was likely for the best. Even with the distaste that modern HEB decor leaves with …
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Retail News: Living Spaces, to take over former HEB spot at Westheimer & Fountain View
For the past 7 years, a prime piece of real estate just west of the Galleria. The former HEB at Westheimer and Fountain View shut their doors in early 2015, after a replacement location opened on San Felipe. As a grocery store, this location was notable as it was Houston’s first full-line HEB location, replacing the Pantry Foods concept. After shutting its doors 7 years ago, the space has temporarily reopened for pop-ups like Spirit …
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