Holidays Foods was a short-lived chain in Houston that attempted to extend the lives of a few Minimax locations. To begin with, Minimax started as a locally owned franchise out of Brenham around 1930. Over the years, its ownership changed hands, and it finally landed with its supplier, Fleming Cos. Under the control of Fleming, Minimax was primarily left to its own devices. Small neighborhood grocery stores had long been their bread and butter, and most Minimax operators felt little need to change that. By the 1970s, when national chains ramped up their efforts in Houston, these small stores quickly became outdated. Lack of uniformity between stores, different owners, and limited services created a poor image for the chain as a whole. Some operators, like Continental Finer Foods, broke away from Minimax during the 70s, while others stayed behind to try and revamp what was left. Fleming knew what was happening in Houston, but with commitments nationwide, Minimax seemed like small potatoes. It was left up to the few owners who felt the need to update their stores to figure out exactly how. The group would commit to building larger stores and extending their services to keep up with the competition. One of these operators was Sam Savage, who had been experimenting with a concept named “Texas Super Foods.” While still a part of Minimax, this concept featured larger stores, increased services, and extended operating hours, making it an excellent fit to take on national chains. Savage would specifically target new and growing areas where national operators had a limited presence, giving Texas Super Foods another advantage. The success of Savage’s stores would be passed on to the other large-scale Minimax owners, who would copy many of the ideas. Some of these operators would include Joe Tombrella of Santa Fe and brothers Sam and Frank Glass, who would all elect to build new 40k+ Sqft. Stores to replace their older markets. While they were all still a part of Minimax, something new was brewing.
In August 1984, the owners mentioned above announced a plan to break away from Minimax, converting their different banners to Holiday Foods. This new chain would comprise the new 40k+ Sqft stores and older locations the group owned. Just as under Minimax, each owner would retain their stores, and Fleming would remain their supplier. Holiday Foods would take over advertising and licensing this new name; the group would also form a small buying co-op, helping lower prices. One owner, Sam Glass, said, “[the group] felt they could do better on their own” and that their small co-op already made up nearly half of Minimax’s buying power. Throughout August, the former Minimax locations converted to Holiday Foods and began their own running promotions and advertisements. Sam Savage, the spearhead behind the movement, worked to bring his Scarsdale Holiday Foods location. His store would see new services like a video store and post office added under his leadership. Throughout the 1980s, Holiday Foods would be featured in Fleming commercials and advertisements, suggesting that they may have continued to rely on them for marketing. Beyond the first few years, most operators seemed left to their devices. You have to consider that they were longtime Minimax owners who had been used to doing things their way and may have resisted change. By 1987, some of the first Holiday Foods locations had been passed on to other owners, who flipped them back to Minimax. What had been planned to become Houston’s next great chain had folded in just a few years. Beyond what were likely inflexible owners, the idea of co-op grocery was quickly on the way out in many parts of the country. These smaller stores were being beaten into the ground by chain competition, and in a scandal that wouldn’t come to light for many years, they were found to have been overcharging customers for years by hiding information on their margins. While it’s no guarantee that Fleming was doing this to Holiday Foods, it’s not unlikely either. However, this would not be the end of Holiday Foods.
In 1989, the Santa Fe location was the first large modern store to bite the dust. Rather than giving to another independent, Fleming would instead attempt to run the location under Harvest Foods, a new banner that the company had rolled out in other parts of the country to help fight the issues other co-ops outside of Houston were experiencing. The remaining Holiday Foods locations would soldier on, but by about 1990, joint marketing had dropped, and Holiday Foods had become a buyers group. The Glass Brothers, who owned the lion’s share of Holiday Foods locations, would outlive all of the other outlets after Sam Savage sold his original Scarsdale location to Hong Kong Food Market. Ultimately, it seems the chain failed to gain much recognition and could never expand. There were multiple references to the group’s plans to jointly open some new locations, but it seems this never occurred. The Holiday Foods name would solider on for a few more years with the Glass family. It appears that Frank Glass either retired or passed away around this time, leaving Sam in charge of their stores. Sam would sell all of their smaller locations to keep their full-sized store open. By early 1995, the only remaining Holiday Foods location was 4303 Kingwood, one of the 40k Sqft locations that were meant to be the launching pad for the chain. The building was owned by Fleming and leased to Holiday Foods. A few months into the year, Sam Glass decided to leave Fleming behind, switching his store to IGA. This move was likely precipitated by the pricing problems, as mentioned earlier, which had become a known “open secret” in the industry by this point. Sam Glass’s decision to realign his store seemed to violate a contract with Fleming, who took control of the final Holiday Foods and quickly liquidated the store. Not quite ready to retire, in 1996, Sam Glass purchased Jamail’s of Kingwood, rebranding it to Holiday Foods, making for the final location of the Minimax off-shoot. This store would only make it about two years before shutting down in early 1999. Making it 15 years, Holiday Foods outlived the chain it was birthed from. While is never became the success its creators intended, it did serve its purpose.
Location List
Address | Notes |
|---|---|
| 10909 Scarsdale Blvd, Houston, TX 77089 | 1984-1992 Owned by Sam Savage Jr., Previously Texas Super Foods Minimax, Sold to Hong Kong Market |
| 4200 Warpath Ave, Santa Fe, TX 77510 | 1984-1989 Owned by Joe Tombrella, Previously Tombrella Minimax, Sold to Fleming converted to Harvest Foods, Sold to HEB |
| 1701 Fairway Dr, Alvin, TX 77511 | 1984-1991 Owned by Joe Tombrella and Sonny Hall, Previously Jumbo Market, Subdivided |
| 1153 Kingwood Dr, Kingwood, TX 77339 | 1984-1993 Owned by Glass Bros, Previously Kingwood Minimax, Then Costa's Market, Stein Mart, Now Painted Tree |
| 23741 US-59 #20, Porter, TX 77365 | 1984-1987 Owned by Glass Bros, Later HEB Pantry Foods, 99 Cents Only Store, Now Goodwill |
| 1001 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571 | 1984-1993 Owned by Glass Bros, Previously Frank Glass Minimax, Left Glass' ownership around 1987 |
| 1711 E Houston St, Cleveland, TX 77327 | 1984-1991 Owned by Glass Bros, Previously Cleveland Minimax, Later U Save Food, Palais Royal, Now Ollie's Bargain Outlet |
| 1719 Garth Rd, Baytown, TX 77520 | 1984-1987 Owned by Sam Savage Jr., Previously Texas Super Foods Minimax, Later Subdivided |
| 4303 Kingwood Dr, Humble, TX 77339 | 1985-1996 Owned by Glass Bros, Built as Holiday Foods, Left Glass' ownership around 1995. Later aligned with IGA, Demolished for Albertsons later HEB |
| 2213 Northpark Dr, Kingwood, TX 77339 | 1996-1998 Owned by Glass Bros, Aligned with IGA, Originally Jamail's of Kingwood, Now Gym |
