JMH Supermarkets

J. M. H. Supermarkets was a chain of stores that operated for nearly 75 years in the Houston area. The chain’s roots date back to around 1919, when namesake Joe M. Huffington began selling beef at the Houston City Market. A native of Longview, Huffington came to Houston as a small boy and got his first job selling papers for the Chronicle in the booming Heights suburb. Using the money he made, Davis would relocate to the Davis Mountains of West Texas to get his first taste of cattle ranching. After a few years, he loved the profession and decided to return to Houston to establish a ranch here. Huffington’s experience running the Houston ranch was not fruitful; he had gone into business with partners, and the venture collapsed after a few years, likely due to a sharp increase in cattle feed prices during World War I. Looking to start over, J. M. would work as a private investigator in Houston. After about 10 years in this field, Huffington noticed the dramatic increase in beef prices and decided that ranching was worth returning to. This time, he would create a joint venture with his brother, R. M. Huffington, who had made good money by wildcatting. Together, they purchased a ranch that J. M. would control. Unfortunately, shortly after they bought the ranch, R. M. tragically died in an industrial accident while away in Venezuela. With J. M. now in charge of the entire affair, it was up to him to ensure that his late brother’s wife and young children were cared for. Thankfully, beef prices continued to increase, though cattle feed prices were catching up as Americans recovered from the Great Depression. J. M. spent his time and effort developing a way to feed his herds as inexpensively as possible. He devised a plan to supplement his cow’s standard diet of grains with reasonable amounts of rice and “mineralize” the feed to increase overall cattle health. While adding minerals is standard fare now, Huffington was at the forefront of a developing trend. As a result, Huffington’s “mineralized beef” was widely regarded as superior to other ranches serving Houston at the time.

J. M. Huffington sold his last bit of beef at the Houston City Market nearly 15 years before returning to ranching. Initially, he may have wanted to resume these sales. However, the growing influence of grocery stores and the diminishing glory of Houston’s Market Square, as it was known, made this plan unworkable. Huffington would instead purchase a grocery store that had been put up for sale by Phil Bongio, who was leaving the business to start a restaurant, but that’s a story for another day. This new store was in Houstons’ bustling East side and had a fair share of competition, but it quickly became a neighborhood favorite, primarily thanks to the meat sales. The sales were so swift that Huffington decided to open two new stores. One was a competitor just down Canal Street from his original location, which he purchased after the owner died. The second was a small store in what, at the time, was considered the countryside just past West University Place. These two new stores helped draw in more business, but expanding JMH also created a problem. Huffington was spreading himself thin. Running three stores and a ranch proved a bit too much for him to handle on his own, so he began looking for help. While Huffington looked within the city to find new employees, he also scouted new talent when driving to the country. On his trips to purchase chickens, eggs, and other resources, he would encounter Jody Haas and Rudy Darilek, two childhood friends from Shiner, Texas. These two country boys were brought to Houston with the promise of a good job, housing, and the chance to grow their careers. Within a year of their move, word spread of these prospects, and Vic Stanek, also from the area, joined the duo. Together, these three gentlemen would learn the ropes of running grocery stores. The help encouraged Huffington to purchase a fourth store in the Heights. However, before the three truly got a chance to be “in charge” of JMH, the start of World War II called the trio into active service in the European theater.

Without help from the trio, Huffington would close his original store shortly after the boys left to fight. Quickly, Huffington would be forced to seek out new blood to help run the remaining stores. He negotiated with another brother, W. M. Huffington, to take over the Heights location, rebranding it as “Huffington Grocery.” With this new help, Huffington maintained focus on his ranch, where he quickly became known not just for his beef but also for his quarter horses. In 1945, J. M. Huffington went in with his brother on a new property in West U and built a second store for the Huffington Grocery chain. After a few years of running the two chains, the trio of original employees returned, and J. M. formed a plan to make Haas, Darilek, and Stanek partners in a new store under the JMH umbrella. This new store in West U would be just up the block from the second Huffington Grocery store, which had become outdated after only a few years. The post-war baby boom sped development all along Houston’s westside, and by 1950, large-scale supermarkets like Weingarten’s and Rice were encroaching on West University. Like his other stores, Huffington planned to include housing for his employees, this time via second-story apartments. The possible tall facade of the building enraged neighbors, specifically drawing criticism from West U Mayor F. M. Mainous, who lived nearby. The mayor refused to issue a building permit for the new supermarket, stating that the land was not properly zoned. The courts would take up the issue, and JMH would eventually be issued a building permit without the second-floor housing. The store was constructed over the next few months, although it took residents a while to warm up to the project, with the city forcing JMH to fence off their parking lot before opening, again citing zoning concerns.

While opening the new store had been a hassle, the partnership’s persistence would pay off. When faced with the realization that this small, independently owned supermarket could have been a large chain store instead, residents began to appreciate the new JMH. This new store would negate the nearby Huffington Grocery location, which would close shortly after JMH #5 opened. The brothers would close the Heights location to construct a modern supermarket in the Garden Oaks area. This new store would join the Super Valu co-op, providing a support system independent of the JMH chain. With his brother in charge of Huffington Grocery and the three country boys in charge of JMH, Mr. Huffington quickly took a backseat to goings on at JMH. While he still provided funding, Jody Haas became vice president of JMH, Rudy Darilek was the company’s treasurer, and Victor Darilek was put in charge of the meat department of the original West U store. As partners, the trio would approach Huffington about building new stores, feeling it was prudent to expand. Land along Old Richmond Road (modern Bissonnet), south of the new Sharpstown development, was purchased to capitalize on future growth. The new store labeled #7 (even numbers were skipped beyond #5) would be a departure from the norm. This location would be larger than existing JMH stores and on a major road outside a neighborhood. The success of the new store was so great that within two years, JMH was planning stores #9 and #11 in the growing suburbs.#9 would be in Spring Branch on Campbell and #11 at the corner of West Orem and Hiram Clarke. The locations would be similar to #7, expanding on the supermarket concept. Huffington purchased a much larger plot than was necessary for the new locations. The plots were large enough that there was room to expand the grocery store, and the owners could also sublease portions of the space to others, creating small shopping centers. In 40 years, Huffington had gone from selling out of a stall in the city market to three full-size supermarkets and two smaller neighborhood grocery stores, with the remaining Huffington Market closing when the new JMH locations opened.

JMH was on its way to becoming a modern player in the Houston supermarket scene. JMH was ahead of specific competitors like Rice and the original incarnation of Randalls, both of which had only three locations by 1960. However, compared to Weingarten’s, which had expanded into other states by this point with nearly 60 stores, JMH was still a small fry. The owners of JMH had plans to take their chain to new heights, and while they had some catch-up to do, they felt it was possible. Shortly after the opening of store #9, Darilek, Haas, and Stanek would approach Huffington with their plans. While planning the last three stores, Huffington had taken a back seat, letting the three young leaders take charge. Huffington had little desire to continue building up a grocery chain, as his ranching, both cattle and horses, had become a business of its own. When presented with the plan, Huffington countered the offer, instead giving the trio a chance to buy him out of J.M.H. While the boys had a decent amount of stock in the company, Huffington was still the majority owner. To help fuel these plans, JMH would begin selling stores to raise capital.JMH #7 was sold to Randalls/Piggly Wiggly in 1962, and #11 was sold to Rice shortly after. While these new supermarkets would have been key to an ever-increasing presence, the trio realized this would not have been possible without the financial backing of Huffington. Instead, they refocused their efforts on the more profitable West University locations, and in 1967, they sold #9 to Epps Supermarkets. In 7 years, the chain had lost three locations but was on its way to independence. By 1971, the trio had achieved their goal and raised enough money to buy J. M. Huffington, out of J.M.H. Down from a high of five locations to only two small grocery stores, the chain was essentially sealed into its new fate to serve only the small West U community.

While JMH had shrunk in size and scope over the years, it was a community institution, and for three gentlemen who had originally been from small towns, the fate was quite fitting. Throughout the 70s and 80s, JMH continued operating the two locations like it always did. When competitors updated, JMH maintained. For example, in the 1970s, most other markets introduced electronics registers, which JMH refused to do. Instead, produce was weighed and priced by a clerk in the produce section. Keeping in small-town store traditions, JMH continued running credit accounts and using hand-kept books rather than accepting cards. Even though other grocers outside of West U had modernized, walking into JMH was a trip down memory lane. However, not everyone in the area wished to take this trip. By the late 80s, JMH realized that the traffic the chain was pulling was declining as original West U residents passed away and newcomers began shopping elsewhere. In 1989, JMH #3 closed, with the ownership selling the land to the city of West U on the condition a park was opened on the site. The move provided community support and was a protection move for the final location. Down to one store, the three country boys soldiered into the new Melinium. However, by 2000, much like Huffington in the 60s, the trio was ready to retire and decided to sell off their remaining store. Like their mentor had the first time, they found ownership they felt would honor tradition. Husband and wife Charles and Janet Wilson purchased the store, promising to make only a few changes. The most major one was the installation of an electric cash register, which weighed produce at the checkout and allowed credit and debit cards to be run in addition to the old credit accounts. The couple owned the nearby Edloe Street Deli and planned to add a few entrees to the deli counter and a few yuppie products like fat-free ground turkey. Most importantly, they would continue to employ many lifelong JMH associates. However, after only four years, the store would be sold again to a group of investors. These investors would subdivide the space to lease space to a bank and focus mainly on the deli counter. This incarnation of JMH would close in 2007, putting an end to a 73-year operation.

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