Rice Food Markets

Rice Food Markets’ story begins in May 1938. The first store opened to replace the original grocer in Rice Village, which failed after only a few months. Located at 2501 Rice Boulevard, the new store took the obvious name of Rice Boulevard Food Market. This new store was operated by William H. Levy, who had had experience working in his father’s store. Levy was a bright mind in the grocery arena, and his success compared to the previous tenant was undoubtedly helped by the fact that his Fathe-in-Law was the landlord. The store was tiny and on the edge of current development at the time. Rice even served as the U.S. Post Office in the area for a few years. However, Rice would quickly find a customer base with the suburban boom starting in the 40s. The store started out as a 500-square-foot self-service store, and by the 1950s, it had doubled in size. By the late 50s, expansion was on the brain for Rice. Following the suburban development pattern, this new store would be in Tanglewood.

In April 1958, a second location was opened in the Tanglewood area at 5016 San Felipe. The fact that this new location was so far from the Rice area necessitated a change in name to the more general “Rice Food Markets.” The new store was modern for the time a true supermarket, coming in at 17,000 Square Feet; it was massive compared to the first location. The store would even feature a counter for local candy maker Kegg’s. This new store would also start a tradition that would continue over the next few years. The new shopping center would be built as a joint venture between Levy and his son-in-law Alfred Friedlander. The duo would have a set of “regular” tenants they would lease to that would change over time. In 1958, the third and fourth locations were confirmed. The third store would be slightly larger than the last and was modeled after California Supermarkets, which were toured by the Levys. The same year, a fourth store was also planned as an anchor tenant for West Point Shopping Center, a proposed mall in Spring Branch. However, the plans for the mall and store would eventually fall through.  By 1960, Rice had three locations and plans for at least two more. To help meet the demand for groceries in department stores, Rice began operating the Globe grocery department in 1960. The same year, a merger took place with another grocery chain owned by a local family known as “Jack’s.” This acquisition would boost Rice’s reach exponentially. Rice would reach ten locations by 1964 by purchasing existing supermarkets and opening new stores. While not the largest independent in Houston, Rice grew much faster than almost every other Houston supermarket at the time. Rice would open its 16th location in the Bellaire Country Club Shopping Center only two years later. During this growth spurt, the Levy family would again take up building their own shopping centers. Again, with a cohort of usual tenants like a drug store and a DQ franchise, these Rice-owned centers are often still identifiable to this day. At the time, things looked great for Rice’s future, but an unexpected death would stir things up.

In September 1968, William Levy unexpectedly passed away. At the time, Levy was quite a prominent figure in the company, serving as President of Rice Food Markets. With the position open, Alfred Friedlander was promoted to become the new President of Rice. The decision was made as Friedlander had been the Executive Vice-President before Levy’s passing and had already taken on many of Levy’s duties. It also helped that Friedlander was Levy’s son-in-law. Looking forward in a press conference only days after Levy’s passing, the future of Rice still appeared bright. After a test run of five stores, Friedlander would announce plans to add bakeries to all present and future locations. Rice was gaining on the competition and was a serious local competitor by this point. National competition was scarce in Houston beyond the Kroger buyout of Henke’s. However, Rice faced a future where even more chains would set their eyes on Houston. Their next store was in a creatively sublet space of an oversized Woolco in 1968. Rice would continue to build new locations throughout the end of the 60s and the start of the 70s. In 1971, Rice’s next acquisition would occur, with the purchase of five former Epp’s Supermarket locations. A little less than a month later, two more stores were purchased and flipped (Sacco’s and Ledbetter’s), and Rice opened another location adjacent to a Woolco. With all this feverish growth, Rice was at an impressive 35 stores by early 1971. The next major buyout would be of the exiting Piggly Wiggly, formerly Randall’s chain, in 1973. Rice picked up three locations, eventually coming back for one more. During this time, Rice would also experiment with building stores as far North as Conroe and even Huntsville! In 1977, looking for a bit of diversification, Rice attempted its hand at a quick-service restaurant concept named “Pit Stop Barbecue.” While initially, Pit Stop would not attach itself directly to Rice, a somewhat tepid reception would seemingly force them to rely on that relationship in advertising. Aside from this concept, around this time, Rice would attempt a liquor store to accompany their Bellaire Blvd location. Although this concept does not seem to have lasted very long.

By the end of 1979, Rice had over 50 locations, thanks to acquiring some Handy Andy locations as they exited the Houston market. While BBQ may not have been Rice’s strong suit, they seemed ready to serve the Houston grocery market wherever other grocers wouldn’t tread. Unlike independents like Gerland’s or Weingarten’s, who took on nationals for locations, Rice’s stores were always a bit more subdued. Usually, Rice’s stores were near other independent stores, normally only stepping up to face national chains when picking up an existing store. While Rice had been able to hold its own against the chains invading Houston in the 70s, price wars between the nationals and locals had become fierce. Thus, Rice would rely on often being the “grocer of convenience,” the closest store to the neighborhood. As such, prices were usually slightly higher than the competition, but Rice made up for it in service. Rice shoppers tended to be dedicated and loyal customers who felt their stores were part of the community. Around this time, Rice also tried diversifying its business through new supermarket concepts. Experimenting first with Cash Saver Warehouse. This new concept would help expand Rice into the realm of a discount grocer. The Warehouse grocery concept was still novel then, and Rice was one of the first to bring the concept to Houston, ultimately closing the locations after a few years. In 1984, the implosion of previously independent but now outside-owned Weingarten netted Rice a total of five new locations. The Weingarten locations would do well, with many customers sticking with Rice, compared to Safeway’s buyout of the remaining Weingarten stores. Two years later, Rice would also acquire the “rouge” Post Oak Weingarten, which had stayed open due to a lease dispute. Just over a year later, Eagle Discount Supermarket would also exit the Houston market, with Rice picking up seven of their former stores. In a somewhat morose outcome, some of the first Eagle employees to learn of their division’s closure did so because Rice managers had shown up at locations to take measurements for new signage. The 1980s had so far been a success for Rice. They had achieved about 50 concurrently open locations, but in an ever more competitive grocery market, they needed a way to differentiate themselves.

In 1987, Rice announced its plans to diversify its grocery lines again. Unlike the previous attempt, this new concept focused on high-end groceries. Know as Rice Epicurean, the new stores would feature exotic, imported, and high-end items and a full complement of prepared foods. The first location to be converted would be Rice #2, located near the Galleria, which would be the perfect addition to the area. While Rice’s Epicurean store would not be the only gourmet market in the area, it would be the first to combine gourmet foods with general groceries. Much of what you could find in normal Rice was also carried at their Epicurean location. Not oblivious to Houston’s grocery market’s value-driven side, Rice would debut Price Buster the same year. Multiple locations were tried between the two concepts, but it was clear that Epicurean was the winner. Multiple other discount grocers had made their way into town by the early 90s, such as HEB Pantry Foods, Food Town, and Food Lion. This would limit Price Buster’s development to areas where the competition was not, mainly within 610. In 1994, at the end of AppleTree, Rice picked up three locations, adding them all as new Epicurean stores. Rice would also try rebranding some of its mainline stores as Grocery World during the mid-90s. While this was likely done to help “refresh” the stores, it also signaled a move away from the Rice name as it was being adapted to fit the Epicurean banner. In 1998, in a non-surprising but still shocking announcement, Rice made the decision to close all non-Epicurean locations, meaning the end for the remaining Rice Food Markets, Grocery World, and Price Buster locations. Only one location was saved from this death sentence; the original store at 2500 Rice Boulevard would remain open and be upgraded to an Epicurean store. Around this time, Rice also purchased the final Lewis & Coker location, converting it into an Epicurean store.

While Epicurean was meant to be the future of Rice, the final store to open would be the aforementioned former L&C location in 1997. In the meantime, one of the main functions of the former grocery chain became finding tenants for the now-empty Rice locations. While a few independent markets would take over some of the locations, many of the former Rice Food Markets were far too small to serve as modern supermarkets effectively. No grocery chains would pick up any former Rice locations, although a few nongrocery retailers like Fallas Paredes would find success in former Rice spots. One stand out was 6425 San Felipe, a former Rice Epicurean that was sold to Whole Foods in 1998. This dropped Rice Epicureans numbers from eight to seven. Two more Rice Epicureans would shut down only two years later, one at the corner of Kirby and W. Alabama and another at Champions Forest in 1960. Bed Bath and Beyond had expressed interest in leasing the spaces, and Rice was happy to oblige. In the space of about five years, the company had become a shell of itself. Rice Epicurean, which seemed like it might save the grocery chain, had mostly been dropped with a proposed expansion plan that never materialized. Rather, Rice would maintain these five stores as “property placeholders” for the most part. The limited chain still ran much better organized and with much more stock than some of their national competitors during this time. Despite its limited size, Rice’s dedication to its customers was seen through services its online and over-the-phone grocery delivery service, which was the longest-running consistent internet-based grocery ordering system in Houston at the time of the chain closing. In 2012, Rice decided to finally shut down all but one of its Epicurean Market stores, ending the chain era of Rice. The stores would be leased to North Carolina-based The Fresh Market, which would fully remodel the stores, usually subdividing the spaces. Despite a healthy investment, they would not last long, exiting Houston in 2016. Three of the leases were eventually transferred to Total Wine, which still operates from these spaces.

Over the next ten years, the final Rice Epicurean location at 2020 Fountain View continued to operate quietly. Certain services were consolidated at the Fountain View store during the closings of other locations. For example, Rice’s delivery service continued to serve old areas like River Oaks and West U. despite the remaining store being quite far away. Despite being down to one location, Rice would not change its product lineup and maintained its own private label items until the end. The service departments would also stay open, including their extensive catering and floral operations. In 2022, Rice announced that their final store would close at the end of July and be replaced by a Spec’s, putting a cap on a nearly 85-year history of Houston’s finest independent grocer.

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