Tag: Safeway

There is no better way to close this series than with some nighttime Art Deco!

The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike It is quite hard to believe that the end of the year 2023 is near! This means, of course, that The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail is concluding with this post. I’ll reflect on The Year of Kroger series at the end of this post, but first we’ll discuss the …

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Two Westside Kroger Stores With Unique Safeway and AppleTree Designs

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike This month’s The Year of Kroger post will be a bit unique for a couple of reasons. For one, this post will be about two different, but similar Houston-area Krogers. Also, a unique aspect of this post is that we will be looking at stores which both started out as Safeway stores, then became …

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It is a busy day at the Galveston Randalls!

Randalls’ Very Successful 1980s Store Format Is Still A Success In Galveston

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike Loyal readers of Houston Historic Retail might remember the Galveston Randall’s being mentioned in July’s The Year of Kroger post about the Galveston Kroger. This HHR post is an extension of that post as we’ll be taking a closer look at the Galveston Randall’s, Randall’s Food Market #31 (Randalls Food & Drug #1031 using …

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Retail News: Foodarama adds new location with Texas City Food King on their roster

Local grocery chain Foodarama opened a new location last week at 915 North 6th St in Texas City. The store was purchased directly from the previous operator Food King and was not closed for the changeover. This newest Foodarama represents the first new location of an independent Houston grocery chain since 2015, when Pyburn’s opened its third location. As of this article, Foodarama has eight locations throughout the Houston area. Other independent grocery chains in …

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Here is a drawing of Houston’s newest ‘mall’ in 1971! The Bellaire Texan via The Portal to Texas History, July 7, 1971

Vintage Ads: Celebrating the 1971 Grand Opening of Braeswood Square

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston This edition of Vintage Ads will take us back to the grand opening of the Braeswood Square shopping center near Bellaire in Southwest Houston. Braeswood Square’s grand opening was on July 8, 1971 and we’ll be looking at various ads from the July 7, 1971 edition of The Bellaire Texan newspaper which is freely available to read at The Portal …

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Return to Food King, one of the last Weingarten’s out there

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! If you’re a longtime reader of the blog, then you might recognize today’s location, Food King! A former Weingarten, still using much of their Grand Union decor update. This store is a gem, locally owned by a Texas City resident, and honestly pretty dang cheap! If you’re interested in the history of this store and more detailed information on decor overlap, then check out my post …

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The Randall's updated exterior is circa 2007

Randall’s continues to thrive in this former Austin Safeway

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. This week, we’re digging back into some unposted photos from summer vacation. Today we’re in Austin, checking out a former Safeway that ended up part of the reacquisition cycle via Safeway and is still going strong even under Albertson’s ownership. This store at 2025 W Ben White Blvd, Austin, TX 78704, originally started out in the parking lot of today’s location as a simple Marina-style Safeway, opening in 1966. …

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Retail News: GFS makes progress on former Belden’s

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 …

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This signage is all new, but permits have likely not changed since Safeway who used this separated non-lighted style

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 …

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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 …

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