A special thanks again to Anonymous for locating the opening dates of all Randall's locations to help complete these articles. Another thanks for the heads-up on the Lufkin Randall's video on Youtube.
Store #57, later store #1057 after the 1990 era expansion of the company.
The store opened on January 1, 1993 and closed on February 15, 2020.
This store was a similar to the Lufkin Randall's store featured in this video (Click here).
And now for the store tour.
The decor and design of this store was very different from the Randall's store in the front of Kingwood. In 2017 this location was flooded as a result of the rain from Hurricane Harvey and a Lake Conroe water release that flooded the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. The store was quickly gutted and remodeled to reopen just a few weeks after flooding. They did a great job of beating their competitor HEB to reopen after the flood. Unfortunately, the initial increase in sales did not last, once HEB reopened the sales dropped back off. HEB had relocated their first Kingwood store in late 2016 which was across the street from Randall's into a much larger location also across the street from Randall's. Randall's was able to survive the small HEB store, but not the larger one.
You can see the Starbucks addition to the far right of this photo, the Starbucks opened along with the other Randall's at the front of Kingwood. This Starbucks had a separate entrance door to the far right of the building.
The store setup here was similar to the other location in the front of Kingwood. There was some difference in product location such as the bakery placement, but the departments were on the same side of each store.
Deli and buffet.
Produce, leading to the meat cutter in the far view.
The ceiling was low in this right side of the store, the ceilings opened up as you get into the main area of the store.
Here is the first aisle of the main store. Bread, juices, and more.
Randall's had locations in Kingwood starting in 1986 with the Highway 59 location we discussed in the previous post.
Chips and dry goods.
One thing that was different at this store was a center aisle that ran across the main store. This aisle broke up each main aisle in half and made for quicker movement if you wanted to skip half an aisle.
Frozen food section in the middle of the main store.
Customer Service counter with registers in the forefront.
The Pharmacy area. There was also a Wells Fargo Bank at one point to the left of the Pharmacy.
More of the frozen foods selection.
Packaged meats with dairy and cheeses.
Soda aisle.
The employees had decorated the Valentine's Day aisle.
A view from the Pharmacy side of the store to the front entrance area.
Pharmacy department. Prior to the closing of these stores, Rite Aid had taken over the Pharmacy operations.
The cold alcohol selection had been ransacked at this location. At the other location, it was still well stocked.
Wines had been cleared out as well.
Dairy section of the store in the left corner
The Dairy department was in a pushed back area in the back part of the store. At the last Randall's location, the dairy wall was flush with the rest of the store.
More of the dairy and dessert area.
More of the wine department.
The view from the pharmacy side of the store to the first main aisle. This is the aisle that cut the path through the middle of the store.
This is the entry/exit to the store on the left side of the store. The movie department was originally in this section of the store. The shopping carts were located outside in that era.
Organic foods and medicines. This department was new to the remodeled store.
The discount and liquidation signs up close.
Aisle signage.
Paper goods and hardware aisle?
A nearly complete view of this corner of the store.
The main aisles to the right and packaged meats and more to the left. This is the back aisle of the store.
More views of the store.
A better view of the back wall of the store. I have always wondered why these parts of the store had lower ceilings.
In February 2020, cleaning supplies could be had at a pretty good discount here at Randall's. As we all know, a month later cleaning supplies were wiped out for months at the start of the pandemic.
More views of the store.
Right side entry/exit.
Kingwood Strong was the motto of the area after Hurricane Harvey flooded hundreds of structures in the area. In 2022 many areas of Kingwood still haven't recovered from the devastating floods.
Inside of the left side entry/exit foyer.
Last shot of the store with the bright moon in the sky.
February 18, 2020, three days after the store closed. As you can see the exterior signage was already removed.
Since the power was still on, you could get some good views inside of the store. The next two photos were taken through the glass at the Starbucks entrance to the store.
The left side entry/exit foyer.
March 13, 2022. Half of the former Randall's is currently under construction to become a new Ace Hardware store. You can still clearly see the Randall's labelscar.
More to come with the McAllen Texas Kmart final visit up next!
Somehow I must have missed this post when it was initially posted! My apologies about that! I am glad I did find this post because I was looking forward to seeing this store. That's pretty 'remarkable' that Randall's was still using the Remarkable Card logo on that Kingwood Strong banner as that is a Randall's design that predates the Safeway buyout!
ReplyDeleteThis store used Safeway's Lifestylve v3 decor. It's the newest of the Lifestyle decors, but Albertsons/Safeway still uses Colorful Lifestyle v2 variant in a lot of their more recent renovations such as at the Richmond Randall's that was renovated earlier this year. I think there are a couple of other Houston Randall's with Lifestyle v3 which are still operating. For sure the Meyerland area Randall's, which is near that non-Supercenter Walmart, has Lifestyle v3 because I was recently at that store. It's a neat looking decor package I think, but perhaps Colorful Lifestyle v2 looks a little better. Compared to a lot of dull, colorless modern supermarket decor, at least these newest Lifestyle variants have some color to them.
I'm glad to see the Lufkin Randall's video linked at the top! These Randall's stores were really great around that time in 1992. Their video rental departments were great and they even had Sega Master System games to rent. I remember buying a game or two from them after they retired the game from rental and put it up for sale cheap.
Mike from HHR has done a few Randall's posts on his blog here recently, mostly about the recent closure of the Sugar Land location, and I know they have received a lot of hits. I suppose Houstonians want to read about Randall's especially now that they continue to become more and more rare, but at least many of the currently operating locations have received updates here recently and their Google user ratings have improved since the start of the pandemic.
They are still working on the Ace Hardware slowly but surely. The store should be close to opening. A Pet Supplies Plus is opening in the former CVS so this shopping center is going to get a boost once those two big empty spots are filled. Only half of the former Randall's will be vacant, but there are rumors that a gym will move in.
DeleteYour reference to the Randalls videos a few years back was a very good one that helps you picture how this store looked years ago. The design package looks very similar to the design package used by Fiesta at the Airline and I-45 location. The biggest difference there is that the big signage is in Spanish and the smaller print is in English.
I wonder what the future plans are for the Randall's name in Houston. If enough stores are closed, will the locations become El Rancho locations or will they be sold for other uses. El Rancho has 8 locations in the area and more could work if they expanded North and East of town. I read the HHR article about the Sugar Land Randall's, it is a weird coincidence that we went to that store on a whim a couple of years ago. We adopted a dog nearby and needed a leash for her and Petco was the closest place. The store looked pretty sad on our visit from what I remember. We visited in March 2020 just before the pandemic closures started happening and after the store closures happened in the Houston area.
It is hard to say what Albertsons has planned for the Randall's banner. It seems that Albertsons is still taking the DFW market quite seriously with their Tom Thumb and Albertsons stores there now that HEB is moving into that market. In Austin, Randall's is really the only traditional grocery competition that HEB has. In Houston, it seems that the remaining Randall's locations are in areas mostly with limited competition and/or in wealthy areas where perhaps the Randall's format still works.
DeleteMaybe I've mentioned it before, but the Champions Village shopping center was recently up for sale. The sale documents listed that the Randall's there has a lease that's coming up for renewal in 2024 and that they've been paying well below market rent as they are presumably still using the lease that Handy Andy signed in the 1970s there. The new owners of the shopping center said they were optimistic that Randall's would renew, but the shopping center might have to give Randall's a sweetheart deal to get them to stay because I can't imagine Randall's still stick around in that location if they have to pay current market rent. OTOH, Randall's has supposedly renewed some leases in other areas so it does not seem that Albertsons is looking to jet on out of Houston even if they may continue to close stores.
El Rancho expanded pretty quickly a few years ago, but I don't think they've added another Houston store in a few years. I'm not sure what to make of that. I think the format could work in a few other areas where they don't have stores. Fiesta themselves have been slow to expand in recent years and I don't think HEB has really expanded Mi Tienda much in recent times so I think there is an opportunity for these chains to expand.
You might have heard that Rice Epicurean Market is throwing in the towel and plans to close their last remaining location in the next couple of months. The store will become a Spec's. The store seemed doomed when HEB opened that big store right next door. Rice has a long history in Houston with differing price formats so it's sad to see them end their supermarket business. With that, Randall's is just about the only higher end grocer Houston has left, if you even want to call them that, except for HEB's Central Market. Rice Epicurean was perhaps the last grocer in town where one could get 1970s-1980s levels of customer service at a supermarket. It'll be sad to see them go even if this is inevitable news.
With the variety of supermarkets they have in the Houston area, Albertsons could keep Randall's going if they choose. Randall's stores need a lot of help to bring customers back, lower prices would really help.
DeleteI really think we will see Randall's pull out of the Champions Village location. It is their one store left on the Northside outside of their El Rancho stores. Champions Village could use a remodel, just about every shopping center in that area has refreshed their image over the years.
I don't think I have been to a Rice Market. We have driven past the one that used to be in River Oaks on Westheimer several times, but never went in. The HEB Central Market down the road killed that store off. The loss of that grocery store sounds like the loss of an era.
As long as Albertsons and Tom Thumb in Dallas continue to do well for the company, I think a handful of profitable stores in Houston and Austin might be able to survive. Albertsons is pretty used to operating small, distant operations and, in fact, the same Dallas division runs the Albertsons stores in Louisiana so the same thing applies to them as well. If HEB crushes Albertsons in DFW, those Louisiana stores might close as well, but HEB expands at a slow, deliberate pace and, at least for now, HEB is expanding to outer areas of DFW whereas Tom Thumb and Albertsons has a pretty strong presence in the inner and middle areas of DFW so it might be a while before Albertsons feels the real sting of HEB in DFW. If nothing else, Albertsons is putting a lot of money into the DFW area so it appears they aren't going to cede ground without a fight.
DeleteYou're right about the Champions Village Randall's. Randall's might have some leverage in lease negotiations in that it'll be hard for another grocer, except maybe for Trader Joe's, to take over that spot as it is an old, small building with limited room for expansion. The shopping center surely wants a supermarket there to keep traffic at the rest of the center and if nobody else is interested, they might have to make a deal with Randall's to keep their rent at below market prices. If the center is unwilling to compromise, I think Randall's will leave. That does not look like a high volume store even by Randall's standards. It's very much a neighborhood type store, but there are some wealthy neighborhoods around there so perhaps they do sell a fair amount of premium service department type goods with large profit margins.
At one time, Rice had all three price ranges covered with Pricebusters as their bargain format, regular Rice Markets as the mid-tier grocer, and Rice Epicurean as the upscale format. Eventually, Rice downscaled to just the Epicurean stores. There was very briefly a Rice Epicurean across the street from the Champions Randall's in the 1990s, but Randall's beat them quite badly and the Rice Epicurean closed pretty soon after.
Rice Epicurean, like Belden's who closed their last location in Meyerland as the new HEB was opening, is an old-school type grocer with a very 1980s looking store format and a strong focus on product quality and service. Even in a wealthy neighborhood, I'm sure the price differences between Rice and HEB were too much for Rice to overcome and so they threw in the towel. Yeah, it really is the end of an era as far as upscale Houston grocers go.
I have some sad news to report, the Fiesta on I-45 and Airline no longer has the retro sign on the front of the store. They pulled it sometime in the past 10 days or so. Thankfully I made sure to get a good video on my last visit before the change. The neon liquor sign is still up along Airline Dr., but it probably will not last.
DeleteI keep forgetting that Albertsons still had stores in the Dallas market under the Albertsons name. I think they have enough of a presence to survive with their different nameplates. Not a lot of grocers come to Louisiana it seems. Kroger has a small presence, but nothing major. Rouses is the store that really seems to be taking over the state, they are a Louisiana owned and operated company, so they are doing really well.
Champions Village has been the one FM 1960 shopping center to really weather the changes throughout the years. FM 1960 really needs to demolish some of the shopping centers and consolidate the remaining stores to make the remaining centers stronger. More townhome and upscale apartments are really needed to bring some of these areas back to life.
I did not know that the Fresh Market locations in Houston were former Rice Markets. The Fresh Market was such a short-lived concept here that if you blinked, you missed them. Hopefully Specs will keep some of the items that Rice had that will be really missed by the customers. The loss of Rice Markets is like the loss of the local downtown department stores. One-of-a-kind businesses that stayed behind the times while the customer base aged out.
That is too bad about the I-45 and Airline Fiesta Mart. That location has quite a prominent location on the North Freeway and is quite visible to motorists who now won't be able to see that wonderful old sign. Oh well, that location was given a pretty major interior renovation here recently I believe so it's not a surprise that the exterior would get renovated as well. The Fiesta Beverage Marts are now operated by a separate company than the grocery stores so it's hard to say when the liquor stores will be renovated. I believe the liquor stores are owned by the family of one of the original founders of Fiesta Mart and they own some other liquor stores in Texas under other names as well.
DeleteLouisiana's grocery scene is quite strange in that there are a lot of different companies involved in Louisiana, including some of the biggest names like Albertsons, Kroger, and Winn-Dixie, but their stores are spread out across the state and so the mix of grocers really depends on the city. Rouses does seem to be expanding and they might be trying to be the HEB or Publix of Louisiana. Market Basket and Brookshire's has their presence as well. HEB used to have a location in Lake Charles in the 1990s, but it seems that was not a success because it was abandoned. As a whole, Lake Charles might have the most diverse mix of grocers in Louisiana.
I wonder if Publix will give Louisiana a shot at some point here soon. Publix has been expanding across the south and Publix has shown that they aren't afraid of taking on Winn-Dixie and Kroger. Publix has long dominated Winn-Dixie in Florida and so they might view Louisiana's Winn-Dixie stores as easy competition. That said, Winn-Dixie has done well to reform after their bankruptcy and they are aggressively renovating their stores...many of which are stuck in the 1980s and not in a good way like a 1980s Fiesta.
Albertsons actually operates under three different banners in DFW. Well, four if we count El Rancho. In addition to Albertsons and Tom Thumb, Albertsons also has stores called Market Street in DFW. Market Street is operated by the United division of Albertsons which primarily runs the Albertsons and United stores out in West Texas and New Mexico. United does quite well in West Texas thanks to HEB not being out there. Here's a link to a Market Street in Frisco if you want to see what they are about. As you can see, they are a bit like an HEB, but perhaps more on the premium side: https://goo.gl/maps/Djd9fVfAfg1k3hpq8
Yeah, when The Fresh Market came to Houston, they purchased all but one of Rice Epicurean's locations. I guess The Fresh Market thought that would accomplish two things for them, one was to get some high-end locations and the other was to mostly eliminate one of the high-end competitors in Houston. Well, the idea might have made sense at the time, but it didn't work for them as they failed quickly here. After The Fresh Market failed in Dallas, Tom Thumb took over some of their locations and Tom Thumb merged some of The Fresh Market's decor with Safeway's decor and created a really awesome look. I think you'll agree that this Tom Thumb is very nice. It's too bad there aren't any Randall's in Houston which look like this: https://goo.gl/maps/NXSySmtZRFL3Ac3Q8
Champions Village and the shopping center across the street where The Container Store is (which used to be a Rice Epicurean in the 1990s) are two exceptions to the somewhat rotting conditions of FM 1960 W retail east of the Willowbrook area. Champions is still a strong neighborhood and so that is surely boosting the Champions Village shopping center, but even then, with Palais Royal and Stein Mart throwing in the towel, Champions Village is down to just TJMaxx as far as clothing stores go. I suppose that is just the general market trend though.
I remember the Fiesta liquor mart staying in business for a while after Fiesta closed their grocery store in Humble. I didn't know the liquor stores were separately owned. The I-69 Fiesta store has new signage for everything including the liquor store.
DeleteI keep forgetting about Winn Dixie, they became stagnant over the years and closed a lot of stores in Louisiana. You are right, a lot of their stores were stuck with the late 80's/early 90's decor package that is really worn out. That pink and turquoise color scheme looks really bad in 2022.
Publix could make a run in Louisiana. Food prices are a bit higher in Louisiana than they are here in Texas, so Publix could carve out a niche in some markets. The New Orleans area does have Robert Fresh Markets that cater to the higher end shopper so they would have some competition in the biggest metro area in the state. New Orleans has always been dominated by local chains, from Schweggmann's to Rouse's. Even Kmart never put a Super Kmart store in the metro area. Walmart was very late to the Supercenter game in the city as well.
Market Street does look a lot like HEB. I had never heard of them until now. That makes Albertson's an even stronger competitor in the DFW. With HEB breaking into the market, they need all of the help they can get.
The Tom Thumb stores always make me do a double take because I expect to see the Randalls name on the pricing signs, the look of the stores is very similar. I do like the simplistic look of the store it almost looks like you are shopping in a showroom of sorts. With this design the limited color schemes work well.
I really like the look of the Champions Village Shopping Center. It also holds some past memories of the old Service Merchandise store. I can't remember a single purchase from them, but I know we bought some things there over the years.
I did see your Sears comment, but I only have time to reply to one comment this morning. I will be sure to reply at my next opportunity.
Here is a quick update. The Barnes & Noble on W. Holcombe & Buffalo Speedway here in Houston is currently undergoing a liquidation sale and will close for good on June 19th. B&N is claiming that they wanted to keep that store open, but the landlord would not renew their lease at the shopping center. Who knows if that is the whole truth because maybe B&N could only afford a bargain lease deal, but it's hard to say. Link: https://communityimpact.com/houston/bellaire-meyerland-west-university/impacts/2022/05/12/vanderbilt-square-barnes-noble-closing-after-28-years/
DeleteAnyway, Randall's is the other main anchor at that shopping center. Randall's just renovated that store in late 2020 or 2021 so perhaps Randall's lease is safe and Randall's expects to stay there, but I can't say for sure. As far as I know, that Randall's does pretty well. Although Kroger, Whole Foods, and HEB aren't too far away, that area has wealthy demographics which might be a good fit with Randall's business model.
That area is becoming more and more valuable, pushing weaker retailers out of the area. Thank you for sharing this news with the blog readers. I think we will begin to see more Barnes and Noble closures in the near future. They are probably one of the weakest retailers out there in my opinion.
DeleteRandalls is probably safe in that location. People in that area of town definitely have money to spend. That whole area surrounding the medical center all the way up to I-69 is booming with new housing options in mid to high rise structures. The area is only going to continue to get more crowded.
How long before HEB comes to El Paso and Amarillo? They already have stores in Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, and other parts of West Texas. I've said it before and I'll keep on saying it, I HATE Charles Butt's stupid monopoly
ReplyDeleteProbably not too much longer until they expand to those cities, Texas residents are mostly fond of HEB stores, and they will continue to grow. HEB has kept their prices from climbing too quickly, better than Kroger and close to Walmart in my area. We don't have a lot of competition in this area, but I am finding that even inner-city chains in the Houston area have a lot of high prices.
Delete