That’s El Rancho’s signage taking the place of Randalls’ in the photo above — which views the Keegan’s Meadow shopping center from the north along W. Bellfort. At 53,200 sq.-ft., the new Stafford store will be slightly bigger than El Rancho’s one other Houston location, opened along I-45 just inside the Beltway in June. There, all the typical grocery standards are present, along with a butcher shop, seafood counter, produce section, and bakery. Plus, there are some extras: a tortilleria and in-house Latin-American-style kitchen.
Two more El Ranchos are in the works, too: the first further up the North Fwy. on the outskirts of Spring, and the other in the old Oak Forest Randalls, gone from 34th St. since earlier this year.
- El Rancho to open its first Houston supermarket [Houston Chronicle]
- Previously on Swamplot: Randalls To Leave Behind Another Grocery-Store-Sized Hole in the Shopping Center on Bellfort at Kirkwood; Oak Forest Randalls Now in Everything-Must-Go Mode Ahead of Closure
Photo: Dennis Scipio
Ugly, tacky signage.
It certainly fits the demographics of that area. I don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs, but Albertsons/Safeway needs to put Randall’s out of its misery. They’re just sad now. They obviously can’t compete with Kroger and HEB. I say that as someone who shops semi-regularly at the Galleria location.
I think there’ll be an El Rancho up there on I-45 at Tidwell, but not in Spring.
I am pleased to see the introduction of El Rancho the market. Competition breeds innovation. The grocery business is no different. Do you know why HEB stores in San Antonio look tired and dated, even though it’s their sorta home town? They are the monopoly and don’t have to try. Locally, United largely gets this benefit.
El Rancho is not going to make HEB folks lose any sleep, and Kroger is paralyzed to do most anything as a Ohio based public company, but for the grocer supply operations around town — Fiesta, Foodtown, Sellers Bros — this should inspire them to spend money to be better. Just know, since most here are more of the HEB/Kroger types — the grocer supply chains do very well as “in the neighborhood” discount options for people. They sell $10-25MM of goods in each location, and are partnerships between a giant national distribution chain with a local franchise owner.
This part of the grocery world matters. El Rancho, bienvenido a Houston.
This must have been their plan, Randalls’ parent company Albertsons bought a 45% share in El Rancho some months ago.