THE END IN SIGHT FOR RANDALLS 
The Randalls grocery store on the southeast corner of Westheimer and Wilcrest is a goner, reports Catie Dixon. And she tags the chain itself as the likely next casualty in the region’s ongoing grocery wars. Landlord Weingarten Realty, which also manages the Whole Foods Market across the street, sent out notice earlier this month that the space occupied by the former top-performing Randalls in the Westchase Shopping Center is now available for lease. But other new grocery stores are coming to the area: another 60 in the next 18 months, keeping up the recent pace, says broker Jason Baker — who also notes Trader Joe’s is experiencing “challenges” with its new store on S. Voss near Woodway. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Randalls at 11041 Westheimer Rd.: Weingarten Realty
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Amazed that incredibly over-priced Randalls has lasted this long.
I will miss Randall’s for the same reason that I miss Rice Epicure: No crowds. I can tolerate the crowding and jostling at HEB and CM for only 20 mins before turning maniacal. And Whole Foods is way above my pay grade.
Good I hate Randall’s; they put all my Dad’s remaining Minimax stores out of business in the 1980’s and my grudge runs deep.
I, for one, welcome our HEB overlords.
Safeway has always treated the Houston area Randall’s stores like red headed step children. I worked at the South Voss Location in the mid 1970’s (when it was a Handy Andy store – that chain was was based in San Antonio). In the mid 2000’s, I lived off Memorial Dr., and shopped the Woodlake Square Randall’s.One day in 2007,while checking out, all of the registers temporarily lost power. When they powered back up, the software running the registers was Windows 95! That told me everything I already knew about Safeway NOT giving a rat’s arse about the Randall’s stores . I remember in the 1980’s/1990’s when Randall’s stores were THE place to shop. Safeway has NEGLECTED / RUINED several local chains. And now the marketplace is being disrupted by new chains. And it is what it is!!!
Randalls was great until Safeway bought it out. Quality went downhill immediately. Produce, the strong point of Randalls, became a weakness. Safeway products began replacing name brands. After watching several of my favorites disappear, I gave up the store for good.
I think everyone is hitting the nail on the head here. Randall’s pre Safeway was the bee’s knees so to speak. Safeway may be able to pull of their generic trash food in other markets, but it doesn’t work here.
What’s up with Trader Joes and their challenges out there on South Voss? Been there twice and it was packed both times. Did someone get caught?
Thanks
I’m surprised the Safeway version of Randalls has lasted as long as it has. Randalls used to be my preferred grocery shopping destination, but they over reached with acquistions were then bought by Safeway and will soon be history. Since they bear little resemblance to their former selves it will be good riddance to bad stores.
Local family owned company that built a loyal following based on god-fearing business practices and quality products sold to a national conglomerate who cut corners, stocked shelves with generic brands and bad produce. I always wonder why we publicly subsidize these companies but have no mechanism to help local businesses who keep corporate revenues here in town. Every dollar we’ve spent at Randall’s for years has gone to line the pockets of people in Pleasanton, California. And then there is Kroger fueling the economy of Cincinnati. At least HEB, Whole Foods and Aldi are Texas companies. I guess Fiesta is our last hope. lol peace
I quit shopping here a year ago after I got home and realize my granola bars were passed the sell by date. This was a month after I bought expired cottage cheese.
@SimplySid – Aldi is German (though I will acknowledge that so is much of central Texas).
Randalls and Trader Joes are ok for a couple things but basically cant touch the selection and quality at HEB and Fiesta.
I don’t get the hate towards Randall’s. It’s cheaper than Kroger if you register your card online, and there are no crowds. The only thing that sucks is they only ever have one or two checkout lanes open. I do like Fiesta for different reasons, but there are no convenient locations for me anymore.
I’m still a big fan of the Town & Country Village Randall’s on Memorial. It’s probably the best store in the chain. Has a great flower shop, a large variety of fresh produce, and the check-out lanes are well staffed. I often go next door to Walgreen’s and compare prices on a variety of non-food items. Without fail, Randall’s always has the lower price.
I’m not a fan of Safeway-era Randall’s, but I’ll be sad to see this location close (had a summer job there for three years back in my college days. Antone’s Po’ Boys were my meal of choice during my lunch breaks.)
I still prefer Randall’s with all it’s faults to others, Kroger is always staffed by full retards, HEB is a maze and crowded, Fiesta is a small step above a Tijuana flea market.
I’ve professed my love for the Town & Country Randall’s here before- great bakery, decent deli, great prices with the shoppers card. What’s so different about the Safeway brands compared to the Kroger? I just bought a bag of expired biscuits at the Kroger last week, so no chain holds an advantage on inventory control. I get the hate compared to the old-school Randall’s, but I doubt anyone forced the family to sell the stores. In fact, I remember all the excitement about finally being able to buy beer at the stores.
Equating Randall’s with Kroger – now that’s damnation by faint praise. Both are national chains with Houston at the far outer edge of their Ring of Dominance. I don’t care for either of them.
“Every dollar we’ve spent at Randall’s for years has gone to line the pockets of people in Pleasanton, California. And then there is Kroger fueling the economy of Cincinnati. At least HEB, Whole Foods and Aldi are Texas companies”
ALDI is not an American company. ALDI is based out of Germany. My former roommate, a German expatriate, loved ALDI and called it the “German Embassy”. Just to note ALDI’s success, the two founding brothers are in World’s Richest List, above Sam Walton’s descendants.
Randalls isn’t the only store of carrying their own generic brand. HEB has had their “Hill Country Fare” line for years. Same goes for Target, Wal Mart and Trader Joes. It seems ALDI just carriers their own brand and another.
Anyone care to speculate what will take the place of Randall’s T&C if the entire chain does close up shop?