WHAT HOUSTON’S GROCER GROWTH MIGHT MEAN FOR RANDALL’S 
Real Estate Bisnow predicts that in the next year and a half as many as 60 new retail centers anchored by grocery stores will pop up in the Houston area. And not only are the stores proliferating, reports Catie Dixon, they’re getting larger: Many of these new buildings will balloon to 100,000 sq. ft. While national chains like Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and Fresh Market are being introduced to Houston, regional ones like H-E-B are expanding. Of course, adds Dixon, this means that there might be a loser: “Baker Katz/X Team International partner Jason Baker [says that] all this grocer competition will cause fallout — for example, he tells us there’s a strong rumor that Randall’s won’t be around much longer.” [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo of closed Flagship Randall’s at 1407 S. Voss Rd.: Allyn West
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And we need more. For example, many commenters on here complained about the Kroger on Studemont being too close to the Kroger on 11th, the new WalMart, and Target…yet all of these places are extremely busy.
Randal’s should do what Rice Epicurean is doing and selling/leasing their space to other grocers.
Sooner or later all of this development will raise the question: what do you do with a grocery store once the grocery store has moved out? It’s a question that’s been grating on me for a while. The space that used to house Randall’s at the corner of Bissonnet and Fondren has been vacant for almost six years. It would be nice to get another grocery store in there – and maybe if we can redevelop and upgrade the apartments around there it’d be a viable option – but if not, what are the options? I mean, other than a charter school campus or a scary after hours nightclub?
Still waiting for the brave one to enter the EaDo/East End area.
Safeway, in all its permutations and under whatever name it takes on, has never been able to make it in the Houston market. The original Randall’s, when family owned, had its quirks (no beer, not open on Sundays) and was a tad on the high side for prices, but the quality and service were good. That remained the course more or less except for the addition of the heathen stuff when it was bought by an investor group; it even added a store or two here and there. Since Safeway bought the chain, however, it’s gone the way of all the Safeways, the Safegarten/Apple Trees, etc. before them. Eagle (ages ago, before Safeway) and Albertson’s, too.
Perhaps Western groceries just have some sort of aversion to humidity.
Randalls started to go downhill within months of the Safeway purchase; I was a regular at the time but noticed some of my favorite products/brands getting removed and/or replaced by Safeway inhouse brands. I defected to Krogers (and later WFs) never looking back.
Drove by the Randall’s on Voss this morning – there’s a chain link fence in front which either means demolition or refurbishment (I’m guessing it’s the former…)
Randall’s at Voss is going to be Whole Foods. Haven’t heard if there is replacement for abandoned Whole Foods on San Felipe.
I have to admit a soft spot for Randall’s bakery and deli. Great prices and selection and the fried chicken dinner for $10 is great. Other than that, their pricing does seem a little more aggressive these days, but that probably isn’t going to be enough to save them.
@Jeff, So this is confirmed to be a Whole foods? Are they tearing the building down or just renovating?
I for one say hooray! How the mighty have fallen, Randalls put my Dad’s supermarkets out of business in the 1980’s and will gladly dance on their grave when they’re gone. Good riddance to Randalls and their pointless and now unfounded pretensions.
My father started the discount chain of Food Giant stores against giants like a&p and Weingartens in the 1960’s , also helped Randalls gain in size. He started @ schumakers grocery , build the Minimax stores.
There are 2 Randall’s left in The Woodlands, but honestly, all I see is H-E-B dominating out here on the north side of town in Spring/The Woodlands. There are new H-E-B stores popping up left, and right but outside of the Trader Joes in The Woodlands, not much else has come out this way.
There are also two Randalls left in Kingwood. When the hell is The Woodlands going to get a Whole Foods.
I hate loosing competition. If you think Kroger, HEB, and WalMart won’t jack up their prices once they have less competition your sadly mistaken. I enjoy shopping at Randall’s. I feel like I get pretty good deals there. Every store has some items more or less expensive than others but over all they all come out about the same. If full service grocery stores go the way of WalMart and Kroger, I’ll start doing my grocery shopping online.
Whole Foods –2nd Baptist owns the center
where they are and I guess their lease is going to be up in several years.
I worked @ the Voss location in the mid-1970’s when it was a Handy Andy(based in San Antonio ,if I recall correctly). Used to shop there occassionally when I lived in Memorial. Then I moved. Randall’s became the step child of the Safeway chain. It never was given the money/resources to stay competitive in the Houston market. Was a great chain when the Onstead’s owned it.Then they sold it to Safeway and it was never the same.
And yet Foodarama is still going strong! Hehehe! The name always slays me.
“I hate loosing competition. If you think Kroger, HEB, and WalMart won’t jack up their prices once they have less competition your sadly mistaken. I enjoy shopping at Randall’s. I feel like I get pretty good deals there. Every store has some items more or less expensive than others but over all they all come out about the same. If full service grocery stores go the way of WalMart and Kroger, I’ll start doing my grocery shopping online.”
Randalls is more expensive than just about every other mainstream grocer in town, other than Central Market and Whole Foods, and their quality does not justify the high prices. The fickle Houston grocery marketplace won’t be missing anything by Safeway’s exit. With the recent entrance of other chains, competition is actually more fierce now than it has been in years. I still predict additional losers exiting over the next few years.
As for Foodarama, I love the one on 18th and Ella. Great prices, friendly management and staff with reasonable quality. You may not be able to purchase all of the high end quality items there like in Central Market, or Whole Foods, but for staples, it’s great.
Aldi should not even be considered a grocery store. I would put it in the convenience store category. Once and done.
Who are you kidding? Randalls died a long time ago.
Randalls isn’t more expensive than other grocery stores. I’m sick and tired of hearing that crap spewed over and over again. Every store has some things that are cheaper or more expensive. I just got a case of bottled water for $1.97 a case from Randalls and the day before I paid $3 for the same amount of water from Target.
Target isn’t what I’d consider a grocery store: like Walmart, the grocery side was never done very well.
I understand that the Randall’s in Midtown is the chain’s busiest location. It relied on incentives from the TIRZ to open. We need (and would welcome) Randall’s on the East End. Likewise, the Southeast portion of the city could benefit from a Randall’s too.
Agree with the comments about Randalls. When the Onsteads owned it, it was great. Many of the “regular” Randalls evolved into Flagship stores which had great cache and allure. Then they were bought by Safeway and the quality of their products diminished. Randalls hasn’t kept up with the times and the competition.