what is so special -Randall Supermarket (Houston, Dallas: living, shopping center, food)

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Yes, not sure how what you're saying conflicts with what I wrote?

The key point in all of this is that the decline in Randall's public perception really began, or significantly accelerated, with its sale to Safeway. I don't know if a similar perception affected Tom Thumb or not.

Earlier, some posters were claiming the opposite with Tom Thumb. Had to share the snippet from the Wiki article to keep the facts straight.

Safeway left Texas about a decade before with negative public perception, so there was no motivation to switch Randalls (sans ') and Tom Thumb to the Safeway brand. Don't remember anything mentioned on the local TV news about the '99 merger and the in-store experience did not drastically change (e.g. Randalls Remarkable Card branding was never replaced with the Safeway Club Card).

Dallas has the added dynamic of not having H-E-B, so the only major competitor for Tom Thumb was Kroger. Legacy Albertsons focused on Fort Worth. (The few overlapping stores post-merger were pruned.)

Randalls had to contend with Kroger opening Signatureâ„¢ stores, H-E-B opening full-line stores, and Wal-Mart opening SuperCenters. (Houston marketshare is currently divided into thirds by these chains.) They kept their head in the sand while population grew, development patterns shifted, and consequently corporate viewed the division as unproductive and the market conditions deemed unworthy for additional investment.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Earlier, some posters were claiming the opposite with Tom Thumb. Had to share the snippet from the Wiki article to keep the facts straight.

Safeway left Texas about a decade before with negative public perception, so there was no motivation to switch Randalls (sans ') and Tom Thumb to the Safeway brand. Don't remember anything mentioned on the local TV news about the '99 merger and the in-store experience did not drastically change (e.g. Randalls Remarkable Card branding was never replaced with the Safeway Club Card).

Dallas has the added dynamic of not having H-E-B, so the only major competitor for Tom Thumb was Kroger. Legacy Albertsons focused on Fort Worth. (The few overlapping stores post-merger were pruned.)

Randalls had to contend with Kroger opening Signatureâ„¢ stores, H-E-B opening full-line stores, and Wal-Mart opening SuperCenters. (Houston marketshare is currently divided into thirds by these chains.) They kept their head in the sand while population grew, development patterns shifted, and consequently corporate viewed the division as unproductive and the market conditions deemed unworthy for additional investment.

Yeah if anything it was neglect by Safeway that allowed Kroger and HEB to basically move into the "flagship" space with no response from Randalls. I wouldn't say Walmart ever posed that direct a threat for that space. Maybe it was that Kroger and HEB had to move in that direction because of Walmart - they had to find a way to differentiate, though they both also created concepts (Kroger Marketplace and HEB Plus) that compete more directly with Walmart.

[mojo101]

then there is TARGET,they have grocery as well.
But back to Randall,it is just not big enough to compete.

[ilikeme]

Originally Posted by mojo101

then there is TARGET,they have grocery as well.
But back to Randall,it is just not big enough to compete.

I go to Target for other things around the house, but not for a grocery run. It is nice though if I am there and do need a few basic grocery items though. Their selection is not that great.

[mojo101]

Target is not a full service grocery store,not like WMT,but just for singles or 2 in a family to pick up enough for one meal while they are in the store.

[Raider Scott]

In the end...HEB pretty much rules the roost in Houston grocery stores.


The others are either scary/nasty or severely lacking.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by Raider Scott

In the end...HEB pretty much rules the roost in Houston grocery stores.


The others are either scary/nasty or severely lacking.

I agree. My husband takes ice cream really seriously though, and there's a flavor that's only available at Kroger (it's their brand), so he went there yesterday to get it. He said Kroger also has a far better selection of Blue Bell than HEB does. Not sure if this is because HEB is stocking more of its own brand. But that's one data point (maybe the only one??) in the "con" column for HEB!

[Raider Scott]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I agree. My husband takes ice cream really seriously though, and there's a flavor that's only available at Kroger (it's their brand), so he went there yesterday to get it. He said Kroger also has a far better selection of Blue Bell than HEB does. Not sure if this is because HEB is stocking more of its own brand. But that's one data point (maybe the only one??) in the "con" column for HEB!

Judging by their lack of salsa selection and other indicators, it is VERY obvious that Kroger is owned by northerners. LOL


I love Fiesta, but I cannot get everything I need there. Fiesta gets points for their meet and produce sections and all the cool Latin food items we cannot get at HEB. Ditto for Michoacan.



Food Town? Pack a gun. Too scroungy and their selections are really limited and on the ghetto side.


So yeah...if you ask me, HEB pretty much is the best all-around grocery store in Houston.

[mojo101]

HEB has a wider selection of Haaz Dias icecream.Kroger brand ice cream is okay,but Talenti is nicer.
I just read RANDALL PAPER today,they do feature a prime steak each week,and you can get a whole Salmon for 6.87/lb,you know KR raised its salmon to 8.97 now.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by SanJac

Randall’s used to have the cache of being a higher end grocery store with a good bakery. They got bought out by Tom Thumb and since then were surpassed by HEB and Kroger.

They had well run stores back in the day.

If Tom Thumb bought them out, then that would have been before the late 2000s and would have resulted in Safeway owning both. When I moved to the Houston metro in the late 2000s, Safeway owned Randall's. I could use my Safeway club card there. Then, in 2015, Albertson's bought Safeway.