Back in @Deckard 's day this was how a usual grocery trip went........ take the land boat down to the local grocery store... casually shop, make enjoy a smoke.... take the gal with you, get some liquor.... go home, watch Mary Tyler Moore and then anal intercourse and a night cap.
Walmart is terrible...... I come out wanting to vote for Trump and covered in a sticky haze of poverty and cholesterol.
Man, Randall's was the top end of grocery stores in the 80's and 90's by far. Best produce, best meats, best service. I think a few locations even had valet parking. They would take your groceries out for you and load them in your car even. The first signature store was a big deal when it first opened in the late 80's They were a customer service and quality focused chain when they were still run by the Randall family. At one point, I think they didn't even sell any alcohol because a family member was killed by a drunk driver. Ever since the family sold in the late 90's, (Safeway I think?) That was the beginning of the end. Still quality focused, but the services offered were greatly slashed. Once Albertson's got a hold of them it got turned into a mediocre grocery store at best but with legacy Randall's pricing. They never changed with the times and are stuck in a early 2000's void. Now they've been left behind. Its really kind of sad. A Houston staple with a premium service focus is dying a very slow death.I would be surprised if any locations remained within 5-10 years from now.
HEB happened. People don't realize how dominant HEB is. They pretty much own every market that the go into. They are the 4th largest grocery store chain in the US even though they only operate in part of Texas.
Aldi took away all of Randalls customers. Didn't know any still existed in Houston. I used to get chocolate chewy cookies there when I was a youth. Then I got lit.
All of this. Randalls was my aunts go-to grocery store and we used to rent video games and movies there all the time. I remember looking for my first Job and Randall’s being kind of a place to work because they were know to pay well. Randalls to this day are very clean to me.
Didn't know this until a couple of years ago, talking to an hombre from Guanajuato, but they have several dozen stores in Mexico, and have for some time. Makes sense though, the first place they expanded years ago beyond San Antonio was in the RGV. They're also expanding into West/Panhandle Texas. They opened a store in Lubbock recently. And DFW is their next place to take over: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-cu...-texas-store-and-people-flipped-the-heck-out/ I imagine it takes some time to set up distribution networks and such No idea how current this map is: eta, because this is a pet peeve of mine, not picking on you, just a PSA: [things] dominate [things] are dominant
Not true. HEB did take major opportunity advantage when the Onstead family sold to Safeway. I knew it was over then, because Safeway had already failed here once and this was their way of weaseling back in. Randall's deserved its fate due to that.
Oh ok. Not surprised. When I lived in montrose I would go over there every now and then. When I moved to the heights I became a Kroger man.
I don't think Randall's/Tom Thumb (in Dallas) have been run by the Onsteads for over 20 years. They've been owned by Safeway and then Albertsons. There was a time when Randall's was a big portion of the Houston grocery market, but I'm guessing it's died out since those days like most grocery stores. Here in Dallas, Tom Thumb stores are still around, though. Major grocery stores seem to come and go and change ownership all the time. They seem to be kind of like convenient stores in that regard. It's weird up here in the DFW area as I think HEB has owned land for several years but never builds any HEB's (they only have Central Markets around here to my knowledge). There are still rumors that they'll start building around here, but those are just like rumors about Disney moving in soon -- just rumors. I actually live near parcels of land that I believe HEB owns and has owned for years. Albertson's used to be a bigger player around the DFW area, but they slowly started closing stores. Right now it looks like Walmart is the big player around here with Kroger and Tom Thumb (Randall's sister store in the DFW area) the next big grocers.
I was just telling people that I used to always shop at Tom Thumbs in Dallas which was their sister store up here and they always, ALWAYS have a bunch of expired stuff on their shelves nowadays. I've found stuff expired months ago. It's one of the reasons I rarely shop there anymore.
I guess it is for whatever this is https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix...joe-s-no-longer-the-top-ranked-us-grocer.html
They need to finally pull the trigger on HEB up here in DFW. The Central Market in Southlake doesn't cut it. Good MILF-spotting though.
There are (were) 2 Randall's in Kingwood and I think I went in one of them a few years ago. I ended up waiting in line for someone to check me out. Seriously waited 5 minutes in line to buy a liter of soda for a kid's birthday party. This today's world, that's just unacceptable. I'm a Kroger guy myself. Self-check only when I'm just picking up a few things and online pickup when I'm doing the weekly list. Waiting in a checkout line? Yeah, no. I'll go in HEB every now and then and although it's nice, I don't really get the hype. Kroger always seems cleaner to me.
It's interesting to read this, because my views are the exact opposite, but only because of the stores that are closest to where I live. I'm sure if I lived in Kingwood I'd feel exactly the same as you. Where I live, the closest Kroger's is not well maintained...the HEB involves navigating Bunker Hill location, including traffic in and out of the store...and the Randall's at Memorial @ Dairy Ashford is right around the corner and is easily the most well maintained store near me. The second nearest store to me (that isn't the Kroger's they don't take care of) is the Randall's in Town & Country Village, and it's nicer than the Randall's at Memorial @ Dairy Ashford. Ultimately, of the stores closest to me, the best 2 are Randall's locations.
Two words: HEB and Kroger. Also as others have mentioned, when they came under the control of Albertson's things went downhill.
