Inside My Table #90 | Excerpt
The Changing Face of Houston Supermarkets
By Matthew Dresden
On a quiet morning in August 1955, the thriving Houston suburb of Pasadena awoke to find that the national media had descended. As NBC’s Today show prepared for a live broadcast, a photographer from Life magazine readied several rolls of film, and local reporters milled about, scribbling observations on their notepads. The occasion was the opening of a new grocery store, the third store in a small Houston-based chain known as Randall’s Super-Valu. At 20,000 square feet, the new store was large for the time, but not outlandishly so, nor was it obviously the showcase that newly hired store manager Robert Onstead claimed. It was simply a new supermarket in a post-war boomtown, much like many other stores across the country.
The exterior of the building shimmered, even appearing to buckle slightly in the breeze, and, as the sun’s rays illuminated the market, the reason for the national attention became apparent. The nearby Dow Chemical plant, eager to promote one of its newest products, had covered the entire store with Saran Wrap.
It is difficult to imagine a supermarket being wrapped in plastic today, unless Christo was involved. It is even more difficult to imagine the national media coming out in force for a supermarket’s grand opening. A grocery store is as local as it gets in the retail world. As Randalls director of public affairs Connie Yates observes, people “take ownership” of grocery stores in a way they don’t with any other retail establishment, arguably because they make more trips to the grocery store than anywhere else. Even huge national grocers like Wal-Mart and Kroger customize stores according to the demographics and tastes of each neighborhood.
But what motivates someone to shop at a particular supermarket? According to Gary Huddleston, consumer affairs director for Kroger Southwest, the biggest reason shoppers choose a particular market is location, a factor only strengthened by the rising cost of fuel. (It may come as no surprise to learn that with 102 stores in the Houston area – nearly twice as many as its nearest competitor – Kroger likely has a store within 10 minutes of every Houstonian.) For her part, Yates stresses the importance of relationships with supermarket employees, observing that “Randalls built its reputation on customer service.” Lorrie Griffith, editor of The Shelby Report, a newsletter that tracks the supermarket industry, puts it more succinctly: “People find the supermarket which fits their needs.”
Whatever those needs might be, Houstonians currently have a vast number of supermarkets to choose from, and that number continues to increase, with several stalwarts opening or remodeling grand new stores, and two prominent ethnic chains entering the Houston market. The sagging economy presents challenges for everyone in the business of selling food; people are eating fewer meals at restaurants, and shifting supermarket purchases from discretionary goods like flowers and cosmetics to necessities like produce and meat. But Houston’s population continues to increase, bringing a concomitant rise in demand for groceries. As Cary Attar, founder and CEO of Hubbell & Hudson, a new specialty market in the Woodlands, observes: “No matter what, people have to eat.”
The origin of the modern supermarket can be traced back to 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee. Saunders’ innovation was to make the market self-service – instead of keeping merchandise behind a counter and having employees retrieve items upon request, Saunders stacked his goods in the open, letting customers browse at their leisure and pay for their groceries at a cash register in the front.
Saunders’ self-service grocery was an immediate success, and by 1918 a Piggly Wiggly had opened in Houston. That same year, local grocer Weingarten’s debuted what it claimed to be the “first self-service store in the United States that was a complete food market,” selling not only dry goods but also meat, produce, candy and bakery items. Weingarten’s would become the most dominant supermarket chain in Houston, holding the top spot until faltering in the early 1980s, at which point it was sold and summarily dismantled.
Since the 1980s, the story of the grocery business in Houston has been one of almost constant upheaval. Chains such as Albertson’s, Lucky, Safeway, Food Lion and Auchan have swaggered into Houston with guns blazing, only to slink away a few years later. Griffith notes that the Houston market is so volatile, even San Antonio-based H-E-B was viewed as taking a risk when it opened its first Houston store in 1992. Only Kroger, which entered the Houston market in 1955 by acquiring local chain Henke & Pillot, has remained competitive over the long haul. In commenting on Kroger’s longevity, Huddleston notes: “The supermarket company that’s going to succeed is the one that listens to its customers and responds.”
Apparently, Kroger’s customers have been clamoring for huge stores that sell more than just groceries. Kroger’s newest concept is Kroger Marketplace, a 125,000 square foot behemoth described as a Signature Kroger that also sells furniture, housewares and appliances. Two are planned for the Houston area, one in Rosenberg and another in Katy. Kroger is also building new Signature stores upwards of 100,000 feet (previously, Signature stores were a mere 60,000 to 65,000 square feet); one opened in Pearland last December, and another in Missouri City this January.
Other supermarket chains have also supersized their stores in Houston, and it is not difficult to figure out why. Wal-Mart began selling groceries in its Houston Supercenters in the 1990s and has seen its share of the grocery market jump from 2.3 percent in 2000 to 28.5 percent in the third quarter of 2007, at which point it took over the top spot from Kroger.
Doing its best to keep up, H-E-B has opened up two massive new “hybrid” stores since last November: a 128,000-square-foot store in Bunker Hill and a (relatively) dainty 111,000-square-foot store in Missouri City. According to Cyndy Garza Roberts, director of public affairs for H-E-B Houston, each of these stores “combines the best of H-E-B food and drug stores with the best of Central Market.” In addition, significant shelf space is given over to kitchen appliances, grills and housewares. A third new H-E-B supermarket, at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet, is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2009.
Randalls, owned by Safeway since 1999, currently has no plans to open any new stores, but since 2004 has been busily remodeling all of its existing stores into its “Lifestyle” format, a change Yates characterizes as catering to customers’ desire for convenient, one-stop shopping. For example, Yates noted, in-store displays often contain an assortment of products that can be combined to make a meal, and the in-store butchers will season or marinate meat at no extra cost.
Perhaps the most striking changes in Houston supermarkets are the result of demographic change. According to a 2007 report published by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center on the buying power of minorities, Hispanic and Asian populations are not only growing more rapidly than the rest of the American population but also spend higher percentages of their income on groceries. In Texas alone, the Hispanic consumer market measured $155 billion, and while the Asian consumer market was a relatively smaller $29 billion, Asian buying power had increased by 525 percent since 1990. Census data further reveals that Houston and its minority populations are growing faster than the rest of Texas.
Never leery of embracing a trend (or creating a new store format), in October 2006 H-E-B opened Mi Tienda, a 63,000-square-foot Hispanic-themed market in Pasadena, with one executive calling it “Central Market with a sombrero.” Although H-E-B has no current plans to open a second Houston-area Mi Tienda, company representatives have noted that both the sales and the number of shoppers at Mi Tienda have steadily increased since its opening.
Meanwhile, this spring will mark the debut of Wal-Mart’s only new Houston-area store: Más Club, a warehouse-style club store in North Houston marketed specifically to Hispanic small businesses and families. “Más Club is the first of its kind, and I think our customers in Houston are looking for this,” says Wal-Mart spokesman Daniel Morales.
Not to be outdone, Houston-based Fiesta Mart opened a 67,000-square-foot location last April in the burgeoning Katy market. Fiesta Mart, founded in 1972 as a single store with the express purpose of serving Hispanic customers, has established itself as a strong regional chain that carries a wide variety of ethnic foods. Indeed, the Katy store contains two entire aisles devoted to international fare, with discrete sections given over to British, Indian, Middle Eastern, Greek, German, Kosher, Caribbean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese products. This, in addition to the usual array of Hispanic and conventional groceries. With the Katy location, Fiesta Mart also hopes to attract some of the shoppers who frequented its former location at Katy Freeway and Blalock, shuttered in December 2007 after the Texas Department of Transportation took nearly half the parking lot for the freeway expansion.
As the old saying goes, when one automatic sliding door closes, another one opens. Into the 84,000-square-foot space vacated by Fiesta Mart will come 99 Ranch, a Southern California-based chain of Chinese supermarkets and the largest such chain in the country. Apparently unconcerned by the dearth of parking, they are scheduled to open this summer. 99 Ranch is known not only for their vast array of packaged Asian products (condiments, noodles, snacks, prepared foods and so forth) but for their well-stocked produce, meat and seafood departments, the latter of which subscribes to the “you buy it, we fry it” philosophy. Their stores also contain a bakery and a counter selling low-priced Chinese takeout.
Those seeking a sizable new Asian market need not wait until the city’s air conditioners are in full bloom, however. In April of last year, New Jersey-based H Mart opened a 53,000-square-foot superstore in the middle of Houston’s Koreatown on Blalock. The store, a former Randalls, is bright, clean and packed with eager shoppers up to its 10 pm closing time. It has been acclaimed by the local blogosphere as the crown jewel of area Asian markets, and with good reason. The seafood is astounding in its variety and is priced to move; the produce is fresh and well-selected; and the food court is top-notch. There is even a floor show: a woman whose sole job is to make fresh kimchi at an in-store prep station.
H Mart spokesman Jimmy Kim took pains to distinguish his chain from 99 Ranch, which will be opening a mere three blocks away. “H Mart’s competition is H Mart. We don’t mind who’s nearby or sharing our market. If customers like our products and service, they’ll come back.” Kim added that while 99 Ranch was essentially a Chinese market, H Mart was an Asian market (albeit one run by Koreans). As to opening a second H Mart in Houston, Kim backed away from last year’s reports of a second location in Sugar Land, saying only that any further expansion in Houston would be based on an assessment of the first store’s performance.
High-end markets are not sitting still either. Whole Foods, the darling of the literate and well-heeled, is playing to its core audience by beginning construction on two new markets in 2009 as part of mixed-use projects. Sustainable food inside sustainable architecture – an urban planner’s dream come true! One, a 50,000-square-foot store in the Montrose area, will be in the same development as a six-story, 445-unit apartment complex. The other will be Houston’s first “flagship” Whole Foods, a 78,000-square-foot store up the street from The Galleria, where it will anchor a high-rise office-and-hotel development.
In the Woodlands, Hubbell & Hudson, a self-styled “neighborhood” market (with attached bistro) opened last November, offering upscale shoppers all the necessities: house-made gelato, fresh-baked artisan bread, a walk-in beer locker and a case full of gorgeous dry-aged beef. The execution is flawless and the quality uniformly high, but calling this a neighborhood market requires a large asterisk. Hubbell & Hudson is a place for people who have money and know how to spend it.
Meanwhile, West University is going back to the future, as the much-anticipated Matthews Market is set to open in May or June. It will feature in-store charge accounts, grass-fed prime beef, line-caught fish and other upscale conveniences in a child-friendly, 6,190-square foot space. If this sounds familiar, owner Jim Reid had a stake in the JMH Market and has been working closely with people from the late, lamented Jim Jamail & Sons Food Market.
Two other national chains bear mentioning, not least because they have been successful in every market they enter, Wal-Mart or no. In October of last year, Costco opened its third Houston-area store and first inside the loop, bringing tears of joy to high-volume shoppers throughout the 713 area code. But not so fast, Houston consumers: When reached in January, Trader Joe’s director of national publicity Allison Mochizuki stated that opening a store in Houston was not currently in Trader Joe’s two-year plan. “But you never know,” she added impishly. “Things change all the time!”
The next supermarket to open in Houston may well be the Galleria-area Whole Foods. Given that the chain banned disposable plastic grocery bags last April, it seems fairly certain that they will not cover the store in Saran Wrap for the grand opening. Perhaps they will use recycled paper bags instead.
SIDEBAR
LET’S GO SHOPPING
KROGER SIGNATURE, 11003 Shadow Creek Parkway, Pearland, 281-669-1230
KROGER SIGNATURE, 10250 State Highway 6, Missouri City, 281-431-6112
H-E-B BUNKER HILL, 9710 Katy Freeway, 713-647-5900
H-E-B SIENNA, 8900 Highway 6, Missouri City, 281-778-1300
MI TIENDA, 1630 Spencer Highway, Pasadena, 713-941-7550
FIESTA MART, 333 S. Mason Rd., Katy, 281-599-6350
SUPER H MART, 1302 Blalock, 713-468-0606
HUBBELL & HUDSON, 24 Waterway Ave., The Woodlands, 281-203-5600
COSTCO, 3836 Richmond, 832-325-5850
OPENING SOON
99 RANCH MARKET, 1005 Blalock, [no phone yet]
MÁS CLUB, 8711 North Freeway, [no phone yet]
MATTHEWS MARKET, 6203 Edloe St. [no phone yet]
A QUESTION FOR HOUSTON CHEFS
WHERE DO HOUSTON CHEFS BUY THEIR FAVORITE GOODIES?
CHRIS SHEPHERD, Catalan
“I shop at the Bayou City Farmers’ Market [on Eastside] on Saturday mornings. My wife and I try to eat seasonally and locally; if I need it, I get it there. If you want heirloom varieties of radishes, for example, you’re not going to find that at your local grocery store. For breads and meats and cheeses, then of course it’s Central Market – you can’t get a better selection of cured meats. For normal stuff, we go to Kroger.”
KAISER LASHKARI, Himalaya
“There is no such thing as personal grocery shopping for my family, because we are at the restaurant for 15 to 18 hours each day. We eat our meals at the restaurant. The home fridge is empty. When we have to go to a store, we go to Whole Foods or Central Market for fruits, snacks and Snapple Diet Peach Ice Tea, which is my favorite. Yes, I know, it sounds like a kid’s drink.”
JAMIE ZELKO, formerly of Bistro Lancaster
“I would love to say that I shopped at the farmers’ markets, but to tell you the truth the prices aren’t reasonable. I go to Airline Seafood for my seafood, to Canino’s for my produce and to Central Market for my cheese and charcuterie and bread, because the selection is so phenomenal. I also love the meat section at the Signature Kroger by my house. I don’t mind having a bit of dry age on my meat if it comes with a discount.”
SCOTT TYCER, Textile
“For meats, I shop at Central Market. Brian Cook, who runs the meat department, is probably the most trustworthy butcher in the city of Houston. For produce, I like Whole Foods; their produce is a little further along in its ripeness. I go to Kroger for lunch fixings for the kids, and for brands that Central Market and Whole Foods don’t carry – I’m a big hotdog guy, and they have Hebrew National there. I’ve also found that the Randalls on Shepherd and Westheimer has an insane organic section. That’s the place to go for an organic blood-orange soda.”
ANITA JAISINGHANI, Indika
“I shop at a combination of places, mostly Whole Foods. I’m a big fan of Whole Foods, even when it hasn’t been fashionable, and I go about twice a week. I also go to the Bayou City Farmers’ Market on Saturdays for eggs, goat cheese and the best chickens in town. Sometimes I will go to Fiesta Mart – for the last few months they’ve had these bagged oranges, and although they’re somewhat ugly they’re the sweetest I’ve ever found.”
ANTHONY DAVIS, The Breakfast Klub
“If I want good fresh seafood, like lobster, snapper or Dungeness crab, I go to Viet Hoa. It’s a 10- to 15-minute drive, but it’s worth it. For most other things, I shop at H-E-B. They take pride in their fresh vegetables and they make good bread, especially the ciabatta. If I want to go off-track – if I’m looking for yucca, okra or oxtails – I go to Fiesta Mart. And when I have the time, I go to the Saturday farmers’ market next door at T’afia for cheese and jellies.”
YOUNGCHEAL KIM, Thyme Table Cafe
“For basic meat, fruits and vegetables, I shop at Sam’s Club and H-E-B. When I want something more unusual, like sea bass or calamari. I go to H Mart. Of course, I also shop at H Mart for kimchi, Korean noodles, Korean snacks and rice.”
