Randall's Food Markets
Encyclopedia
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and Dallas-Fort Worth
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...
areas under the Randalls, Flagship Randalls, Tom Thumb, Flagship Tom Thumb, and Simon David
Simon David
Simon David is the oldest gourmet and specialty foods store in Dallas, Texas. Simon David is part of Randall's Food Markets, the 112-store Texas division of Safeway Inc.-History:...
banners. Randall's employs more than 10,000 associates and is the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
division of Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
The Texas division of Safeway is headquartered in the Westchase district of Houston. The office served as the headquarters of the independent Randall's company before its takeover. The Randall's distribution center is in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Harris County, Texas
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
.
Most stores include fresh seafood, floral, cosmetic, bakery and film processing departments. The premium Flagship Randalls and Flagship Tom Thumb stores have increased their take-out departments to provide fresh made pizzas, pastas and barbecue. Many locations even offer bank branches, ATMs, coffee shops, one-hour photograph processing, drive-through pharmacy windows, fueling stations and full-service counters where a customer can purchase lottery or movie tickets, pay utility bills and car license renewals.
History
Randalls Food Markets was founded by Robert R. Onstead, R. C. Barclay, and Norman N. Frewin in Houston, Texas, on July 4, 1966, with the purchase of two existing grocery stores. Their fourth store opened in 1970, and by the end of the decade the company owned 15 stores and had established itself in the market. By 1990 the chain had expanded to 42 stores. In 1991 Randall's earned over a billion dollars in revenue, making it the fastest growing company in Houston.Expanding from Houston
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
and Austin. Cullum Companies, owner of 62 Tom Thumb and Simon David stores in Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, became part of the Randall's family in 1992, doubling the company's size with more than 115 stores statewide. The Tom Thumb logo was changed to one similar to Randall's, but the Tom Thumb name was retained. Already in Austin with the Tom Thumb name, Randall's added its own name to the market in January 1994 when the company bought 12 AppleTree Markets
AppleTree Markets
AppleTree Markets was a supermarket chain in Texas formed in 1969 when Safeway opened its first stores in Houston, which were spun off under the AppleTree name in 1988. The division once had 100 stores in Greater Houston and Greater Austin. As of January 21, 2007, AppleTree operated two stores in...
stores (ironically a grocer formed with former Safeway locations as a result of Safeway leaving Texas in 1988). Nine of the 12 AppleTree Markets and all seven Tom Thumb stores were converted to the Randalls banner, giving the company a significant presence in the Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
. The remaining three AppleTree stores were closed. Though the Simon David
Simon David
Simon David is the oldest gourmet and specialty foods store in Dallas, Texas. Simon David is part of Randall's Food Markets, the 112-store Texas division of Safeway Inc.-History:...
would remain open until December 1996, after which it became a Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
. After many customers lamented the loss of Austin's only Simon David, Randall's decided in 1998 to make its Bee Caves store a Flagship Randall's supermarket, the first in the city and the eighth in the chain.
After 28 years in operation, Randall's began to sell beer and wine in its stores in late 1994. (Though company-owned Tom Thumb and AppleTree stores in Dallas and Austin acquired beginning in 1992 had already been selling beer and wine.)
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
invested $225 million in exchange for a majority interest in the supermarket chain. Randall's then accelerated its growth in various markets and at the same time sold or closed a number of stores that choked advancement. Within a year, the company opened one store in Houston and three stores in Dallas (including two replacement stores), while closing four stores in Houston, two stores in Dallas (which were replaced) and four stores in Austin.
Safeway
In 1999, Safeway Inc., a Fortune 50 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
based on sales, bought the then 116-store Randall's/Tom Thumb chain. Safeway retained the Randall's name in Houston and Austin and the Tom Thumb and Simon David names in Dallas/Fort Worth, but replaced many of the Randall's/Tom Thumb "Remarkable" house brands with Safeway-label items. Randall's Food Markets, Inc., became a division of Safeway and changed its division name to Randall's Food & Drugs. By 2001, Randall's operated 46 stores in the Houston area, 12 stores in Austin and 69 stores in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (under the Tom Thumb and Simon David banners).
In early 2005, Safeway was rumored to be attempting to sell the then 138-store Randall's division. Instead, Safeway announced by the end of the year it would close 15 Randall's stores in the Houston area, one in Austin, and nine Tom Thumb stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Following the closures Randall's/Tom Thumb operated 62 stores in Dallas, 36 in Houston and 14 in Austin. Safeway said the move would revitalize the Texas division and that it planned to remodel stores to fit its nationally-implemented "Lifestyle" format and introduce proprietary products. The new Lifestyle format features an expanded selection of perishables and a number of unique offerings, including a large selection of natural and organic foods, full-service meat counters, full-service bakeries and floral design centers, as well as sushi bars and olive bars. As a result of intense competition in Randall's operating markets, the "Lifestyle" format stores are Safeway's response in an attempt to recover lost market share. In Houston, market share fell to 6.9% in 2006.
Community involvement
During Hurricane AliciaHurricane Alicia
Hurricane Alicia was the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Alicia was the third depression, the first tropical storm, and the only major hurricane of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season...
in 1983, Randall's kept its doors open despite serious flooding. Over the years Randall's has donated to myriad local causes. Since 1996 alone over nearly $24 million has been given to some 8,000 local non-profit organizations.
Although many stores closed during Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
, they rushed to reopen after the storm had passed. The Galveston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
store received heavy water damage due to the storm surge, but managed to reopen shortly after the storm. The store's gas station was one of the first in Galveston to reopen.
Hurricane Relief Fund
After Hurricane Ike, Randall's partnered with KHOU Channel 11KHOU-TV
KHOU is the CBS affiliate television station in Houston, Texas. Serving Greater Houston, it is owned by the Belo Corporation and broadcasts on digital and PSIP channel 11...
, 104.1 KRBE, and Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
for the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund in order to help those in need.
Loyalty program
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
or a portion of sales proceeds donated to charity. The loyalty card is good at all Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
stores. (Loyalty cards issued before the purchase by Safeway can only be used at Randall's and Tom Thumb stores; Safeway-branded loyalty cards can be used at Randall's and Tom Thumb exactly as in a Safeway-branded store.)
The Power Pump Rewards owned by Safeway that previously allowed customers to spend $100 to receive a 10-cent gas discount was discontinued on September 12, 2009.
External links
- Randall's Food Markets official website
- Official mobile site
- Innovative Randalls a remarkable story Houston Business Journal (July 30, 1999) commentary on Randall's being bought by Safeway
- Randall's Food Markets History from FundingUniverse.com