Hanabi-chan Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 When I was a kid, a new Safeway was built across the street from us at the intersection of Richey and Harris Avenue in Pasadena. I won a bag of groceries there during their grand opening. Also had my first job there, the summer of 1981. I am not sure when it closed, but it is now a Food Town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 25, 2013 Author Share Posted August 25, 2013 I was able to find again the Chron archives, though I really can't find anything that closed prior to 1994 (I'm assembling a list). There was the Rosenberg mentioned, as well as one in the Greenspoint area, and a few others. The Federal Road one (now a Sellers Bros.) must have closed really early on, as I cannot find anything about it. As for the NASA area one, there was one that's now an Arlan's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 And to add to the list of Houston-area Safeway stores, there was one at Cypress N. Houston and Huffmeister. It's now a Food Town. I recall a location in Quail Valley (Missouri City area) but I couldn't tell you where exactly. And there was one near NASA-I recall it was small and the street sign had the circle S logo painted on a small square sign. I can't vouch for the one down around NASA, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the one in Missouri City may have been on Cartwright & Texas Parkway - where Foodarama is today. I'm only guessing that since I seem to recall it was an AppleTree at one point. Could be off though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nattybird Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 There was a Safeway that later became a Appletree in Pearland. It was on the corner of Orange St. and Telephone Rd. (HWY 35) My grandfather worked there for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucesw Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 I can't vouch for the one down around NASA, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the one in Missouri City may have been on Cartwright & Texas Parkway - where Foodarama is today. I'm only guessing that since I seem to recall it was an AppleTree at one point. Could be off though. That was a Randall's just before becoming a Foodarama but I don't know if it had been a Safeway/Appletree before that. As best I can remember the building, it looks more like a Randall's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucesw Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 There was a lot of information on Houston Safeways/Appletrees that found its way into your B/CS thread. I can add to what I posted there:There was a Safeway on Chimney Rock at Gulfton in the 70s, same exterior as the Holcombe/Greenbrier and Westheimer/Weslayan stores but smaller inside, I think. Not a good location for such a large store, too close to the store in downtown Bellaire and surrounded by lots of warehouse/light industtrial rather than residential. That one may not have lasted long enough to become an Appletree and I'm virtually certain it was never a Rice Epicurean, despite being only about 3 blocks from the Rice headquarters on Gulfton. That was a bingo hall for a while and now is a private academy.The Foodarama on S. Wilcrest @ West Bellfort was a Safeway, obvious from the north wall along W. Bellfort, especially. I worked part time out of an office half a block from there briefly in 83/84 but don't remember it at all. I would not have been doing any grocery shopping while I was there, however.The 'Your Super Savings Thrift Store' or whatever the name is on Dashwood @ S. Fondren, west of the old Sharpstown Mall was a Safeway and probably an Appletree, also obvious from the front of the building.I'm not sure about the Fiesta on Bellaire @ S. Gessner but I think it was a Safeway. Have to look at the building again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 I've looked into it. AppleTree had 94 stores in 1991. After the bankruptcies and a few sell-offs, they had 75. Somewhere between summer 1992 and November 1993, they went down to 49. So the Federal Road store is one of the "anonymous stores" I can't find record for. Worse, these 26 stores aren't necessarily all in the Houston area. It seems there was a second store in the Waco area as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readam Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 There was a Safeway then Appletree in a strip center on Eldridge and Jess Pirtle in Sugar Land in the early 80s . Leter became a Gerlands then shut down and became a gym and now a church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) Where did the five "Budget Stores" go to? The AppleTree moniker will adorn 94 of the company's 99 stores in Texas. Five stores - three in Houston and two in Austin - will be renamed Budget Stores . Those stores will have slightly lower prices on some items and will have fewer speciality shops, Lankford said. ``These are stores without delis, bakeries or floral shops.'' I'm guessing they're REALLY old stores, like 1940s era Weingarten's. Edited December 3, 2013 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 OK, I've been working on a list of AppleTree stores in the entire chain, and I've published the first edition here. This covers more than half of the chain. What do you think? What's missing? AppleTree stores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 The store you have listed for W. Montgomery, I believe, should be W. Mount Houston. State Highway 249 is the old Mount Houston Rd, and I don't remember Acres Homes ever having a big grocer on W. Montgomery. I may have overlooked it, but I didn't see a listing for the current Kroger at Yale and W. 20th, or the current Foodarama at W. 18th and Ella/T.C. Jester. Both were Safeway and AppleTree over the course of their history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Seller's Bros. Stella Link @ S. Braeswood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) The store you have listed for W. Montgomery, I believe, should be W. Mount Houston. State Highway 249 is the old Mount Houston Rd, and I don't remember Acres Homes ever having a big grocer on W. Montgomery. It's at the corner of Houston Rosslyn Road and Highway 249. I may have overlooked it, but I didn't see a listing for the current Kroger at Yale and W. 20th, or the current Foodarama at W. 18th and Ella/T.C. Jester. Both were Safeway and AppleTree over the course of their history. 239 W. 20th Street for the first one, 1805 Ella, that's there too. Seller's Bros. Stella Link @ S. Braeswood. It's on there, it closed after 1994, and thus, at the bottom of the list. Edited January 16, 2014 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bred Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 There was a Safeway on I-45 in League City at the intersection with FM 518 from at least 1981 (if not earlier) until the late 80s/early 90s. It became an Academy after that and is currently vacant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Yes, I missed them both. Now, the store at Houston Rosslyn & 249, I know. That one was closed for a long time. I think, Kroger bought it and ran it with the AppleTree name very briefly, but after AppleTree closed it sat vacant. That strip had a Handy Dan and a old, old Kmart in it.The one you have listed I'm inquisitive about is listed on W. Montgomery. I never knew there was a grocery store of any kind along the stretch of road between N. Shepherd and Mount Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 One more question, IronTiger. Sorry to pester. 9510 Houston Rosslyn, is that the one that was at the intersection of W. Gulf Bank? Nicely done, btw. Thank you for taking the time to put this list together. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 The store at 249 and Houston Rosslyn is now a Family Thrift Store. This store was sold to Kroger, though I can't be sure if they actually opened a store here or not. The store at Houston Rosslyn is now some sort of office building that has been modified, but the original grocery store still seems to be intact. A few of the stores closed and within 48 hours, had put up new price tags and signage, but I'm wondering if there were any sold stores that never closed. P.S.: Yours truly worked at #1193, though it wasn't called AppleTree anymore (same management team, though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboybud Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 OK, I've been working on a list of AppleTree stores in the entire chain, and I've published the first edition here. This covers more than half of the chain. What do you think? What's missing? AppleTree stores 15000 block of Bellaire, originally a Weingarten, was briefly an Appletree, now is an "Event Center/Party Hall". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Heh, I worked at the one on W. 43rd in Oak Forest. "Everything in this bag, is AppleTree fresh!" What is that building in the parking lot of 9510 N. Houston Rosslyn? I haven't been down that part of Bingle/NHR in years. It's directly in front of the grocery store's entrance, so I'm assuming that the AppleTree building is not accessible for public meandering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 15000 block of Bellaire, originally a Weingarten, was briefly an Appletree, now is an "Event Center/Party Hall".Seems to be "Phoenix Events Center", but also shares address with the adjacent Phoenix Seafood Restaurant. Either way, it's at 15156 Bellaire Boulevard. Heh, I worked at the one on W. 43rd in Oak Forest. "Everything in this bag, is AppleTree fresh!" That looks like it might've been one of the last ones built as Safeway and thus one of the largest and nicest stores in the chain. Probably one of the biggest problems in the chain was that some of their stores were real dumps. I don't think AppleTree kept that slogan after the 1993 bankruptcy, either. What is that building in the parking lot of 9510 N. Houston Rosslyn? I haven't been down that part of Bingle/NHR in years. It's directly in front of the grocery store's entrance, so I'm assuming that the AppleTree building is not accessible for public meandering? Omron Oilfield & Marine. The original building was presumably converted to office space, but you can kind of see it behind it. I did update the list with a few mentioned here and one more from the Chron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 That looks like it might've been one of the last ones built as Safeway and thus one of the largest and nicest stores in the chain. Probably one of the biggest problems in the chain was that some of their stores were real dumps. I don't think AppleTree kept that slogan after the 1993 bankruptcy, either.Further research shows that the Kroger that's there now was rebuilt and is not the original Safeway/AppleTree. Such a store was completely torn down and rebuilt between 1995 and 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Yeah, the AppleTree/Kroger I worked at on W. 43rd is now part of the parking lot for the signature store. I was about to say, the old building was a Weingarten's, then Safeway, then AppleTree, then Kroger's, then a pile of rubble. It was an old store. Even had the old doors that would swing open when you stepped on the black mat in front of the doorway to enter or exit the store. Definitely not one that Safeway ever built.I don't remember the exact year it was torn down and replaced, but it was this century. Early 2000's, maybe as late as 2003. I know it was torn down before Oak Forest Bank, and that was in 2005. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) I don't remember the exact year it was torn down and replaced, but it was this century. Early 2000's, maybe as late as 2003. I know it was torn down before Oak Forest Bank, and that was in 2005.Google Earth shows the new one in December 2002 and the parking lot completely paved over. The "newest" Safeways (Briarcrest, Kroger of the Villages, another Kroger) had brown brick and even had the neon interior with pictures of food. Even then, they weren't terribly large or upscale. With H-E-B Pantry and Food Lion building small, no-frills stores and competing on price, and upstream with Fiesta, Kroger, and Randall's building larger, modern, and upscale-leaning stores, and with AppleTree on a shoestring budget, it's surprising that AppleTree lasted as long as it did. A repaint of a 1960s/1970s era store wasn't fooling anybody. Remember, AppleTree as a small, independent grocer lasted three times longer than its original, larger incarnation did! Edited January 20, 2014 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crooow579 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Kroger opened their current store in Oak Forest in late 1998. I recall visiting the Kroger (the old Weingarten/Safeway) when the current store was under construction and I bought the new issue of MAD, which featured their spoofs of Armageddon and Deep Impact. I don't recall the swinging doors but I remember the low ceiling. I'm 5'10'' and it was too low for my comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 Looks like it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Isn't that where Homers used to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFive Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 The Foodtown on Scarsdale and Beamer (I think those were the street names) was a Safeway/Appletree. I have memories of going there as a kid in the late '80s/early '90s. It was the first Appletree I'd ever seen. This was before 1992, because we moved out of Friendswood that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Walgreens is moving from it's current location at 3900 Westhimer down to the former Safeway caddy corner across Weslayan. I believe that the Walgreens location started as a Sav-On Drugs (May have been something different at the start though) and the new location of course started as a Safeway was sold to Apple Tree and was eventually bought by rice in 1994. The location closed in 2012 and was sold to The Fresh Market which only operated around 7 months. After sitting vacant for some time Walgreens has decided to move in. Unfortunately all of the Safeway look on the interior was lost during The Fresh Market, about half of the original Safeway exterior including the original two sided entrance was lost as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchMemoH Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Walgreens is moving from it's current location at 3900 Westhimer down to the former Safeway caddy corner across Weslayan. I believe that the Walgreens location started as a Sav-On Drugs (May have been something different at the start though) and the new location of course started as a Safeway was sold to Apple Tree and was eventually bought by rice in 1994. The location closed in 2012 and was sold to The Fresh Market which only operated around 7 months. After sitting vacant for some time Walgreens has decided to move in. Unfortunately all of the Safeway look on the interior was lost during The Fresh Market, about half of the original Safeway exterior including the original two sided entrance was lost as well. Behind the AppleTree was Big Boy, Shell, Azteca 26/CBS 26/ABC 26/CW 26/NBC 26/WB 26/Paramount 26/TBN 26/Smile of a child 26. Edited February 21, 2015 by ArchMemoH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFive Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Azteca 26/CBS 26/ABC 26/CW 26/NBC 26/WB 26/Paramount 26/TBN 26/Smile of a child 26.What?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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