Lucky 7 Supermarkets

[MartiMoser]

This newspaper clipping was in my grandma's treasures I inherited. She has probably 100 clippings. Even if it were friends of a friend, she meticulously cut them out and kept in envelopes. This is board of directors for Lucky 7 Supermarkets. She would have known Mr. Trahan whose store was in Denver Harbor and she knew of the Pasternaks who had Garden Villas Supermarket. My great aunt on my mom's side. Angie Runnels was the demonstration lady there. She and Mr. Aaron were partners in other ventures. She originally had the Jet Coffee Shop in Municipal Airport and their last venture was a catering company for the oil company jets. A box lunch with fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits & a slice of pie or cake. Her last job without Pasternak partnering was greeter at McDonald's on 610W & Fannin. She was in her 90s & legally blind. She lived to be 101. 

[dbigtex56]

Interesting post, MartiMoser.
Is this the same Pasternak that ran a grocery store in the 500 block of W Alabama?
Also, was the Hyde Park grocery store on Fairview @ Taft a Lucky 7 property? 

[mkultra25]

3 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

Is this the same Pasternak that ran a grocery store in the 500 block of W Alabama?

 

First thing that came to my mind as well. I've mentioned Pasternak's here in the past but it's an establishment that only current and former Montrosians of a certain age are likely to recall. 

I'm also assuming that the Frank Butera in the picture is of the Butera grocery/deli clan.

Edited July 20, 2018 by mkultra25

[MartiMoser]

So sorry it took so long. I have lots going on right now. I would think on the Pasternak subject I can't swear, but I'd almost bet the farm it would be yes. And Butera's definitely a yes. 

I was born in 57 so earlier history would be passed along by kin. I knew of the Pasternak starting about 5 years old. My mom's mother died at 30yrs old. Her sister I mentioned in earlier post was our maternal grandmother figure. I'm not sure who her partner was in the Jet Coffee Shop inside Houston Municipal Airport. Definitely her catering company was partner was Mr. Aaron. I have a little history on the Butera family. Now where I put it?  Lol. 

[MartiMoser]

I'll do further studying later. But in reference again to the Butera family, they are all directly related to the Mandola & Carrabba families. All steeped in our Houston history. My mom worked at the first Niday Funeral home on Bellfort. Next door to the funeral home was a Butera owned grocery. Had the best chopped beef sandwich I'd ever eaten. The meat case also served the delicious half or whole chicken dinners. Half or whole deviled eggs b❤️

[Highrise Tower]

Found this ad in the The Citizen dated May 26, 1948.

"Lucky 7" Store No. 26 - Carter's Food Store At 3606 Bissonnet St.

"Lucky 7" Store No. 27 - Braeburn Food Market at 5403 Richmond Rd. Bellaire

[FirepowerRKBA]

This is good stuff!  I'm a 61-year-old, native Houstonian.  I used to work at Sacco Bros. #2 Grocery starting in spring 1978 to spring 1980.  I really had no idea what Lucky 7 was.  The Braeburn Food Market listed above on Richmond Rd., in Bellaire was what became Bissonnet.  I could be wrong.  I don't have anything earth shattering.  I just wanted to comment on this.

[brucesw]

I must have missed this thread when it came up before.  I thought I recognized Curly Fox in the photo when I first looked at it.  When I read the caption I was surprised to find I was correct.  Would he have been a director if he didn't own a store?

Fox was born in Tennessee, played fiddle and was considered one of the best and was a showman.  Married Ruby Owens from the Decatur area in 1939 and their act was Curly Fox and Miss Texas Ruby.  They were members of the Grand Ole Opry for two stretches in the 30s and 40s and played on all the other big country radio shows around the country.  They had a show on WNBC-TV/NYC in 1949 then moved to Houston and had a Sunday afternoon show on KPRC-TV for 7 years before moving on.  I had inherited a fiddle from my grandfather and watched the show regularly.  Fortunately for me (and my teacher) I gave up on the fiddle after only a couple of years.

I remember Pasternak's on Alabama; the first I knew of the Butera name was the fabulous deli on Montrose.  

3606 Bissonnet is where Cleburne Cafeteria is now.  I knew that was not it's original location but had no idea what was there earlier.  5403 is the address of a chiropractic clinic now, possibly the same building as the food market.

[Dave W]

The Lucky 7 brand name was owned by one of the big local wholesalers (whose name escapes me at the moment). The retail stores were all independently owned and were supplied by the wholesaler on a revolving credit basis.

If you remember when Eagle Supermarkets came to Houston in the early 70s, they were actually part of a California based chain called Lucky Stores, Inc. But they had to choose a different name in the Houston area to avoid confusion with Lucky 7.

We watched the Curly Fox and Texas Ruby show regularly. They were both very talented but never quite made it big. They moved on to Nashville and were living in a trailer home. One night when Curly was performing at the Opry, Ruby fell asleep while smoking. The trailer caught fire and Ruby died.

 

[FirepowerRKBA]

Dave, thanks for clearing some of that up.  I remember Eagle and Gemco.  They were both part of the same corporation, if memory serves.  I'm not familiar with Curly Fox and Texas Ruby.  That's horrible about Ruby.  It's still part of our history, though.

Would Grocer's Supply be the wholesaler you're thinking of?  I remember GS trucks coming to Sacco's loading dock.

Does anyone remember "Food Giant" here in the Houston area?

[Dave W]

12 hours ago, FirepowerRKBA said:

Dave, thanks for clearing some of that up.  I remember Eagle and Gemco.  They were both part of the same corporation, if memory serves.  I'm not familiar with Curly Fox and Texas Ruby.  That's horrible about Ruby.  It's still part of our history, though.

Would Grocer's Supply be the wholesaler you're thinking of?  I remember GS trucks coming to Sacco's loading dock.

Does anyone remember "Food Giant" here in the Houston area?

You're right, Eagle and Gemco were part of the same company.

It wasn't Grocer's Supply, it was the other big wholesaler. Grocer's Supply also had a similar program but without a group name. I'm not surprised that Sacco was using them by the late 70s, they had de-emphasized their Lucky 7 roots before then.

I do remember Food Giant stores. They were owned by Belden's.

Curly and Ruby left Houston about 1958. Since you're  61, you wouldn't remember.

[EspersonBuildings]

I'm 60, grew up in the Hiram Clarke area (1965 to 1983).  I remember the Lucky 7 store on South Post Oak Road at West Fuqua (G&P), the Food Giant on West Fuqua at White Heather, the Piggly-Wiggly on South Post Road, just south of Willowbend (now Foodarama), and the Eagle on South Main, just north of The South Loop Freeway.  With the exception of Eagle, my mother shopped at all these grocery stores, as well as Weingarten's (West Fuqua at Hiram Clarke), Rice Food Market (West Orem at Hiram Clarke), Minimax, later Gerland's (South Post Oak Road at West Orem), and for a short while a brand-new Kroger on West Fuqua at White Heather (across from Food Giant).  The Hiram Clarke area now only has one grocery store, a Fiesta (the former Weingarten's).  Wow, talk about going down memory lane!

[Greg B]

I worked for Eagle-Gemco for many years and yes Lucky Stores,Inc, a great company to work for.  Does anyone remember the deli next to the Eagle supermarket on Broadway?  The supermarket was the anchor store to a mini-mall.  I believe the deli was either Butera’s or Mandola’s. There was also a Chinese restaurant plus some other retailers.  I believe the neighborhood was Glenbrook not far from Hobby Airport.  This would have been mid to late 70’s.