Weingarten's Grocery Stores

[IronTiger]

I've become a bit more curious about Weingarten's.

I read on my "BCS Supermarkets" thread that a Weingarten's was briefly in College Station from 1982-1984, and was quite upscale.

What were they like, really? Also, is the current Weingarten development company at all related?

[Highway6]

Also, is the current Weingarten development company at all related?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q...ngarten+history

[IronTiger]

Right. So the grocery store chain was sold in 1980, but closed in 1984.

Although that website was pretty clever.

[Subdude]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q...ngarten+history

It doesn't make for much of a discussion board if the best response people can come up with is "go google it yourself".

I liked Weingartens because the one near me was open 24 hours, and for a student that is convenient. The locations I remember were on University and Dunlavy. The latter became an Apple Tree, and eventually Fiesta. The one in the Village was where The Gap is now.

[Croberts]

While it was a Houston based chain, they were as far north as Texarkana. They seemed the main chain in the period 50s-70s. The one in Westbury had a hatch on the roof that was unlocked, and I remember people who worked there would leave the A frame ladder under the hatch, so that they could break in at night and steal beer and wine.

[IronTiger]

Why did Weingarten sell out in 1980? I mean, when did out-of-town competitors (Kroger, H-E- come in?

Edited January 6, 2011 by IronTiger

[little frau]

The HISD building in the 1100 block of Telephone Rd. used to be a Weingarten's, according to one of my older neighbors. Per HCAD, it was built in 1939, but she doesn't go back that far so is not sure if it was originally built as a grocery store. Still, to see that at least part of the old building has been saved and repurposed is a good thing.

Sadly, the old Cage Elementary a bit down the road from there has not fared so well.

[Specwriter]

There was a Weingarten's in the Northline Mall in the early to mid-60s. It was off a long corridor on the Joske's end of the mall if I remember correctly. We would drive from our house near the intersection of FM 149 and the North Freeway all the way to Airline and the freeway (about 5 miles) to shop there. Other smaller stores were in the neighborhood, like Io's Lucky 7 at Airline and Gulfbank but Weingarten's was the "big supermarket." Soon a Henke-Kroger* was built at the southeast corner of the North Freeway and W. Mt. Houston and a Piggly Wiggly at the northwest corner of the same intersection. Once the Randall's opened at the North Freeway and Tidwell Mother did almost all the family's grocery shopping there. I believe it was a Minimax before that. She never said why she preferred Randall's over the other, closer stores.

I know there were many other Weingarten's stores around town but for the decade of the 60's (my first on the earth), my world was pretty much defined by Crosstimbers on the south, Hardy Road on the east, Aldine-Bender on the north, and Hempstead Highway on the west. That's a lot of area but there was much less stuff in it then.

*The Henke - Kroger connection must have been some arrangement between the national chain (Kroger) and the local historic Henke-Pillot establishment.

[IronTiger]

There was a Weingarten's in the Northline Mall in the early to mid-60s. It was off a long corridor on the Joske's end of the mall if I remember correctly. We would drive from our house near the intersection of FM 149 and the North Freeway all the way to Airline and the freeway (about 5 miles) to shop there. Other smaller stores were in the neighborhood, like Io's Lucky 7 at Airline and Gulfbank but Weingarten's was the "big supermarket." Soon a Henke-Kroger* was built at the southeast corner of the North Freeway and W. Mt. Houston and a Piggly Wiggly at the northwest corner of the same intersection. Once the Randall's opened at the North Freeway and Tidwell Mother did almost all the family's grocery shopping there. I believe it was a Minimax before that. She never said why she preferred Randall's over the other, closer stores.

I know there were many other Weingarten's stores around town but for the decade of the 60's (my first on the earth), my world was pretty much defined by Crosstimbers on the south, Hardy Road on the east, Aldine-Bender on the north, and Hempstead Highway on the west. That's a lot of area but there was much less stuff in it then.

*The Henke - Kroger connection must have been some arrangement between the national chain (Kroger) and the local historic Henke-Pillot establishment.

Yeah, in the 1960s, the Henke's Family Center stores were run by Kroger (http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/2009/01/family-affair-at-kroger.html)

[Fringe]

Weingarten's were everywhere in the 60's I believe the grocery store at Meyerland Mall started out as a Weingarten's.

[ernie5823]

Weingarten's were everywhere in the 60's I believe the grocery store at Meyerland Mall started out as a Weingarten's.

I believe the Gulfgate Weingartens was there from the beginning - mid '50s? Seems there were others, on Telephone & either on Broadway or Harrisburg, well before that.

[silverartfox]

I believe the Gulfgate Weingartens was there from the beginning - mid '50s? Seems there were others, on Telephone & either on Broadway or Harrisburg, well before that.

There was one on the corner of Harrisburg and Dumble as far back as the 1940's. Its original Art Deco brick building has been restored and is now home to an auto supply store, laundromat, etc.

[rsb320]

The Container Store at Post Oak and Westheimer was a Weingartens.

[IronTiger]

Wikipedia says that one was the last one to close, in 1986, two years after the others were sold off.

[NenaE]

I recall the Weingartens at Lawndale, Gulfgate, and Southmore (in Pasadena). They were very large supermarkets. Minimax and Lewis & Coker were in the neighborhood I grew up in. I don't recall noticing Krogers until the late '60s, around Telephone & Bellfort. They were probably around earlier, but just not where I lived. A&P's were present, as well, the tiled entry (maybe yellow &/ or green) stores on Telephone and Gulf Freeway (@Monroe) come to mind. I always got the impression they were old stores.

[FilioScotia]

I've become a bit more curious about Weingarten's. Is the current Weingarten development company at all related?

Yes they are the same family. The Weingarten supermarket chain started with one store in 1901, and by the 1980s it had grown to more than a hundred stores in Texas and four neighboring states.

In 1948, the family founded a commercial real estate enterprise they named Weingarten Markets Realty to acquire property for its supermarkets. It later became Weingarten Realty Investment - WRI - and it expanded to developing shopping centers.

In 1980, the family divested its supermarkets to focus on its relationships with retailers, including other supermarkets, drug stores, value-oriented stores and others.

At least one member of the Weingarten family has been very much in the news in recent years. Lea Weingarten Fastow, the wife of former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, went to federal prison for her role in the financial shenanigans that caused Enron's downfall.

Edited January 8, 2011 by FilioScotia

[silverartfox]

I recall the Weingartens at Lawndale, Gulfgate, and Southmore (in Pasadena). They were very large supermarkets. Minimax and Lewis & Coker were in the neighborhood I grew up in. I don't recall noticing Krogers until the late '60s, around Telephone & Bellfort. They were probably around earlier, but just not where I lived. A&P's were present, as well, the tiled entry (maybe yellow &/ or green) stores on Telephone and Gulf Freeway (@Monroe) come to mind. I always got the impression they were old stores.

The reason you didn't notice Kroger's is because they probably hadn't yet arrived in Houston. Kroger acquired all the old Henke & Pillot stores and re-branded them.

[readam]

Weingarten's were everywhere in the 60's I believe the grocery store at Meyerland Mall started out as a Weingarten's.

I think the first grocery was either a Henke's or an A&P..the first Weingarten's I remember was at Weslayan and Bissonett and later a new one built in Bellaire near Cedar Street , west of Rice between Bellaire and Bissonett both stores are now Randall's.

Edited January 9, 2011 by readam

[DrFood]

Here are the locations I recall in Houston. It was interesting that a lot of the "anchored" Weingarten's were also in shopping centers with a Walgreen's.

1. Memorial City. The location is now where the Ice Rink is. The store was huge and could be accessed from the parking lot or the mall. It also had one of those "bucket" systems to send groceries out of the parking lot loading zone. When malls started getting rid of grocery stores it became "United Jewelry and Distributing".

2. Hillcroft and Beechnut. The space is now a Foodarama. I lived in Braeburn Terrace until I was 11. We would actually walk to the store and get our groceries. We had 1 car until I was 10, very normal for families in the early 1960's. When they had the grand opening my mom filled out a card for free groceries. We went in there one day and she had won a ton of stuff. It seemed like it took forever to load the car and unload at home.

3. N. Braeswood and Chimney Rock. The store which is now Belden's was a Weingarten's. Originally the section which is now a wide sidewalk in front of the stores was a mini-mall which went from Walgreen's to Weingarten's and was air-conditioned.

4. S. Gessner and 59 (between Beechnut and 59). I can't recall exactly where in the shopping center it was. The center was anchored by a Handy Dan and the theatres at the time. This was the very first grocery store in Houston that had electronic cash registers and then became the first to have scanners. I remember going in there marveling at how modern the place was. THe registers spoke the price to you.

5. Fondren and 59. The store was in what is now Loehmann's. When Woolco and Weingarten's were running that shopping center was extremely busy.

6. Bellaire Blvd and Kirkwood in Alief. Another one of Weingarten's "mini-malls" connecting Weingarten's and Walgreen's. There was a Goodyear tire center on one end. And in the parking lot was a Tenneco gas station. Many times in 1979 I drove out there after work to stand in line on my "day" to buy gas. Don't recall is I was "odd" or "even".

7. Fondren & W. Bellfort- The store is now a Fiesta.

8. Target Grocery locations-Sometime in the late 1070's Target decided to get out of running/owning the grocery stores connected to their stores. In Houston Weingarten's took that over from them. The 3 locations I can remember this happening were the store on 59 just north of Bellaire Blvd (now a resataurant supply), Katy Freeway between Bunker Hill and Lantern Lane (now Marshall's etc), and S. Loop between Griggs and Wayside (building became and Auchan's briefly).

9. Hillcroft & Westheimer-South side in shopping center where 99 cent only and Office Depot are. Store was somehere in the middle of the shopping center.

I remember my mom had her favorite stores that we were only allowed to shop at. These were her top 4.

1. A&P

2. Weingarten's

3. Sacco Bros.

4. Henke & Pilot

Then as the landscape changed so did her list.

1. Lewis & Coker

2. Piggly Wiggly

3. Rice Food Market

She was never really enamoured with Randall's. She said only "rich" people shopped there.

She did not like Kroger after she said they destroyed H&P. She went to school and grew up with the kids of the H&P family.

When Safeway made its failed attempt to come in she refused to shop there because the stores were filthy and they were from California and we knew what came from California.....fruits and nuts is what she said. I love my mom dearly but she just lived in that generations world.

Now she and my dad almost exclusively shop at Foodarama.

[DrFood]

Weingarten's were everywhere in the 60's I believe the grocery store at Meyerland Mall started out as a Weingarten's.

I think the first grocery was either a Henke's or an A&P..the first Weingarten's I remember was at Weslayan and Bissonett and later a new one built in Bellaire near Cedar Street , west of Rice between Bellaire and Bissonett both stores are now Randall's.

No the grocery store in Meyerland Plaza was a Henke & Pilot and later became a Kroger. Then an antique store.

Yes you are correct about the 2 locations on Bissonett

[Subdude]

I think the Weingartens mainly became Safeways, which at some point turned into Apple Tree, which vanished.

Was there an A&P on South Post Oak near Bellfort? There is a brick building there that always reminded me of an A&P.

[brucesw]

Weingarten's sold to Grand Union, which didn't last long (there could be a thread here on grocery store chains from elsewhere that didn't make it here). Safeway took over some of the Grand Union locations (Safeway was already here). When Safeway sold its Houston area stores to pay off some debt, they became AppleTree Markets, headed by a former Safeway exec who retired shortly thereafter and AT began to fall apart, eventually retrenching to just a couple of stores in B/CS.

The Fiesta at W. Bellfort and Fondren was originally a Weingarten's, then Grand Union, Safeway and AppleTree. I shopped there under all the banners.

The Seller's Brothers at Weslayan and S. Braeswood was a Weingarten's; it was one of the ones that was forced by a lease agreement to hold on to either the Weingarten's or AppleTree name long after the companies had exited the market as I recall.

The Weingarten's in Freeport, on 2nd Street, just east of Brazosport Hi, was opened in the early 50s; a Penney's shared the center. The building has been demolished. The HEB on Plantation at Dixie in Lake Jackson was originally a Weingarten's.

Back in October, JR Gonzales did a post about Henke and Pillot on his Bayou City Houston blog, with dates, pictures, addresses and tons of comments. I can't get the individual post to come up but here's a link to the October archive on BCH - it was a great month of features on Houston history.

[nm5k]

What is now the dollar store at W.Bellfort and Chimney Rock was a Weingartens in

the 60's and 70's.

I think it started that way. Also remember the drug store in the same center was

a "Dugans" drug store if I have the name right.

[IronTiger]

Yeah, AppleTree was by and large a failure. It really downscaled from Safeway (dropping prices, though) and died with a whimper when the last one finally closed in late 2009.

The local Weingarten's in CS lasted from 1982-1984, became Safeway (I think?), moved to Culpepper Plaza (the older location becoming Toys R Us), became AppleTree, and then closed in the early 2000s.

It was eventually knocked down during redevelopment and rebuilt as two smaller store spaces, one of which is a Spec's today (the other side is vacant).

[Fringe]

No the grocery store in Meyerland Plaza was a Henke & Pilot and later became a Kroger. Then an antique store.

My bad. It was a Henke and Pilot. I was confusing it with the Weingartens at Stella Link and Braeswood that I also frequently shopped.

[FilioScotia]

Yeah, AppleTree was by and large a failure. It really downscaled from Safeway (dropping prices, though) and died with a whimper when the last one finally closed in late 2009.

As I recall, AppleTree was started in 1988 when some former Safeway executives bought about a hundred greater Houston area Safeway stores to start a new chain of their own. I remember stories that said it was "Employee Owned", and we all remember how "successful" it was.

The owners filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992 and started selling off its stores to various competitors. The last Houston AppleTree store closed in 1997. The last of ALL the AppleTree stores were in Bryan and they were sold in 2009.

[Al Williams]

there was a Weingarten's at Murphy Rd and 59, across the street from Randall's #7 (where I got my first job the day before I turned 16 in '80)

[Native Montrosian]

The two Weingarten's from my childhood were the Bellaire location on Bissonnet (now a Randall's) and the Dunlavy/West Alabama one (now a Fiesta). We always bought Christmas trees at the Dunlavy one and I remember the wire-covered table warmed by light bulbs that housed dyed Easter chicks. My mom also got our cards for "Let's Go To The Races" there and Big Bonus stamps. My father (commercial interior designer) also had the pleasure of working with Joe Weingarten and said he was a true gentleman; very civic-minded and cognizant of what the people of Houston thought.

[TV2EBoogaloo]

wasn't there a location at Gessner and Westheimer on the north east side....what ever store it was had a "signature" peaked roof that all their stores had and at this particular location after you checked out the sacker took your cart of groceries over to the west side of the building through a little waiting area and you got your car and drove up under a large awning and held up your number and the sacker came out with your stuff and loaded it in

[intencity77]

wasn't there a location at Gessner and Westheimer on the north east side....what ever store it was had a "signature" peaked roof that all their stores had and at this particular location after you checked out the sacker took your cart of groceries over to the west side of the building through a little waiting area and you got your car and drove up under a large awning and held up your number and the sacker came out with your stuff and loaded it in

The old Randalls at Westheimer @ Gessner was originally a Handy Andy, which opened in 1973 (not a Weingarten's). Randalls bought out Handy Andy and in turn, acquired the property in 1979, expanding it in 1988 and then demolished it in 2010 for a new "lifestyle" store.

Additionally, I believe that the Randalls store nearby, at 1407 S Voss was also originally a Handy Andy since it has the same exact peaked roofline, footprint and stone facade that the old Westheimer/Gessner store had.