The Last AppleTree - Bryan

A brief stay as "Food City". Picture from Stalworth Online. This is after a repaint.

Safeway #736
Address: 2001 Highway 21
Bryan TX
Opened: 1986
Became AppleTree: 1989
Closed: 2009?

Rounding out the four Safeway stores that died as AppleTree in Bryan-College Station, today we have the fourth. Originally written as a post on Brazos Buildings & Businesses, this was one of the last group of Houston Division Safeway stores to be built, and the very last AppleTree store to close.

With the larger Weingarten store in the Safeway family just a few miles south, a decision was made to close the original downtown store, and have it replaced with a larger store a few miles north, giving it some more distance from the second Safeway (a third Safeway in town was more toward the east part of town by then).

This particular Safeway opened in early 1986 as store #736 and the anchor of the small Culpepper North, a shopping center at Highway 21 and Texas Avenue. It replaced the store at Texas Avenue and William Joel Bryan (#294, that's now the Health Department). By 1988, however, Safeway had already spun off the division, and in 1989, the new company had changed names to AppleTree.

Almost immediately, of course, AppleTree began to suffer, and the "apples" began to fall. Declaring bankruptcy in early 1992, one of the first to go was the former Weingarten store, and within 24 months, the chain went from 95 to about 6. The new independent chain lost its last stores in Houston and Huntsville within a few years after that, but the remaining few stores soldiered on. The first signs that AppleTree was about to go away forever was in 2002, when the College Station store closed, unable to fend off a huge H-E-B that opened a stoplight away. The Briarcrest store, having been replaced in the late 1980s and one of the most modern, up to date stores in the chain (though hardly up to date or large in modern standards), went next, selling the store to the landlord when the lease ran out, who kept it open and renamed it. Finally, this one was left, and remained until around late 2009 when the AppleTree letters came off in favor of a store called "Super Canasta", which was a Hispanic supermarket (there is a color AppleTree picture on Yelp, albeit tiny).

No bravado followed this passing of the AppleTree name, and for all intents and concerns, AppleTree had been dead for years, just another no-name company that was a client of Grocers Supply Co. in Houston. Super Canasta soon gave way to Food City (owned by El Ahorro) which gave it its own name in a matter of months. Food City/El Ahorro was the first to do away with the old Safeway/AppleTree décor, and in summer of 2013, El Ahorro sold to La Michoacana Meat Market, which downsized and didn't use all the store space (it wasn't very large to begin with). You'll notice that all the stores are supplied by the same company, so the store names still have the same trucks coming in. In the same plaza, there's also a Family Dollar (since day one?) and a few other stores.

By the way, until a few years ago, there was an AppleTree in San Diego, which had been there since at least 2005-2006. The sign looks slightly different than the Bryan ones (looks they painted solid colors over the apples and the logo), but there's no relation, and it's likely they bought the sign from Texas. It's worth wondering about: there were once nearly 100 of these things, some sign exists somewhere.

Finally, here's an article and some small black and white shots of some of the Bryan AppleTrees from a 2004 BTU article. What's interesting is that every single mainstream Bryan supermarket has closed or moved since 2004. The AppleTree on Briarcrest was the least affected, and it closed and reopened with a different name. Everything else moved (Kroger, H-E-B), or flat out closed (Albertsons, the other AppleTree in Bryan).

Former Albertsons #2705 - Houston, TX

Albertsons #2705
7530 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX
Opened: October 18, 1995
Closed: April 2002
What's There Now: DSW, REI

One of the first Houston locations of Albertsons, the Westheimer at Voss location of Albertsons was a bit of an oddity. Albertsons in Houston is remembered as a disaster that would the 2700-series stores, the Houston division stores, to completely vanish except for a handful of stores in Louisiana (today, ironically, part of the Houston division of Albertsons/Safeway). Like what most chains would do, Albertsons decided to start in the suburbs, but it also decided to simultaneously take on more urban areas. While hardly it was "inner city" (it was a few miles out from the Galleria mall and Uptown district, which was just outside the 610 Loop), it had tough competition. Just about half a mile north on Voss, there was a Kroger Signature store (still there), and a bit farther beyond that, a Randalls Flagship (closed and torn down a few years ago for a Whole Foods).

Clearly, the idea of doing battle with entrenched competitors has worried Albertson's, which postponed its Houston invasion for years. Before it pulled the trigger on expansion, the company interviewed hundreds of Houstonians about their shopping preferences. It asked local shoppers if they would accept Albertson's, despite it being a newcomer to Houston and that it is based thousands of miles away in Boise, Idaho.

"We did a lot of research, and people said, 'We don't care where you're from. What are you going to do for us today?' " - Houston Chronicle article from 1995

Of course, we all know the ending to this story, faced with a mountain of debt from the American Stores acquisition, and facing a competitive market, Albertsons pulled out of Houston leaving behind dozens of stores in its wake to be picked up by competitors or simply abandoned. But even in the pre-ASC, more optimistic times, already Albertsons didn't have the size of the Kroger near them or the cachet of Randalls, though it did still have everyday low prices competitive with others and no card (this probably allowed them to replicate in Houston in better times).

The other thing that Albertsons had that its contemporaries didn't was that this wasn't just any street corner, this was Westheimer and Voss, the busiest non-highway intersection in Houston. More than 105,000 cars passed by everyday, and the center where Albertsons was in, the new Westheimer Crossing, was anchored by a Venture, an upscale discounter from the north that was bullish on building stores in Texas.

While Albertsons competed with Randalls and Kroger, Venture competed with Target and Kmart. It was the perfect environment and only Westheimer Crossing had both a large discount store and a supermarket. The Venture didn't last long, however, and closed around 1998. It was not one of the stores that Kmart picked up, as there was a Super Kmart and a Target down the road. With no discount store to replace it, the Venture ended up becoming an Academy. Likewise, Albertsons would have a similar fate. It would close here in 2002 (according to a news article). This particular Albertsons didn't get a replacement grocery tenant, for good reason: H-E-B had just built their first full-line store in Houston just a mile east (the store has since moved to an even bigger location) and of course, Randalls and Kroger had their spots (the Randalls has since been torn down for a Whole Foods, and is right across from a Trader Joe's now).

Albertsons was divided between two new stores, a Linens N Things and a REI sporting goods store (REI is different from Academy, while Academy focuses on things like athletic clothing and a limited supply on fishing and hunting, REI is more outdoors-oriented with mountain climbing and more upscale). Linens N Things went out of business in 2008 and was replaced with a DSW.

I actually went inside the REI in December 2013, and wondered what it must have been like as Albertsons. The backroom (where there was a large sale) didn't have any trace of Albertsons, and frankly, it was a bit hard to get a feel for it when it was half a store (likewise, another trip to an old Albertsons, which I DIDN'T realize was one at the time, happened in March 2014 with the half being a Sprouts that time).

EDIT: I should mention that the facade was completely reconstructed when the two stores came in, originally the entrance (where REI is now) bumped out a bit more.

A bit on Simon David

I apologize for not having a lot of posts on the backburner, most of which what I do have is some old Safeway/AppleTree type posts, and those don't have any good pictures. So, while I am working on the Westheimer/Voss Albertsons and try to get more content, here's an article on the new 1985 Simon David, which was sadly demolished in 2010 for a Tom Thumb Flagship. Simon David was the "upscale" brand that Tom Thumb owned (as if Tom Thumb wasn't already upmarket), which languished under Randalls ownership (a failed attempt to expand the SD brand was replaced with the "Tom Thumb Flagship" name, and under Safeway ownership, Simon David would vanish completely).

I'd like to write a full article on Simon David eventually, but settled on this because right now I'm physically exhausted from a full day of hard labor (my day job doesn't have enough hours) and I don't want to run the risk of being completely burned out from this blog. Here's an article instead from the Dallas Morning News, called "Checking Out a Ritzy Grocery Store", originally published May 9, 1985 by Maryln Schwartz. Enjoy.

I arrived at the grand opening of a North Dallas supermarket thinking I'd gotten the wrong address. It could just as easily have been a deb party.

There was valet parking. Admission was by invitation only.

BMWs, Mercedes and Jaguars were lined up around the location at Inwood Road and University Boulevard. And the women were wearing serious diamonds -- nothing I'd ever associate with buying brussel sprouts and Windex.

"Welcome to Simon David,' a Tom Thumb-Simon David employee said as he handed me a long-stemmed red rose and directed me toward a woman serving white wine.

"You will notice this is the first supermarket in Dallas to have a mezzanine,' he pointed out.

I gazed up, and sure enough, there was a mezzanine running all around the store.

"How do you haul a shopping cart up to the second floor?' I asked.

"There's an elevator, of course,' he explained.

I had come to this grand opening with a friend, but I wandered off on my own to get the feel of the glitzy new surroundings. I didn't get too far.

No strings attached

I had to stop to listen to a quartet playing chamber music and nibble on the duck pate that was being served in the store's cheese and pate bar.

"You're not going to believe this!' my friend said as she rejoined me. She was munching on a piece of almond gateau she found in the pastry area where pastry filled with asparagus also was being served.

"I know,' I said. "I've already seen the cello and the violins. You don't get many string concerts in a grocery store.

"Not that,' she said. "Look at the store directory. This grocery store has a gift-wrap department. I don't mean paper and ribbon to take home. They will actually gift-wrap your grocery purchases.'

I would have gotten more involved in the gift-wrap concept, but something else caught my attention. An employee was pointing guests to the chocolate boutique on the mezzanine.

"You can't miss it,' she said. "It's right behind the perfume boutique and the Simon David's Cafe.

"You have a cafe in a grocery store?' I asked.

"Yes,' she answered. She explained that shopping is much more pleasant when one can relax over a glass of wine or chocolate mousse.

I hopped on the elevator and went right up to check this out for myself. Not only did the menu feature mousse, but also lamb aux honey mustard, lobster and seafood Louie. And the tables were conveniently placed so diners could look over the railing and watch other customers zipping their carts up and down the aisles.

Just past the cafe was the perfume boutique -- an entire glassed-in area featuring everything from Halston to Polo.

No holds (chocolate) barred

Then I saw it -- the chocolate boutique. No Reese's Pieces or Hershey Bars here. No, there were glass cases filled with giant truffles, 15 varieties in all. There also was a potpourri boutique for custom-made sachets and a floral boutique dripping with orchids.

After strolling the mezzanine, I took one more turn downstairs and watched guests get in line to sign up for charge accounts. Then I wandered over to check out the fresh pasta bar that featured such delicacies as salmon and beet pasta.

I counted 14 different varieties of mushrooms at the produce counter and noted that fresh oysters, mussels and live crayfish also were available.

By the time I caught back up with my friend, she told me something was bothering her.

"I think it's wonderful to have duck mousse and white asparagus just a half block away from my house,' she said. "But this is my neighborhood store. Do you think they have things like mops?'

We checked. In a tiny corner of an aisle was one small rack of mops.

A few minutes later, Tom Thumb executive Charles Cullum asked what I thought of the new store.

I had to tell the truth. "If you put in condos,' I confided, "I might move in.'

Cullum smiled. "We didn't think of that,' he said, "but it might work.'

What's interesting about the store is that it many ways, it kind of reminds me of the modern-day Market Street stores, which do have gift shops on the mezzanine (or so I've heard) and several other niceties, though not nearly as over-the-top in terms of other things. However, other things have been standardized in it and other stores: a wine bar, for one, is not unheard of (Whole Foods, the late Hiller's Market).