Food Fair in Houston

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Ephrata1966
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Food Fair in Houston

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Did Food Fair ever have stores in Houston (or anywhere in Texas)? I wonder because a chain has long existed there by that name. Their later stores are former Albertsons that closed in 2002. The major players in Houston, during Food Fair's heyday, would have been Kroger, Safeway, and Weingarten's. (Randalls, Albertsons and H-E-B came later)
Steve Landry
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by Steve Landry »

I believe that must be the "Gerlands" Food Fair chain.

Many years ago there was talk that there was some sort of affiliation with Food Fair Stores Inc., but I could never confirm that. Of course there is no mention of this talk according to Gerland's (even way back in the past).

Different "story" behind Bruno's Food Fair :)
The Food Fair Empire
Ephrata1966
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Steve Landry wrote:I believe that must be the "Gerlands" Food Fair chain.

Many years ago there was talk that there was some sort of affiliation with Food Fair Stores Inc., but I could never confirm that. Of course there is no mention of this talk according to Gerland's (even way back in the past).

Different "story" behind Bruno's Food Fair :)
Yes it is Gerland's, who also owns the "Food Town" chain. They are operated as separate divisions. A few of the Food Towns were Albertsons. I only know one Food Fair that was an Albertsons, north of Houston somewhere, but the town escapes me. That store mysteriously disappeared from Google Maps listings just recently (maybe it closed?)

Wait a minute. If these stores were related to the other Food Fair, wouldn't they have become Pantry Pride in 1969?
Steve Landry
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by Steve Landry »

"Wait a minute. If these stores were related to the other Food Fair, wouldn't they have become Pantry Pride in 1969?"

No........AND.....as I said....."any" affiliation with Food Fair Stores Inc. was never substantiated (or refuted) by any of my sources.

:)
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Ephrata1966
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Steve Landry wrote:"Wait a minute. If these stores were related to the other Food Fair, wouldn't they have become Pantry Pride in 1969?"

No........AND.....as I said....."any" affiliation with Food Fair Stores Inc. was never substantiated (or refuted) by any of my sources.

:)
If the two were related, if, then maybe the ones in Houston were spun off before 1969, and the chain grew from there?

"Pantry Pride" was a chain-wide name change for Food Fair after they bought a separate chain called Pantry Pride. Today, the two names are interchangeable. Basically, in the 50's the stores were known as Food Fair, and Pantry Pride from the 60's era on. Some Pantry Prides were even converted to Penn Fruit.

The Gerland's Food Fair that became Albertsons I think was in New Caney (north of Humble).
rich
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by rich »

They never had stores in Houston. The Food Fair name was used by a number of other chains. There was one in DC which preceded the Philly chain in the Washington area, so the latter called their stores Food Lane until Grand Union bought the DC Food Fair chain. There was another Food Fair in the Detroit area which converted its banner to the discount Farmer Jack format in the mid-60s. This is not unlike the many Stop & Shop/Stop-n-Shop chains (there were two separate chains with this name in NE Ohio at one time). There were at least two Big Stars, and there still are two Acmes.
Steve Landry
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Re: Food Fair in Houston

Post by Steve Landry »

Actually :) , Food Fair bought a company called Best Markets and that company's private label was called Pantry Pride. Food Fair liked that name and decided to experiment with a "discount" format called Pantry Pride (red logo).

And, yes, there were several small chains called Food Fair. Whenever and where ever Food Fair Stores Inc. "encountered" these small chains, they aggressively fought (in and out of court) to "affiliate" themselves with them. They were not always "nice" about it :(
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