Groceteria.com

There is/was a Kroger at Veterans Memorial and Gears Rd. in Houston. I suspect it is/was a Safeway based on its small size for a Kroger. It looks similar to a former Safeway/Kroger on Old Spanish Trail that I learned about on this site. Also it was next to an Eckerd. I think most Safeways in Houston were next to Eckerd, which may have originally been Thrift Drug (owned by JCPenney).

This store appears to have been across from a shopping center called "The Commons". There is an identical shopping center across from Willowbrook Mall in Houston, built in the mid 80's. The Safeway center likely is older than The Commons. I had forgotten about The Commons until I saw them on Google Maps. It made me think something was seriously wrong with Street View! This 80's-style center looks out of place right near the older Safeway. Ironically, there is a vacant grocery store in this branch of The Commons that looks like a former Randalls. This list of closures, however, makes no mention of a store here: http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/ ... ily11.html

Does anyone know if Kroger bought any stores from Safeway when they exited the market? I know Kroger bought several stores from Albertsons in Houston when they left a lot later.

The Safeway Houston division was closed around 1988, and spun into AppleTree Markets. Kroger did buy 11 former AppleTree Markets after it bankrupted in 1993, many of which began as Safeway. Safeway didn't acquire Randall's until 1999 which had acquired 15 former AppleTree Markets in 1993, taking the stores full circle back to Safeway.