From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy
Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy
Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy is a chain of supermarkets for the current Wal-Mart Supercenter concept, though
in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Tom Thumb stores these stores were much larger than today’s Supercenter.
operate under the names Tom Thumb—traditional gro- In January 1989, Cullum Companies sold six of its Tom
cery stores; Flagship Tom Thumb—high end stores; and Thumb stores in Austin to Albertsons.
Simon David—also high end, usually in affluent areas. The company was acquired by the Randall’s Food
Tom Thumb and Randall’s Food Markets make up the Markets chain of Houston in 1992 and adopted a logo
112-store Texas division of Safeway Inc. Tom Thumb is similar to Randall’s, but retained the Tom Thumb name.
(as of December 2005) the number three supermarket in Randall’s converted the seven Tom Thumb stores in the
the super-competitive Dallas/Fort Worth area (in terms Austin market to Randall’s in January 1994, the same time
of market share) behind Wal-Mart and Kroger. Stores in it acquired and converted nine AppleTree Mar-
the Tom Thumb supermarket chain tend to be slightly kets.[4][5][6][7][8][9] The Simon David in the Arboretum
more upscale and expensive than competitors such as Market was not converted, but it would close in Decem-
Kroger or Albertsons. ber 1996 and would be converted into a Saks Fifth Av-
The chain’s distribution center is in Roanoke, enue.[10][11] Though after many customers lamented the
Texas.[1] loss of Austin’s only Simon David, Randall’s decided in
1998 to make its Bee Caves store a Flagship Randall’s su-
History permarket, the first in the city and the eighth in the
chain.[12]
In 1999 Randall’s Food Markets was acquired by Safe-
way. Safeway retained the Randall’s name in Houston
and Austin and the Tom Thumb name in Dallas/Fort
Worth, but replaced many of the Tom Thumb/Randall’s
"Remarkable" house brands with Safeway-label items.
Randall’s Food Markets became Safeway’s Texas division,
which today is legally known as Randall’s Food & Drugs.
By 2001, Randall’s operated 69 stores in the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area under the Tom Thumb and Simon David ban-
ners.
In early 2005, Safeway was rumored to be attempting
to sell the then 138-store Randall’s division.[13] Instead,
Safeway announced by the end of the year it would close
15 Randall’s stores in the Houston area, one in Austin,
Tom Thumb in Lake Highlands in Dallas, Texas and nine Tom Thumb stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth
area.[14] Following the closures Randall’s operated 62
Tom Thumb was founded in 1948 by J.R. Bost and Robert Tom Thumb stores in Dallas. Safeway said the move
B. Cullum as Tom Thumb-Page Food Stores[2] and was would revitalize the Texas division and that it planned to
once a publicly traded company on the NYSE under the remodel stores to fit its "Lifestyle" format and introduce
name Cullum Companies. By 1956 it had grown to 20 proprietary products. The new Lifestyle format features
stores. They bought 34 Hinky Dinky stores in the Mid- an expanded selection of perishables and a number of
west, 17 Pantry Food Markets in California, as well as unique[citation needed] offerings, including a large selection
Page Drug Stores (the freestanding Page stores were later of natural and organic foods, full-service meat counters,
sold to Eckerd). They also bought the gourmet specialty full-service bakeries and floral design centers, as well as
Simon David stores in 1963. sushi bars and olive bars.
Tom Thumb expanded its reach to Austin, Texas, in Beginning in 2006, some Tom Thumb stores began
1972 when the grocer entered that market.[3] operating under Safeway’s "Lifestyle Store" concept.
Tom Thumb partnered with Wal-Mart in 1987 to cre- Lifestyle stores carry an expanded selection of finer
ate Hypermart USA stores, but the initial lack of success foods, ready-to-eat meals, and have a more upscale
led them to drop out in 1991. There were several Hyper- decor.[citation needed]
mart locations including Garland, Texas, and Arlington,
Texas. The Hypermart stores were the early prototype
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy
Loyalty program http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/
1997/07/28/story8.html. Retrieved 21 October
Tom Thumb offers a loyalty card (Reward Card) that pro- 2006.
vides a discount on gasoline, as well as a portion of sales [10] Saks Fifth Ave. signs letter of intent Austin Business
proceeds donated to charity. The loyalty card is good at Journal, August 30, 1996.
all Safeway stores. [11] Constructors & Associates turns Simon David into
Saks Austin Business Journal, April 18, 1997.
Notes [12] Randalls brings Flagship specialty store concept to
Austin, Austin American-Statesman, September 24,
[1] "Distribution Centers." Safeway Inc. 2. Retrieved on 1998.
May 13, 2010. [13] Goll, David (February 18, 2005). "Safeway to move
[2] Handbook of Texas Online - Robert B. Cullum on Randalls/Tom Thumb’s blues?". East Bay Business
[3] Austin Chain is Acquired by Cullum, Dallas Morning Times. http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/
News, July 18, 1972 stories/2005/02/21/story8.html. Retrieved 21
[4] Randalls shuts three AppleTrees; Nine other area October 2006.
stores are closed temporarily for conversion after [14] "Safeway to close nine Dallas-Fort Worth Tom
grocery buyout, Austin American-Statesman, January Thumb stores". Dallas Business Journal. October 18,
19, 1994. 2005. http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/
[5] Clash of the titans; Industry giants Randalls, H.E.B. 2005/10/17/daily11.html. Retrieved 21 October
battle for bucks, buyers’ interest, Austin American- 2006.
Statesman, January 22, 1994.
[6] Updates from the aisles of Austin’s new and
changing food stores The goods on groceries, References
Austin American-Statesman, March 23, 1994. • Cullum, Robert Brooks, The Handbook of Texas
[7] Grocery stores change names to Randall’s, Ausin Online.
American-Statesman, January 8, 1994.
[8] Randalls banner flies over old Tom Thumbs, Austin
American-Statesman, January 13, 1994.
External links
[9] Hudgins, Matt (July 25, 1997). "Randalls plans to • Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy official website
close Lake Creek location". Austin Business Journal. • Official mobile site
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thumb_Food_%26_Pharmacy"
Categories: Safeway Inc., Companies established in 1948, Superstores in the United States
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