Randalls Food Market was founded in 1966 by Robert Onstead, Norman Frewin, and R.C. Barclay. This group of businessmen purchased two older grocery stores that had closed for business. By the end of the 1970’s, the company had 15 locations and almost 10 percent of the Houston, Texas, area grocery market.
The company was acquired by Safeway, Inc., in 1999. All 116 stores retained the Randall name. The company operates as a subsidiary of Safeway. It’s parent company announced that they were revitalizing all Randalls stores with more “lifestyle” features, such as pharmacies, in store bakeries, film processing, eat in or take and bake pizzas and pasta dishes, to go salad bars, and full service bank branches.
While most grocery stores remained closed during hurricane Ike’s devastation in 2008, Randalls was one of the first to reopen. Even though the Galveston location received heavy water damage, the store reopened very quickly and offered basic supplies to residents, such as water and gasoline.
