When I originally wrote this article back in 2019 (which itself was adapted from Safeway and Albertsons in Texas back in September 4, 2016), it was before Houston Historic Retail had covered this store and by extension, Handy Andy.

In any case, at one time, San Antonio-based Handy Andy was one of the premier supermarkets in Texas (a far cry from the sad remnant purchased and rebranded by Arlan's Market in late 2012, but back in the early 1970s, Handy Andy ruled the San Antonio grocery market, with gourmet foods, including European meats and cheeses and far more modern than H-E-B was (given the grocery market in San Antonio today, this may considered ultimately a tragedy), and tragedy it was as even though Handy Andy grew in the Houston market to upwards of nine stores (not just four as previously found), H-E-B engaged in a vicious price war that destroyed Handy Andy back home in San Antonio.

The Woodway store was opened in 1973 as what would be ultimately seven stores in Houston. In 1979, Handy Andy pulled out of Houston and its stores closed, despite being fairly modern with cookware departments and full-service deli departments at a time when many did not. By that time, a few of the Handy Andy stores built in the Houston area were not quite as nice as what the first four stores were, but for those original four stores, they were purchased by Houston-based Randalls. In June 1979, after a renovation, the store reopened under the Randall's name (Randalls #13, later #1013 following Safeway) along with the Westheimer/Gessner store, with two more following. In 1985, Randalls decided to renovate and expand the store into a new concept, the Randalls Flagship, expanding the lower level of the store by 15,000 square feet to a total of 45,000 square feet (the store also included an upper level to make 56,000 square feet). The new 24-hour store, which officially debuted in November 1985, featured fresh-made pasta, a French bakery, an expanded seafood and meat counter, a salad bar, and a full-service restaurant called The Flagship serving items like eggs Benedict and grilled snapper. The merchandise mix featured most of what could be found in a traditional supermarket (including air conditioning filters) but it also included a wide range of magazines including The Robb Report and computer magazines (almost certainly Byte), televisions, orchids, expensive perfumes, and live rainbow trout.

In 1994, Randalls got a Brothers Gourmet Coffee shop to replaces its in-house location, and later that year was one of the first Randalls stores to sell beer and wine, mostly following the effect of acquisitions of Tom Thumb and AppleTree's Austin stores. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and while the store did last another quarter century, the store went down with the chain as Safeway took over the chain and slowly altered the chain so it resembled just another Safeway. By mid-2013, there weren't a whole lot of nice things to say about the dying store. It was not remodeled and what was once renowned for being the best grocery store in Houston area was to be closed and demolished, with rumors of the chain's demise swirling and getting stronger.

The new Whole Foods Market which opened in April 2015 was smaller than the old Randalls (and of course their merchandise mix was limited) but in many ways, represented the store that Randalls could've been. You could have an awesome sandwich made for not a whole lot more than what Subway would charge (but made with superior ingredients) or drink a glass of wine after work.

As the store was smaller than the Randalls it replaced, there was a small strip of stores next to it that shared the same address. In 2017 these included Bluemercury and Lilly Rain, but the latter disappeared by spring 2022 and was replaced by Nothing Bundt Cakes soon after.

Last updated September 9, 2026

[Return to Uptown Houston page]