![FiestaMartHQ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/FiestaMartHQ.JPG)
Fiesta Mart,
L.L.C., formerly Fiesta Mart Inc., is a
Latino-American
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
chain based in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
that was established in 1972. Fiesta Mart stores are located in Texas. The chain uses a cartoon
parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...
as a mascot. As of 2004 it operated 34 supermarkets in
Greater Houston
Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...
, 16 supermarkets in other locations in Texas, and 17 Beverage Mart liquor store locations. During the same year it had 7.5% of the grocery market share in Greater Houston. Many of its stores were located in
Hispanic neighborhoods and other
minority neighborhoods.
[Kaplan, David and Nancy Sarnoff.]
Wholesaler Grocers bags Houston's Fiesta Mart
" ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. Thursday August 26, 2004. Retrieved on December 1, 2011.
The chain caters
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
and other foods also serves hot cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for customers; Allison Wollam of the ''
Houston Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' said "The company has been successful at targeting the Hispanic market and specifically catering to their needs and shopping styles."
[Wollam, Allison.]
Grocers Supply may bag Fiesta Mart in acquisition deal
" ''Houston Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
''. Friday August 24, 2004. Retrieved on July 7, 2010. "The grocer now caters to more second and third-generation Hispanic Americans." Bernie Murphy, a spokesperson for Fiesta, said in 2006 that at some stores Hispanics make up to 70% of those stores's clientele. Fiesta caters to these customers with a large selection of foods and ingredients that are generally not available at a typical grocery store. Fiesta stores also often include several other stores owned by independent operators, such as discount
jewelry
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
and
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
. Fiesta also operates Fiesta Liquor Stores, where only alcohol is sold.
History
In 1972, Donald Bonham and O.C. Mendenhall started Fiesta; neither of the men had Hispanic ethnic backgrounds. Bonham had farmed in Belize and Guatemala and supervised the creation of a Chilean supermarket chain.
When Bonham returned to Texas, he believed that Houston-area businesses did not adequately cater to
Mexican American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
s, a large segment of the city's population. Bonham opened the first Fiesta, which catered exclusively to
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
,
[Hisey, Peter. "Ethnic food flavors Fiesta Mart; Houston chain poised to open hypermarket-size unit – supermarket chain." ''Discount Store News''. September 4, 1989]
1
Retrieved on July 7, 2010. in the
Near Northside.
As the
demographics of Houston
This article on the demographics of Houston in the early 21st century (2001–2015) contains information on population characteristics of Houston, Texas, United States of America, including households, family status, age, gender, income, race and ...
changed, by the late 1970s Fiesta added African, Indian, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese items.
By the mid-1980s Fiesta had 15 stores.
[Sit-DuVall, Mary.]
`Right' store was ripe for picking / Randalls joins trend with deal
" ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. Saturday July 24, 1999. Business 1. Retrieved on December 1, 2011. By 1989 the stores also featured items catering to
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s and
Thai American
Thai Americans ( th, ชาวอเมริกันเชื้อสายไทย; formerly referred to as Siamese Americans) are Americans of Thai ancestry.
History in the US
The 1930 Census recorded just 18 ‘Siamese’ Americans. Acc ...
s. By that year Fiesta had $420 million in annual sales, including $25 million in apparel sales.
As the chain developed, its clientele became larger and included second and third-generation Hispanics.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fiesta operated a very large supermarket and general goods store, an early version of modern supercenters like Walmart Supercenter or SuperTarget, at the southwest side of the intersection of I-45 and Texas State Highway NASA Road 1 in Webster, TX. This store was targeted towards the surrounding community, which was one of the more affluent Houston suburbs. It featured a large, sloped hydroponic garden along the north wall. The floor space was slowly sold off in portions in the 1990
As of 2011, the location is now called the NASA Value Center Shopping Center and has no Fiesta presence.
In 1994, Fiesta acquired four locations sold by
Appletree Markets AppleTree Markets was a supermarket chain in Texas formed in 1969 when Safeway opened its first stores in Houston, which were spun off under the AppleTree name in 1988. The division once had 100 stores in Greater Houston and Greater Austin. By Ja ...
. In 1998 Fiesta made a marketing agreement with
Conoco Inc.
Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Cur ...
to allow the gas station chain to build gas stations on the properties of Fiesta supermarkets. In 1999 Fiesta had 10.9% of Houston's grocery market.
In 2003 the ''
Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'' ranked Fiesta as the "Best Grocery Store" in Houston.
In 2004, Fiesta Mart was acquired by
Grocers Supply
The Grocers Supply Co., Inc. is a wholesale grocery distributor with its headquarters in the Southeast Houston district, Houston, Texas. As of 2011, it was the largest grocery wholesale company in the Southwest United States.Monroe, Melissa S.La ...
, a family owned Houston-based wholesale groceries distributor. On July 23, 2008 Fiesta Mart acquired eleven Carnival Brand stores from
Minyard Food Stores Minyard may refer to:
* Ken Minyard (born 1939), American radio personality
* Minyard Food Stores, a supermarket chain in Texas, US
{{disambiguation ...
. In 2015 the Levit family, the owners of Grocers Supply, sold Fiesta to Acon Investments, a company based in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
.
[ California-based Bodega Latina and its Mexican parent company Chedraui acquired Fiesta Mart from Acon in April 2018.
]
Headquarters and locations
The headquarters is on Westheimer Road
Westheimer Road () is an arterial east–west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in Downtown and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the southern edge of George Bush Park, stretching about long. The street was n ...
.
The headquarters was in the Cottage Grove area of Houston for many many years.
The property was sold and the office moved the Capital One building on Westheimer Road near the Galleria in 2018.
Locations:
* Greater Austin
The Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (or Greater Austin) is a five-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Ce ...
** Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
(2 locations)
* Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
** Arlington
** Carrollton
** Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
(11 Fiesta locations, 1 Carnival location)
** Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
(7 Fiesta locations, 1 Carnival location)
** Garland
A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance.
Etymology
From the ...
(2 locations)
** Irving (2 locations)
** Plano
* Greater Houston
Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...
** Conroe
** ''Unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
'' Harris County (3 locations)
** Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
(27 locations)
** Missouri City
Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County, Texas, Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the c ...
** Rosenberg
** South Houston
South Houston is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Harris County. The population was 16,153 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by the cities of Houston and Pasadena, and geo ...
Former stores
*Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
(1994–1995, site is now the headquarters of Conn's, Inc., a chain of electronics/appliance stores in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma)
*Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it t ...
(Carnival food store 1999–2008; SAVERS COST + PLUS 2008–present)
*1 location in Spring Branch, Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
– Now 99 Ranch Market
99 Ranch Market () is an American supermarket chain owned by Tawa Supermarket Inc., which is based in Buena Park, California. 99 Ranch has 54 stores (as of June 2021), primarily in California, with other stores in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Ne ...
[Boundary Map]
" ''Spring Branch Management District''. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
*Montrose, Houston
Montrose is a neighborhood located in west-central Houston, Texas, United States. Montrose is a area roughly bounded by Interstate 69/ U.S. Highway 59 to the south, Allen Parkway to the north, South Shepherd Drive to the west, and Taft to Fairv ...
(1994–2012), site is intended to be an apartment complex development
* Midtown Houston
* Sugar Land
Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...
** The Sugar Land Sugar Creek Fiesta Market Place store opened in a former Gerland's location in July 2013. The store included the first Caribou Coffee
Caribou Coffee Company is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It was founded in Edina, Minnesota, Edina, Minnesota, in 1992. As of May 2015, the company operates 603 locations worldwide. It is headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minne ...
outlet in the state of Texas, a Market Place Eatery restaurant with meal offerings, and a Red Mango
Red Mango FC, LLC is an American frozen yogurt and smoothie brand known for its all-natural frozen yogurt, fresh fruit smoothies, yogurt parfaits, and fresh juices. There are now more than 50 locations in over 15 states in the United States and Pu ...
yogurt shop. In March 2014 Fiesta announced that the store will close on April 20, 2014.[Kaplan, David.]
Sugar Land area Fiesta is closing
" ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. March 24, 2014. Retrieved on March 25, 2014.
References
Further reading
* Smith, Camilo.
Six Cool Things With Cross-Cultural Appeal That You Can Find at Fiesta Mart
" ''Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
''. Wednesday April 2, 2014.
External links
Fiesta Mart website
{{Supermarkets of the United States
Supermarkets of the United States
Companies based in Houston
Retail companies established in 1972
1972 establishments in Texas