Former Fiesta Mart headquartersFormer Fiesta Mart location in Midtown, Houston, Texas, United States, which closed in July 2020
Fiesta Mart, L.L.C., formerly Fiesta Mart Inc.,[1] is a Latino-Americansupermarket chain based in Houston, Texas, established in 1972. As of 2004, it operated 34 supermarkets in Greater Houston, 16 supermarkets elsewhere in Texas, and 17 Beverage Mart liquor stores. In 2004, it had 7.5% of the grocery market share in Greater Houston. Many stores were in Hispanic neighborhoods and other minority neighborhoods.[2] The chain's mascot is a cartoon parrot.
The chain is best known for stocking Hispanic groceries and serving hot cooked meals. Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal said, "The company has been successful at targeting the Hispanic market and specifically catering to their needs and shopping styles."[3] In 2006, a Fiesta spokesperson said that Hispanics made up to 70% of some stores' customers.[4] Fiesta provides foods and ingredients which are typically not available at grocery stores. Fiesta stores often include other, independently operated, stores within them, such as discount jewelry and banking. The chain operates Fiesta Liquor Stores, where only alcohol is sold.
History
In 1972, Donald Bonham and O.C. Mendenhall started Fiesta; neither were ethnically Hispanic. Bonham farmed in Belize and Guatemala and supervised the creation of a Chilean supermarket chain.[3] Upon return to Texas, Bonham believed Houston-area businesses did not adequately cater to Mexican Americans, a large proportion of the city's population. He opened the first Fiesta, catering exclusively to Hispanic Americans,[5] in the Near Northside.[6]
By the late 1970s, Fiesta broadened its product range in response to changes in the demographics of Houston, introducing African, Indian, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese items.[5] By the mid-1980s, Fiesta had 15 stores.[7] By 1989, Fiesta had $420 million in annual sales, including $25 million in clothing sales.[5] As the chain developed, its clientele expanded, including second and third-generation Hispanics.[3]
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fiesta operated a very large supermarket—an early version of modern supercenters, such as Walmart Supercenter and SuperTarget. This store targeted the surrounding, more affluent, Houston suburbs. It featured a large, sloped hydroponic garden along the north wall. The floor space was sold off in portions in the 1990s.[8] As of 2011, the location is called the NASA Value Center Shopping Center and has no Fiesta presence.
In 1994, Fiesta acquired four locations sold by Appletree Markets.[9] In 1998, Fiesta made a marketing agreement with Conoco Inc. allowing the construction gas stations at Fiesta supermarkets.[10] In 1999, Fiesta had 10.9% of Houston's grocery market.[7]
In 2003, the Houston Press ranked Fiesta as the "Best Grocery Store" in Houston.[11]
In 2004, Fiesta was acquired by Grocers Supply, a family owned Houston-based wholesale groceries distributor.[12] On July 23, 2008, Fiesta Mart acquired eleven Carnival Brand stores from Minyard Food Stores.[13] In 2015, the Levit family, owners of Grocers Supply, sold Fiesta to Acon Investments, a company based in Washington, DC.[6] Bodega Latina, and its Mexican parent company Chedraui, acquired Fiesta Mart from Acon in April 2018.[14]
A Fiesta Mart store was in Beaumont, Texas from 1994 to 1995. The location has been replaced with the Conn's, Inc. headquarters, a chain of electronics and appliances stores. From 1999 to 2008, there was a location in Grand Prairie, Texas. A Sugar Creek Fiesta Market Place store opened in Sugar Land, Texas, taking the place of a former Gerland's location in July 2013. The store had the first Caribou Coffee outlet in Texas, a Market Place Eatery restaurant and a Red Mango yogurt shop. Fiesta announced the store would close on April 20, 2014.[21]
There were multiple Houston locations which have shut down. A Fiesta Mart in Spring Branch, Houston has been replaced by a 99 Ranch Market[22][23] Due to damages from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, a store in North Shore, Houston closed. In 2021, the store was said to reopen at an undetermined point in the future, but a timeline was not provided.[24] Declining performance and expiration of a lease led to a store in Midtown Houston closing in 2020.[25]A store in Montrose, Houston, established in 1994, shut down in 2012 and the site is intended to become an apartment complex.[26]
123Hisey, 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.
↑"Privacy PolicyArchived 2010-09-23 at the Wayback Machine . Fiesta Mart. Retrieved on July 7, 2010. "Direct Mail Address: Fiesta Mart Inc. Attention: Privacy Office 5235 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77007"
↑"Fiesta Main Office" (PDF, JPG). Harris County Tax Office, Block Book Maps. Volume 117, Page 454. Retrieved on July 25, 2017. See the text "Cottage Grove" – See also the following pages showing the section of the "Cottage Grove" neighborhood where the Fiesta headquarters is located: 184 (JPG, PDF), 185 JPG, PDF), 186 (JPG, PDF) and 187 (JPG, PDF)
↑"Terms and Conditions". Fiesta Mart. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-11-02. Fiesta Mart, L.L.C. 5444 Westheimer Road, Suite 101 Houston, TX 77056
↑Dawson, Jennifer. "99 Ranch Market hitches Asian post to Houston with first store in Texas". Houston Business Journal. October 13, 2008. Retrieved on July 15, 2011. "The store, 99 Ranch Market, will set up shop in a vacant space formerly occupied by a different kind of international grocery store — Fiesta Mart, which closed at the end of last year. 99 Ranch Market will occupy the 84,000-square-foot (7,800m2) former Fiesta space on the northwest corner of I-10 and Blalock in the Blalock Market Shopping Center."
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