Simon David
Encyclopedia
Simon David is the oldest gourmet and specialty foods store in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

. Simon David is part of Randall's Food Markets
Randall's Food Markets
Randall's Food Markets operates 112 supermarkets in the Houston, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas under the Randalls, Flagship Randalls, Tom Thumb, Flagship Tom Thumb, and Simon David banners. Randall's employs more than 10,000 associates and is the Texas division of Safeway Inc. The Texas...

, the 112-store Texas division of Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...


History

Named for its founder, Simon David opened in 1889 as the first food retailer and deliverer in Dallas to specialize in out-of-season items and imported merchandise. Originally a small brick structure adjacent to Mr. David's home in Uptown Dallas
Uptown Dallas
Uptown is a PID and neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Uptown is adjacent-to and north-of downtown Dallas, and is bordered by US 75 on the east, N Haskell Avenue on the northeast, Katy Trail on the northwest, Bookhout Street and Cedar Springs Road on the west, N Akard Street on the southwest and Spur...

' historic State Thomas neighborhood, the business expanded to 4311 Oak Lawn Avenue in the 1920s and thrived under the supervision of second-generation owner Delmer David, who opened an additional wholesale outlet along with separate packing and shipping facilities that distributed Simon David products nationwide. The third location opened October 19, 1961, on Inwood Road, where the founder's grandson, Stanley M. David became the first grocer in Dallas to offer a liquor department before selling the franchise to Tom Thumb in 1963. A larger building replaced the original Inwood Road location in 1985 at the same address. While Tom Thumb would later market a statewide chain of Simon David stores, only the Inwood Road location retains the name of its founder.

Randall's Food Markets

Tom Thumb and its Simon David division were acquired by the Randall's Food Markets
Randall's Food Markets
Randall's Food Markets operates 112 supermarkets in the Houston, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas under the Randalls, Flagship Randalls, Tom Thumb, Flagship Tom Thumb, and Simon David banners. Randall's employs more than 10,000 associates and is the Texas division of Safeway Inc. The Texas...

 chain of Houston in 1992. Randall's retained the Tom Thumb and Simon David names in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, but would convert the seven Tom Thumb stores in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, to Randall's in January 1994, when it also converted nine newly acquired AppleTree Markets
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. As of January 21, 2007, AppleTree operated two stores in...

. The Simon David in the Arboretum Market
The Arboretum
The Arboretum is an upmarket retail trade area in the northwest portion of Austin, Texas, centered roughly on the convergence of U.S. Route 183 , Capital of Texas Highway and Mopac Expressway.-Arboretum at Great Hills:The Arboretum at Great Hills was developed by Trammell Crow Company, opened in...

 (opened in 1987) was not converted, but it would close in December 1996 and would be converted into a Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...

. Though after many customers lamented the loss of the city's only Simon David, Randall's decided in 1998 to make its Bee Caves store a Flagship Randall's supermarket, the first in the city and the eighth in the chain.

Safeway

In 1999 Randall's and its Tom Thumb/Simon David divisions were acquired by Safeway. Safeway retained the Randall's name in Houston and Austin and the Tom Thumb and Simon David names in Dallas/Fort Worth. Safeway announced plans in May 2010 that the Inwood Road location, the last to use the Simon David banner, will be replaced with a Tom Thumb, pending permit approvals.

External links

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