Actually, the two Tom Thumb stores were sold to Albertsons in the mid 80's. Longview lasted until 2008; Tyler to 2011. Both marked the first stores for the chain in both cities; Tyler would get a new store built on the other side of town in the 90's which was sold to Brookshire; Longview took over the Skaggs when ASC sold the Dallas division (which had been branded Jewel in 1991). Only the Longview Skaggs that became Albertsons is still Albertsons.architect wrote: ↑August 21st, 2020, 6:06 pm After further investigation, the store was most likely Weingarten's out of Houston. I know for sure that the Wards Drugs was in the space at the far north end of the shopping center, and that the present Stein Mart space started out as a grocer.
Tom Thumb did make an entry into East Texas in the 1980's with a single store each in both Tyler and Longview. Both stores were sold to Albertsons in the 1990's. The Longview store closed fairly quickly, while the Tyler store held out until 2011 with little renovation. It is now a Walmart Neighborhood Market.
The Tyler store was indeed Weingarten.