Breaking: Minyard sells remaining stores to Fiesta

[architect]

Just announced: Minyard will be selling their remaining namesake stores, along with two Sun Fresh locations, to Fiesta. The Sun Fresh stores included in the sale are the Forest Lane (Dallas) and Harwood Road (Bedford) locations. The remaining Sun Fresh stores will continue operations, but will officially be run without the Minyard branding.

Dallas Morning News Article

[lake]

Aren't most of Minyard's locations in hispanic dominated areas now? If so this a great sale and it will keep the stores from reverting to Albertsons like what happened to Haggen.

[pseudo3d]

Minyard had been pretty much dead since the original family sold out some years ago (many of the stores, including their Carnival brand, went to Fiesta), so it's not terribly surprising to see them go dead for real, especially since some of the remaining stores became Cash Saver a few months ago.

The two sold MSFM stores include one Albertsons and one Tom Thumb.

[architect]

Minyard had been pretty much dead since the original family sold out some years ago (many of the stores, including their Carnival brand, went to Fiesta), so it's not terribly surprising to see them go dead for real, especially since some of the remaining stores became Cash Saver a few months ago.

The two sold MSFM stores include one Albertsons and one Tom Thumb.

Personally, I think that this deal is a win for all parties involved. By selling the remaining Minyard stores which are local in predominantly poor neighborhoods (and are likely a dead-end for traditional grocers due to competition, theft issues, etc), RLS Supermarkets can focus their energy on the remaining Sun Fresh stores which have more potential for growth simply due to being in better locations. For Fiesta, most of these stores are located near a strong Hispanic shopper base, and will likely fit their format well. The two Sun Fresh locations are interesting, as the Forest Lane store is located near heavily Hispanic areas to the west along Webb Chapel. On the other hand, the Harwood store is further from any predominantly Hispanic areas, with the closest Hispanic neighborhoods being south of 183 in Euless and Hurst.

Aren't most of Minyard's locations in hispanic dominated areas now? If so this a great sale and it will keep the stores from reverting to Albertsons like what happened to Haggen.

The original Minyard Food Stores were never owned by Albertsons. Minyard used to be a significant local player in the DFW grocery market, much like Tom Thumb under its original ownership. However, over time, Minyard failed to invest in their stores, and as a result, was pushed out by competition except in neighborhoods where competitors were not interested in operating (hence the reason most remaining Minyard stores are located in poor neighborhoods). When Albertsons was forced to divest 12 Albertsons/Tom Thumb stores due to the merger, they intentionally sold them to Minyard in anticipation that Minyard's shoddy reputation would lead the stores to close (which often turned out to be the case).

[pseudo3d]

What's the progress on converting the Minyard stores? The newspapers suggest "over the next two months", which indicates it would be a slow process as they phase in Fiesta systems and products. I know that when Fiesta bought a handful of AppleTree locations (former Safeway/Weingarten stores), they closed the stores for a weekend for a reset, but it sounds like Minyard will remain open the whole time with the name applied last (I believe there's a Carnival store they bought from Minyard that they never officially rebranded).

[architect]

What's the progress on converting the Minyard stores? The newspapers suggest "over the next two months", which indicates it would be a slow process as they phase in Fiesta systems and products. I know that when Fiesta bought a handful of AppleTree locations (former Safeway/Weingarten stores), they closed the stores for a weekend for a reset, but it sounds like Minyard will remain open the whole time with the name applied last (I believe there's a Carnival store they bought from Minyard that they never officially rebranded).

So far, I have seen no signs of conversion, with no updates on either the Minyard website or Facebook page since the original purchase announcement was made. Also, as of last night, the Forest Lane Sun Fresh was still signed as such, though I am not sure if it was still open (I passed by the store and took a quick glimpse). None of the other stores to be converted are located close to where I live, but I will keep an eye out on their progress as time allows.

Honestly, I expect that some of these stores may be forced to close for conversion, simply due to their poor physical condition. Some of the older Minyard stores have not seen any capital investment in years.

[pseudo3d]

What's the progress on converting the Minyard stores? The newspapers suggest "over the next two months", which indicates it would be a slow process as they phase in Fiesta systems and products. I know that when Fiesta bought a handful of AppleTree locations (former Safeway/Weingarten stores), they closed the stores for a weekend for a reset, but it sounds like Minyard will remain open the whole time with the name applied last (I believe there's a Carnival store they bought from Minyard that they never officially rebranded).

So far, I have seen no signs of conversion, with no updates on either the Minyard website or Facebook page since the original purchase announcement was made. Also, as of last night, the Forest Lane Sun Fresh was still signed as such, though I am not sure if it was still open (I passed by the store and took a quick glimpse). None of the other stores to be converted are located close to where I live, but I will keep an eye out on their progress as time allows.

Honestly, I expect that some of these stores may be forced to close for conversion, simply due to their poor physical condition. Some of the older Minyard stores have not seen any capital investment in years.

In my experience Fiesta stores tend to be very old and run down, resembling the store before them. I know that the Bellaire Blvd. Fiesta in Houston still has hung onto décor at least going back to 1989, and the one on Wirt Road is also in fairly poor physical condition as well.

[pseudo3d]

I read that they were converting officially this month, so I don't know if their plan to slowly convert was axed in favor of a quick reset or not. It should also be noted that four of the stores bought were converted to Cash Saver back in January (listed on Minyard's website with no differentiation and unrelated to Lawrence Bros.-operated Cash Savers in North Texas).

EDIT: Based on the shrinkage of stores from the current Minyard store locator to one even in Google's cache [http://archive.is/mUAZ7], it looks like Fiesta may have closed a few stores permanently like 2130 East Ledbetter (Cash Saver) or Waxahachie (which only opened in October 2012).

[storewanderer]

So what did the Bellaire Blvd. Fiesta start as?

What about the one at 9420 Cullen (looks like an Alpha Beta gable but I know there is no way...).

[architect]

I read that they were converting officially this month, so I don't know if their plan to slowly convert was axed in favor of a quick reset or not. It should also be noted that four of the stores bought were converted to Cash Saver back in January (listed on Minyard's website with no differentiation and unrelated to Lawrence Bros.-operated Cash Savers in North Texas).

EDIT: Based on the shrinkage of stores from the current Minyard store locator to one even in Google's cache [http://archive.is/mUAZ7], it looks like Fiesta may have closed a few stores permanently like 2130 East Ledbetter (Cash Saver) or Waxahachie (which only opened in October 2012).

The Forest/Marsh Minyard Sun Fresh has also been removed from Sun Fresh's website, while it is actually still operating. I would not read into this too much, as this seems to just be a formality in the process of transferring the stores to Fiesta. These conversions will likely occur on a store by store basis, much like how the Albertsons/Tom Thumb locations divested to Minyard were.