Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Mission: taxes, mold)

[GWhopper]

Found this neat article on the net regarding Handy Andy. Anyone remember the little balding man in the logo? I found a picture along with the article showing the N New Braunfels store in Alamo Heights:

Handy Andy Supermarkets, once a major competitor in San Antonio's grocery industry, was one of the nation's largest Hispanic-owned firms in the 1980s.

Over time, "food wars" — competitively low pricing — took a toll on the locally based chain. Though Handy Andy still has stores on the West and South sides, to many who recall the chain's heyday, it's as if it no longer exists.

The chain began in Miami in the 1920s, but after a hurricane the company moved here in 1926 and grew, according to news archives.

Handy Andy hired an internationally recognized gourmet specialist in the early 1970s to oversee its gourmet food services, and it added preservative-free foods and other organic items in 1974.

The chain was named Retailer of the Year in 1972 and given a Distinguished Merchant Award in '74, by the Brand Names Foundation, for community involvement and retail professionalism, the San Antonio Express reported.

The chain was in its prime when it opened its 30th local store in 1975, at San Pedro Avenue and Bitters Road. The 36,674-square-foot store was state-of-the-art, with electronic cash registers; bakery, wine and card shops; and a loading area near the front where workers would load groceries into customers' cars, instead of wheeling them across a parking lot.

Handy Andy No. 14, a downtown store and the city's only chain-owned grocery store with wood floors, closed in 1979.

At the same time, other stores were being expanded to include such amenities as deli counters and service desks where customers could pay utility bills, buy stamps and cash checks.

The chain won a $19.5 million contract in 1980 to serve up to 60,000 meals daily at Lackland AFB, the Express reported. Handy Andy then had 57 stores in Texas.

But in late 1981, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, cut pay by 10 percent for most of its 3,700 employees and moved its headquarters, to cut costs. It also closed a store on the Northeast Side, nine stores in Houston and five in Corpus Christi.

At the time, Deluxe Supermarkets, a local independent chain, had recently gone out of business in a crowded market, with Ohio-based Kroger Stores and locally based H.E. Butt Grocery Co. rapidly expanding.

Handy Andy President Robert Stewart blamed the chain's woes on high interest and lease rates and competitive pricing.

"We have never in the history of this country seen anything like we've seen here today," he told United Press International. "Food wars normally happen for three or four months, and then they're over."

After a 1983 change in ownership and management, including the start of produce magnate Frank Sepulveda's involvement as majority owner, Handy Andy was down to just 20 stores but reporting a profit that was being reinvested in upgrades, so the chain could once again be competitive.

According to Hispanic Business magazine, Handy Andy was the third-largest Hispanic-owned firm in 1987, with $170 million in sales. The magazine reported $154 million in sales for the company for 1990 and $148 million for 1992.

In late 1993, Kroger exited the local market, selling 15 stores to Arizona-based Megafoods Stores, which operated as Texans' Supermarkets. A few months later, Megafoods bought 21 Handy Andy stores.

In 1997, Megafoods sold Handy Andy back to Sepulveda. The chain had 20 stores, including 17 locally, and 900 employees.

The chain expanded in 2000 when it bought Wuest Grocery Stores in Seguin and Lockhart. Later that year, it defaulted on a $12 million loan, and Grocers Supply Co., a Houston-based food wholesaler, took over.

Martin Sloane, author of a New York-based syndicated newspaper column called the Supermarket Shopper, praised Handy Andy in 1997 for lowering its shelves to no more than 6 feet, so smaller customers could reach items easily. Sloane said other grocers should follow Handy Andy's lead.

Handy Andy now has 14 stores, including six in San Antonio, two in New Braunfels, and one each in Seguin and Schertz. Its stores, small by today's terms, mark their competitively priced items with bilingual signs: "Red Tag Special" — "Etiqueta Roja Especial."

[GWhopper]

I also managed to find these pictures of the sunken gardens while it was still being maintained. I hope they do go ahead with that proposed restoration

[GWhopper]

I found two more photos on the net, this time from a site celebrating cities' architecture. The first image is an advertisement for the Olmos dam, inviting people to "drive across it". The second one had no name, but it was in the san antonio area of the website. Looking at it, I am sure it is a very, very old photograph of North Star Mall. This would have had to be taken long before they made 4-10 into an overpass over San Pedro. Strange, if I am correct, the mall looks amazingly similar today. It's only the poor quality image and the state of the roads and surrounding buildings that lead you to believer this is a very old image.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

I don't think it was at 410/Evers. I didn't venture that far west when I was a kid. But it could have been somewhere in the NW or NC areas.

No, it wasn't Spaghetti W either.

Then it is probably not the building Primo mentioned earlier which became the Hungry Horse Cafe. That had a school bus or something sticking out of it. But it was on Evers and Wurzbach. I want to say I vaguely remember something on Fredricksburg inside the loop, but I could very well be mistaken.

Wait a minute, was this place a restaurant?

[smuboy86]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

I found two more photos on the net, this time from a site celebrating cities' architecture. The first image is an advertisement for the Olmos dam, inviting people to "drive across it". The second one had no name, but it was in the san antonio area of the website. Looking at it, I am sure it is a very, very old photograph of North Star Mall. This would have had to be taken long before they made 4-10 into an overpass over San Pedro. Strange, if I am correct, the mall looks amazingly similar today. It's only the poor quality image and the state of the roads and surrounding buildings that lead you to believer this is a very old image.

That pic of NSM has to be post 85 because both Foley's and Marshall Field's are in that picture. The road that runs in front is San Pedro, you can't see where 410 over passes it.

[ShaneSA]

I've gotten into the Sunken Gardens during the renovation. I have connections with the zoo and was takn on an update tour for officials. And it truly is a renovation. Everything is being put back to original condition. That includes the gazebo with wooden dowels holding up the roof beams and the wood shingles. The pool is a problem right now...it has a leak. the original fish are at the zoo.
give it some time...I don;t know when, but it will be back to "normal" soon.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by ShaneSA

I've gotten into the Sunken Gardens during the renovation. I have connections with the zoo and was takn on an update tour for officials. And it truly is a renovation. Everything is being put back to original condition. That includes the gazebo with wooden dowels holding up the roof beams and the wood shingles. The pool is a problem right now...it has a leak. the original fish are at the zoo.
give it some time...I don;t know when, but it will be back to "normal" soon.

That is great news. Whenever they announce a grand (re) opening, we should all try and be there. Maybe get some t-shirts made so we can recognize each other as being from this forum.

Last time I was there when it was "normal" was prom night. I remember going back a few years later and it was still open, but all the water was gone. I heard it was a drought year, so they drained the gardens. Then it closed up shortly after that. Talk about a major shame.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by smuboy86

That pic of NSM has to be post 85 because both Foley's and Marshall Field's are in that picture. The road that runs in front is San Pedro, you can't see where 410 over passes it.

I think you are right. I knew it looked too close to what it does today to have been from near the opening. Not sure why someone would age the photo to make it look older, though. I found this on a site that celebrated city architecture, you think they'd be interested in presenting the best view of their subject. Still, looking at the buildings across of 410 and across rector as well as the state of San Pedro at the time, it must have been real close to 1985.

[Primo]

I might be wrong, but on Frederickburg...at the present day "Babes Hamburgers"......wasn't that a Wendy's that was some sort of train car too....similar to the one on Bandera?

Right near there during the 80's, was a car stereo shop "Mobile Hi Fi"...it was built in a dounut shop...was that a Wenchels or Dunkin?

[Primo]

Anyone have any photos of the Sky Ride next to Sunken Gardens? What year did that close? What year was it taken down?

I haven't been to Sunken Gardens or the Zoo in years. Do they still have those bubble looking vending machines that make you a plastic mold of the animals? Those were cool.