Fiesta Mart - History

History

In 1972, Donald Bonham and O.C. Mendenhall started Fiesta; neither of the men had Hispanic ethnic backgrounds. Bonham had farmed in Belize and Guatemala and supervised the creation of a Chilean supermarket chain. When Bonham returned to Texas, he believed that Houston-area businesses did not adequately cater to Mexican Americans, a large segment of the city's population. Bonham opened the first Fiesta, which catered exclusively to Hispanic Americans. As the demographics of Houston changed, by the late 1970s Fiesta added African, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese items.. By the mid-1980s Fiesta had 15 stores. By 1989 the stores also featured items catering to African Americans and Thai Americans. By that year Fiesta had $420 million in annual sales, including $25 million in apparel sales. As the chain developed, its clientele became larger and included Hispanics in the second and third generations.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fiesta operated a very large supermarket and general goods store, an early version of modern supercenters like Walmart Supercenter or SuperTarget, at the southwest side of the intersection of I-45 and Texas State Highway NASA Road 1 in Webster, TX. This store was targeted towards the surrounding community, which was one of the more affluent Houston suburbs. It featured a large, sloped hydroponic garden along the north wall. The floor space was slowly sold off in portions in the 1990s. As of 2011, the location is now called the NASA Value Center Shopping Center and has no Fiesta presence.

In 1994, Fiesta acquired four locations sold by Appletree Markets. In 1998 Fiesta made a marketing agreement with Conoco Inc. to allow the gas station chain to build gas stations on the properties of Fiesta supermarkets. In 1999 Fiesta had 10.9% of Houston's grocery market.

In 2004, Fiesta Mart was acquired by Grocers Supply, a family owned Houston-based wholesale groceries distributor. On July 23, 2008 Fiesta Mart acquired eleven Carnival Brand stores from Minyard Food Stores.