Goodbye and hello

End of an era? Most Rice Epicurean grocery stores to be replaced with FreshMarket

Four of five Rice Epicureans will be replaced with Fresh Markets.
Rice Epicurean Markets/Facebook
The four new branches mark Fresh Markets' first expansion into Texas.
The Fresh Market/Facebook
Rice Epicurean founder William Levy, left, stands before the Houston chain'sfirst location in Rice Village.
In addition to a vast selection of gourmet items, Fresh Markets offers anextensive line of prepared foods.
The Fresh Market/Facebook

Rice Epicurean — Houston's oldest family-owned grocery store chain — announced Wednesday that it will be paring down its presence in the Bayou City, as specialty food retailer Fresh Market takes over four of its five area locations. Rice Epicurean’s branch at 2020 Fountain View is not part of the agreement and will maintain its classic name.

The affected stores will remain open through the holiday season, before Fresh Market begins an extensive renovation project that will create its first forays into the Lone Star grocery market by fall 2013.

"We are excited to expand into Texas, and into Houston in particular," said Fresh Market president Craig Carlock in a statement. “We look forward to introducing The Fresh Market’s concept of quality perishable food, excellent customer service and unique shopping atmosphere to a new set of customers, and we look forward to offering our new neighbors a distinctive food shopping experience, one that we think cannot be beaten.”

Fresh Market promotes it stores as conveying "the atmosphere of an old world European market," offering what it calls "old-style" butcher shops, fish markets, delicatessens, bakeries and produce stands. The national chain also enjoys a solid reputation for extensive prepared food options.

“We are excited to welcome The Fresh Market to the Houston metropolitan area and to introduce their concept to our customers and neighbors," said Rice Epicurean spokesperson Bruce Levy. "We believe their stores will be an excellent fit in this market.”

Rice Epicurean began in 1937 as a small shop known as the the Rice Boulevard Food Market. After briefly going public in the late 1960s and expanding to four other locations, the grocery store gained national attention in 1988 after the launch of its "epicurean" concept — balancing a stock of special food with grocery staples.

In other grocery store news, Katy will be getting a new Whole Foods in late January as the organic grocer continues its Houston-area expansion along with Trader Joe's and Kroger. Since the summer, two other Whole Foods have been announced for northwest Houston and the Galleria area.

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No Cap

Houston ranked No. 3 destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Alexander Londoño on Unsplash

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As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, and now Houston, which had the third-highest inflow of Gen Zers in 2023.

H-Town's new reputation as a Gen Z hotspot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Houston saw an influx of 22,868 Gen Z residents last year to become the generations third most popular city. That's up from ranking as the No. 11 most popular city in 2022. Houston gained fewer than 7,600 new Gen Z residents during that time in comparison to 2023's migration trend.

Houston started gaining traction as an up-and-coming destination for Gen Zers last year, when the "experience-hungry generation" was on the hunt for an affordable place to live with vast opportunities for entertainment, education, or employment.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree on a statewide scale, declaring Texas as the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

While Houston saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus.

"El Paso, Texas, has lost the most residents from this generation, with a drop of 5,607, a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

The report also surprisingly revealed that Houston is also one of the top destinations for millennials and Gen X, whereas both New York City and Los Angeles lost more residents among those two generations in comparison.

Houston ranked as the No. 1 city for Gen Xers and No. 4 for millennials based on their respective migration trends in 2023. Houston gained 6,312 new Gen X residents last year – the most nationwide – and the fourth-highest amount of millennials (5,301 new residents).

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota