Fiesta Mart
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1972 in Houston, Texas, United States |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Products | Bakery, beer, dairy, delicatessen, frozen foods, gasoline, generalmerchandise, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, wine |
| Owner | ACON Investments |
| Website | fiestamart |
Fiesta Mart Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Houston, Texas that was established in 1972. Fiesta Mart stores are located in Texas. The chain uses a cartoon parrot as a mascot. As of 2004 it operated 34 supermarkets in Greater Houston, 16 supermarkets in other locations in Texas, and 17 Beverage Mart liquor store locations. During the same year it had 7.5% of the grocery market share in Greater Houston. Many of its stores were located in Hispanic neighborhoods and other neighborhoods with minority ethnic groups.
The chain caters to Hispanic and ethnic customers; Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal said "The company has been successful at targeting the Hispanic market and specifically catering to their needs and shopping styles." Bernie Murphy, a spokesperson for Fiesta, said in 2006 that at some stores Hispanics make up to 70% of those stores's clientele. Fiesta caters to these customers with a large selection of foods and ingredients that are generally not available at a typical grocery store. Fiesta stores also often include several other stores owned by independent operators, such as discount jewelry and banking. Fiesta also operates Fiesta Liquor Stores, where only alcohol is sold.
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, in the Near Northside.
As the demographics of Houston changed, by the late 1970s Fiesta added African, Indian, Korean, Filipino, 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 second and third-generation Hispanics.
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Wikipedia