Safeway to close 15 area Randalls stores

They're closing my 24-hour Randalls, and a lot of other stores:

Safeway said this morning that it will close 15 struggling Randalls stores in the Houston area by the end of the year. Safeway, the owner of Randalls for the last six years, said 36 Randalls stores will remain open in the Houston area.

Safeway purchased Randalls and Tom Thumb from the Onstead family for about $1.8 billion in 1999, when Randalls was the No. 2 chain in Houston, with a 20 percent market share. Since that time, Randalls' market share in Houston has fallen to 10.8 percent, with a quarterly drop of more than 1.5 percent, according to the September issue of the Shelby Report.

I'm stunned Randalls' market share is so low. I would've guessed something like 20 percent. Then again, what the hell do I know? Here's a list of the stores to be shuttered:

• 13350 Jones Road. • 7320 Antoine • 12555 Westheimer • 6805 Highway 6 South • 11021 Fuqua • 7098 Bissonnet • 1302 Blalock Dr. • 4880 Louetta • 1306 W. Davis • 13140 Louetta • 3126 FM 528 in Webster • 570 El Dorado Blvd. in Webster • 4610 Highway 6 South in Sugar Land • 4802 Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena • 2800 E. Broadway in Pearland