Remember When This Former Russian President Loved This Texas Supermarket

Throughout Texas' history, many world leaders have come to visit for important meetings. During the late 80s, there was a former Russian president that had a life changing experience at a local supermarket in Houston, Texas. That man being Boris Yeltsin.

When did Boris Yeltsin visit a Texas supermarket?

On September 16, 1989, before he became the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin would make a stop at a local supermarket in Houston while visiting the United States for the first time in his life. After he visited the Johnson Space Center, he made a stop at a local Randall's Food, that was located on El Dorado Boulevard and Highway 3.

Thankfully there exists photos of this incredible visit from Boris in Houston; and there's more found thanks to the Houston Chronicle & Houston Public Media. The most famous photo is this one of Boris eyeing the Jello-O pudding pops.

During a visit to the United States in 1989, future Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited an ordinary supermarket in Houston. He was amazed by the huge assortment of goods and waved his hands in amazement.
byu/ua-stena inRareHistoricalPhotos

Now this visit may not seem so amazing to us; it us it looks like just a normal trip to the supermarket. But at the time, Boris was living in a Russia where food was hard to come by. After seeing the abundance of foods we had in Texas (and America), Boris made it a goal to make sure that the people of Russia could also have access to food, for the good of its people.

Under Boris' rule, there was a shift from a communist country to a more capitalist country. Those changes would lead to a HUGE increase in the amount of food that was imported into Russia after Boris' visit at that supermarket, even after Boris stepped down in 1999.

In case you're wondering if the store is still around, the answer is "yes". While it's not a Randall's anymore today, the store IS still up, just under a new name: Food Town.

If you want to see more stories about Texas' international impact, you can read about the piece of Texas that's been in the UK for centuries & is still in London here.

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