Tom Thumb Anchors $4.8M Fort Worth Store as $29M Road Fix Follows Deadly Crashes

Tom Thumb is planning a new grocery store in Northwest Fort Worth at 6250 West Bailey Boswell Road, with construction on the 59,951-square-foot building carrying an estimated cost of $4.8 million, according to public state licensing filings. The store, listed as Tom Thumb #4821, is set to include a dedicated meat department, deli, and bakery inside a project positioned near Boat Club Road and Eagle Mountain Lake.

As reported by WhatNow Dallas, public filings indicate construction is scheduled to begin in December 2026 and wrap up by December 2027, though the outlet notes those dates are subject to change and are not always definitive. Tom Thumb representatives told WhatNow Dallas that no additional details about an opening timeline are available at this time. The TDLR filing, numbered TABS2026028570, lists Dallas-based Malouf Interests Inc. as the project developer.

The grocery store will anchor a three-building commercial project called Boat Club Landing, according to the Fort Worth Report. The development also includes two additional retail buildings of 15,504 square feet each, budgeted at $2.2 million apiece. Developer CEO Steve Gregory has said official store announcements would come this fall.

A Road Project Tied to Past Tragedy

The retail build is timed to coincide with a $29 million Fort Worth bond infrastructure project starting next month, which will convert West Bailey Boswell Road from an undivided four-lane road into a divided four-lane thoroughfare, the Fort Worth Report reports. Plans call for a 16-foot median, shared-use paths, and five new traffic signals between Boat Club Road and Wind River Drive. City officials have noted the road segment previously experienced multiple traffic fatalities.

That history includes a September 2021 collision near Boswell High School that killed two teenage brothers, according to city project documents cited by CBS News Texas. The crash prompted community advocacy for median barriers and signalization, with residents petitioning the city council for safety barriers and dedicated turn lanes following the tragedy.

Fort Worth has already begun clearing the way for that widening. In March, the city council authorized spending $344,712.50 to acquire a 0.426-acre right-of-way easement from Boaz Holdings, LP at the same 6250 West Bailey Boswell Road address, according to municipal records. The funding for that acquisition originated from Fort Worth's 2022 Bond Program.

Suburbs Compete for Grocery Anchors

The new store's arrival has also stirred some inter-municipal friction. Leadership in neighboring Saginaw has raised concerns about sales tax leakage after Fort Worth secured the Tom Thumb-anchored development so close to Saginaw's border, per the same Fort Worth Report account, illustrating how nearby suburbs actively compete to keep major grocery anchors — and the consumer spending that follows them — within their own limits.

Competition may not stop there. H-E-B owns property across the street at the southeast corner of Bailey Boswell Road and Boat Club Road, where a Bahama Buck's pad site was under construction this year, the Fort Worth Report notes. H-E-B has been land-banking sites across the Metroplex for prospective stores, a pattern Hoodline has tracked elsewhere in Fort Worth.

Growth Driving the Demand

The push for new grocery space reflects Tarrant County's rapid growth. U.S. Census Bureau estimates show the county's population reached 2.25 million in 2025 after adding more than 18,000 residents in a single year, ranking it among the 10 fastest-growing counties numerically in the country, according to WFAA. Tarrant County remains the third-most populous county in Texas.

Tom Thumb, founded in Dallas in 1948 by J.R. Bost and Robert B. Cullum after they acquired six folded Toro supermarket locations, has served the Dallas-Fort Worth area for decades. The chain later merged with Randalls and Safeway before becoming an Albertsons banner in 2015, per the Texas State Historical Association. Tom Thumb and parent company Albertsons supply their North Texas stores through a regional distribution center in nearby Roanoke, which also serves Albertsons, Randalls, and Market Street locations across the region.

Tom Thumb locations typically feature a Starbucks café, fresh produce, a wine and spirits selection, and Safeway-brand products, along with pharmacy services. Shoppers also get access to the Just for U app, which offers fuel rewards and personalized digital coupons through a loyalty program. The Northwest Fort Worth expansion follows a similar pattern the grocer has pursued elsewhere in North Texas, including a Lucas land rush reported by Hoodline earlier this year, though the chain has not always moved forward on every planned site.