PHOTO GALLERY: 2 New H-E-B Stores in Texas Celebrate 1st Day
Hot on the heels – or Texas spurs, as it may be – of a new opening in Katy near Houston, H-E-B unveiled two other locations this week.
In the San Antonio area, the Texas grocer went big for the March 6 grand opening of a 110,000-square foot H-E-B outpost at 29388 I-10 West in Boerne, Texas. Anchoring a new mixed-use development called Lemon Creek Ranch, the latest H-E-B store – described as “bougie” by some social media users – will service consumers in the Boerne and Fair Oaks communities.
The interior of the Boerne/Fair Oaks store features wider aisles and an expanded assortment, including a larger wine and cheese selection, a bakery department with artisan baked goods and store-made tortillas, a produce section with locally-grown fruits and vegetables and expansive fresh meat and seafood departments. The grocer is also providing solutions with prepared foods merchandised in a “Meal Simple” area, grab-and-go sushi and programming including live demos and samples in the “Cooking Connection” department. Shoppers can find nonfood items like health, personal care and beauty offerings, H-E-B merchandise and seasonal outdoor essentials in the Texas Backyard section.
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H-E-B is making the shopping experience easy for shoppers, too, with an H-E-B Curbside area with covered parking and home delivery services. As with other recently-opened stores, this one has a drive-thru pharmacy and a fuel station with 20 gas pumps.
“Along with commitment to top-quality service and selection, our H-E-B partners [associates] are excited to serve our neighbors in this growing community,” said store leader Gilbert De La Rosa. “We are excited to provide our customers a dynamic shopping experience and look forward to serving up the best H-E-B has to offer.”
Also on March 6, the retailer welcomed shoppers to a new H-E-B in Humble, Texas, the 95th store in the Houston market. That 117,000-square-foot location at 16000 Woodland Hills Drive in the Madera Run community includes a similar array of amenities, assortments and services.
“This is my fourth store to open in the Houston area, and this will be a true neighborhood store,” said Carol Thelen-Sonnier, general manager and an 18-year H-E-B team member. “My team and I are excited to be a part of this community, and the partners working here will represent the area in the true Spirit of H-E-B.”
H-E-B is giving back to the respective services areas as it joins the business community. In Humble, the retailer is donating $5,000 to local nonprofit Inspire ND, which supports inclusive communities for young adults with neurodiversity. In Boerne and Fair Oaks, H-E-B marked the grand opening by giving $10,000 to Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries, group that helps those in need with food and other resources.
On a broader level, H-E-B is supporting those affected by devastating wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. H-E-B and Chairman Charles Butt are donating $1 million to aid residents and first responders with recovery efforts. Butt gave $500,000 to the State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund, and H-E-B committed another $500,000 to help nonprofits responding to the crisis, in addition to providing truckloads of products to the food bank.
With sales of $43 billion, H-E-B has more than 430 stores and 154,000 employees in Texas and Mexico. The largest privately held employer in Texas is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
