H-E-B's $200M Plan for South Austin, TX
H-E-B will invest approximately $200 million in South Austin, Texas, with the opening of three new stores and a major remodel of an existing location. Even with the closure of two older, smaller stores and the repositioning of their staffs, the investments are still expected to bring more than 1,000 new jobs to the area.
Work on one new store is underway, while the other two are set to begin construction in 2020.
H-E-B said that the location on South Congress will be "one of the company's most innovative stores," although with a two-year construction timeline, the doors won't open until 2022. It'll include a community gathering place, a food hall with indoor and outdoor dining spaces, the grocer's first-ever beer garden, two levels of underground parking, and tree-lined sidewalks to encourage walking and biking to the store.
The new Slaughter Lane and I-35 H-E-B is already under construction and will include a full-service pharmacy with drive-thru, H-E-B Curbside and Home Delivery, and a True Texas BBQ restaurant. The location is expected to open on March 27, 2020, while the grocer will close another store without those features that is roughly 2.5 miles away, at South 1st and William Cannon Drive, on April 2.
The Oak Hill community store will replace an existing location less than 2 miles away, opening in late 2020, and the Riverside H-E-B plus! is undergoing a major remodel to add more than 7,000 square feet with more ready-to-eat offerings and an increased H-E-B Curbside space. The Riverside remodel will be complete in early 2020.
“This level of investment has been years in the making, and we are incredibly excited to deliver fresh, new stores to this growing community,” said Jeff Thomas, H-E-B SVP and general manager, central Texas region. "In addition to advancing innovative online services for time savings like H-E-B Curbside and Home Delivery, H-E-B continues to invest heavily in our in-store shopping experience to offer the best selection and services in both avenues.”
According to H-E-B, all of the new and remodeled stores will feature many conservation elements such as rainwater harvesting, water retention ponds, environmentally friendly refrigeration and solar panel installation.
With 400 stores in Texas and Mexico, San Antonio-based H-E-B is No. 6 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
