When H-E-B does something, they tend do it big. One of its more well-known tag lines is “No store does more.” The San Antonio-based grocery store chain made headlines with its big moves this year, focusing heavily on expanding its presence. But that was only part of H-E-B’s 25 biggest moments in 2022.
This year the Dallas-Fort Worth area saw its first two H-E-B stores open, while the grocer broke ground on others and made real estate to possibly prepare for future stores, signaling a big push into North Texas. But H-E-B also made some other surprising moves when it comes to technology and new services.
Here are H-E-B’s 25 biggest moments.
H-E-B broke ground on another Dallas-Fort Worth store.
Courtesy of H-E-B
H-E-B buys land in Dallas city limits
The year kicked off with news that H-E-B bought a vacant Alberston’s that closed in 2004 in Dallas, which had many speculating that an H-E-B would be built inside the city limits. The property is still vacant, according to Google, and H-E-B tends to purchase and hold on to real estate.
But it was only a teas of the Texas grocery giant’s push into North Texas with stores outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metro.
Houston H-E-B icon retires
H-E-B’s president of food and drug’s store operations Scott McClelland was a pop culture icon in the Houston area, appearing in commercials with big-time athletes like former Houston Texans player J.J. Watt. In January he announced that we would retire at the end of the year, working the rest of 2022 in a part-time position to help H-E-B’s Dallas expansion. More on that expansion later.
H-E-B breaks ground on McKinney store
Thus kicks of H-E-B’s big 2022 expansion into the DFW area with a groundbreaking for its McKinney location. Stores in Plano and Frisco were already in the works.
H-E-B plans Forney City store
This time, the city officials approved the San Antonio-based grocer’s plans for a store in Forney City, just east of Dallas.
Austin gets another store
H-E-B officials broke ground on the former site of the Nutty Brown Ampitheatre in April for a 103,000-sqaure-foot store in Southeast Austin.
H-E-B ranked as a top grocery store
A retail publication, 24/7 Tempo, ranked H-E-B at No. 15 out of 50 on its list of the top grocery stores in the U.S. in April. It fell below Amazon and Walmart, but H-E-B would later earn other distinctions that would set it above other competitors.
The True Texas BBQ in the New Braunfels store is two stories.
Photo by Gabriel Romero
Two-story True Texas BBQ
H-E-B decided that its old New Braunfels store had had enough and so the company built a new store to replace the old one. The store opened in April with a two-story True Texas BBQ restaurant.
Austin area in line for another H-E-B store
Austin got lucky twice this year, this time with the groundbreaking on a 121,000-square-foot store in May at 1010 W. University Avenue in Georgetown, located in a new 164-acre residential and retail development called Wolf Lakes Village.
H-E-B beats Amazon
That’s right, Amazon has to put in some work to catch up to H-E-B according to the eCommerce Retailer Preference Index, which ranked H-E-B at No. 2 above Amazon and Walmart in online grocery shopping in June.
H-E-B donates $10 million to Uvalde
Uvalde ISD had no plans for its kids to return to Robb Elementary after a mass shooting in May, and H-E-B lent a huge helping hand by donating $10 million in June to go toward building a new elementary school.
The new H-E-B features home décor furniture by H-E-B like woven textiles and accent pieces from the Haven + Key and Texas Proud collections.
H-E-B
H-E-B Home comes to San Antonio
H-E-B’s new home department, called Home by H-E-B, finally opened in its first San Antonio store selling Texas brands Haven + Key and Texas Proud.
New Central Texas facility
In order to bolster support for its Central Texas stores, H-E-B opened a 50,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Leander in July. The new facility supports H-E-B Curbside and its home delivery operations in Central Texas.
More North Texas gains
In late July, H-E-B purchased more property in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This time the grocery store bought property in Prosper and near Garland and Lake Ray Hubbard.
H-E-B among best Texas employers
Texas’ favorite grocery store landed on in the No. 9 spot on Forbes list of the best employers in Texas in August.
Fort Worth gets some H-E-B love
H-E-B continued its North Texas expansion when it announced in August that it is planning a new store in Mansfield, which will mark the company’s first store in Tarrant County.
H-E-B’s new service
H-E-B came through with a way for its loyal customers to save money on brand products with its new debit card program, which would allow customers to save 12% on on H-E-B brands.
Uvalde store set for upgrades
The first store in Uvalde opened in 1959 and in September, H-E-B filed for Texas permits to renovate the Uvalde store for $10 million.
‘Fast Scan’ comes to San Antonio
H-E-B tested a new checkout technology to a San Antonio store- in October called “Fast Scan,” which allows customers to scan groceries on their own and then walk through the Fast Scan archway to purchase their groceries.
H-E-B donates $1 million to Texas parks
H-E-B shared in hikers and nature lovers’ appreciation for the states green spaces and donated $1 million to Texas State Parks in October.
First Dallas-Fort Worth-area stores open
The Frisco store became the first one to open in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in September and then the Plano store would follow with its grand opening in November. Both opened to long lines.
Frisco store reportedly makes $1 million
The Frisco store drew such a crowd on its opening day that the Dallas Morning-News reported that the store made $1 million.
H-E-B to anchor Houston development
H-E-B and Houston developers announced in late October that a 100,000-square-foot store would anchor a retail development called Village Green at Bridgeland Central.
H-E-B breaks ground on a Fort Worth store
In November, H-E-B announced that it broke ground on a 117,000-square-foot store just north of Fort Worth in a community called Alliance.
The only thing that would have made this coozie any better is if it smelled like fresh flour tortillas.
Photo by Gabriel Romero
Now you can wear H-E-B
Superfans of the San Antonio-based grocery store will finally be able to wear the H-E-B brand in the form of socks and shoes when the company opened its first brand store at its Kerrville store in November.
H-E-B ranked sixth largest company
We will round out this list with another ranking from Forbes, which ranked H-E-B No. 6 on its list of largest private American companies in December.