H-E-B low-price format Joe V’s Smart Shop branches into North Texas

H-E-B’s low-priced format that is mostly found in the Houston area, is finally branching into new territory after the company recently broke ground on the store. Officials kicked off the start of construction for a Joe V’s Smart Shop in south Dallas, according to a news release from the San Antonio-based grocer.

The 55,000-square-foot Joe V’s Smart Shop will be located at 4101 W Wheatland Road, Dallas, TX 75237. The store is like a scaled down H-E-B store that offers low prices on produce, meat and other major brands. Customers still have access to H-E-B staples like an in-store bakery that makes tortillas, bread and pastries. Customers will even have a Sushiya, H-E-B’s sushi department. 

When the store opens late summer 2024, customers will also find most H-E-B brand products like H-E-B Organics, Central Market, Hill Country Fare and H-E-B Meal Simple. Joe V’s is also known for having a wide selection of Latino cheeses, according to the news release. 

If you’ve never heard of Joe V’s Smart Shop, it’s because you live in San Antonio, a market where H-E-B is king. Joe V’s was created to offer low prices on groceries to the community, an H-E-B spokesperson said in a statement to MySA. Joe V’s was also created to compete with other low-priced formats. 

H-E-B’s chief operating officer Roxanne Orsak told the Dallas Morning News in June that the company knew in 2010 that there was “a very price-conscious customer” that they may have not reached yet. 

“Aldi was a different format, but price mattered to that customer. We wanted to find out how we could compete,” Orsak told the Dallas Morning News.

All 10 Joe V’s locations are in the Houston area, making this Dallas store the first foray out of that area. H-E-B also announced plans to build at second Joe V’s Smart Shop. There are currently no locations in San Antonio.

Correction: The story has been edited to correctly reflect Roxanne Orsak’s title as chief operating officer, say “Houston Area” instead of “East Texas” or “near the Gulf Coast,” and reflest the number of Joe V’s locations, which is 10. It has also been edited to clarify that Joe V’s was not only founded to compete with other low-price formats.