Dive Brief:
- H-E-B continues to expand its store count, with several new locations announced in its home state of Texas.
- The grocery chain last week announced plans for a new store in East Austin that it expects to open in late 2027.
- The week prior, H-E-B said it started construction on two stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — one in Murphy and another in the Mid-Cities area. The grocer expects to open both in 2026.
Dive Insight:
H-E-B has had flourishing store growth in recent months, from expanding its presence in new and existing markets to scaling its variety of store formats.
The two stores under construction in the Dallas-Fort Worth area further the grocer’s expansion efforts in that region. H-E-B opened its first Central Market store in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2001 and in 2022 opened its first stores under its mainstream grocery banner.
The Murphy store will span 122,000 square feet while the Mid-Cities location will be 126,000 square feet. Both will include a full-service H-E-B Pharmacy with a drive-thru, a True Texas BBQ restaurant and a fuel station with car wash. H-E-B said it would share more details about these locations closer to their openings.
In the metropolitan area, the grocer also plans to open H-E-B stores in Irving, Prosper, Melissa and Rockwall as well as a second Joe V’s set in Dallas.
The newly announced store in East Austin will be at McKinney Falls Parkway and William Cannon. Construction is slated to start next year. The location will sell groceries in an underserved area that H-E-B said is seeing booming population growth.
That store is part of a string of 12 projects by H-E-B in the greater Austin area this year. The projects include six new stores and six remodels and/or expansions, including the opening of the grocer’s third location in Pflugerville in November and the kickoff of construction in October on a 106,000-square-foot store in Manor, which is expected to open late next year.
Other future store openings in the greater Austin area include a 145,000-square-foot store in Austin’s South Congress neighborhood on Wednesday, a Georgetown store in late 2025 and a San Marcos location in 2026.
H-E-B has more than 435 stores in Texas and Mexico. Along with its namesake banner, the company runs Joe V’s and Central Market stores throughout Texas and Mi Tienda in Houston.
