Grocery Stores: What's up (Dallas, San Antonio: sales, salons, real estate)

[harleytexas]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

Fiesta is the closest grocery store to UT but it's hard to get some staples there so I don't shop there.

What staples do they not have? They have milk, bread, eggs, meat, and produce.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by harleytexas

We've tried that and were told they don't carry ......... and they aren't going to order it because it's not popular enough to carry.

It's all about the precious "Shelf Space"......that is what mega-groceries are all about.....suppliers pay more the closer the product is to eye level, or to the center of the store....some products like cereal are placed at the bottom two shelves so kids can grab them.....same with some candies......some entire aisles/shelves are the complete turf of certain companies, which is why you only see say Pepsi or Frito-Lay products in certain areas....

Now, for a new product to be sold, some shelf space has to be either given up or shared.....that means either you p*ss off some supplier with a contract, or you crowd another space.....also, hard to say what that supplier will charge H-E-B for wholesale pricing. If it isn't cheap enough for HEB's liking, even if they were initially inclined to shelf it, they won't buy it. They also have to sign a complicated contract per shelf space if they DO sign, regarding the wheres and wherefores of supplying HEB with the goods......keep in mind that HEB has 60% of our local market, which gives them a very strong hand vs. suppliers.....that they would NOT have with more competition........

Some here have said there is little problem with a majority share in a basic staple in Austin...wrong....it means they dictate what gets shelved, and what YOU buy and eat at H-E-B........and most people in Austin shop there for most of their groceries, so that means quite a lot....

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Some here have said there is little problem with a majority share in a basic staple in Austin...wrong....it means they dictate what gets shelved, and what YOU buy and eat at H-E-B........and most people in Austin shop there for most of their groceries, so that means quite a lot....

You really give people no credit for making decisions for themselves. Nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head to shop at HEB. People shop there of their own volition. If they don't like HEB there are other options. Most people in Austin shop there for most of their groceries does mean quite a lot: it's a good grocery store, with good service, and good prices.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

You really give people no credit for making decisions for themselves. Nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head to shop at HEB. People shop there of their own volition. If they don't like HEB there are other options. Most people in Austin shop there for most of their groceries does mean quite a lot: it's a good grocery store, with good service, and good prices.

....and the only large grocery game in town....honestly, what even comes CLOSE to competing with HEB on their own level?......They are everywhere, and have the collective market share of the entire metro area....and their shelf space is their trump card....if you are a supplier, and want to sell to the Austin market in a large way, either you get shelved with HEB, or you don't...and if you don't, you are out of the grocery supplier game in the Austin metro....

[love roses]

Walmart, Target and Randalls I believe, give them competition on or very close to their level. The other stores that exist in Austin do as well, even if there aren't several of them on every corner. Fiesta is actually a relatively sizeable company and are a significant presence in Houston too.

[Trainwreck20]

We are very close to a Randall's and an HEB. We shop at HEB for a variety of reasons, but it is not due to the lack of another option.

[Mr. Solis]

I love H-E-B and H-E-B plus, and I love Wal-Mart Super Centers. And I love the local Foys we have, and the Juniors, and even the little meat markets we have on every corner.

I am in fact very grateful for the vast variety of choices I have when I need to go buy some stuff. We sometimes just pick a direction from our house, and just go to the store thats in that direction.

And when we are in these huge evil stores, we love the air conditioning as it hits you like a freight train as you walk in the door, and the friendly faces of the workers as we walk in with our little family, they greet us and really seem to appreciate that we picked their store for that day. Sometimes we just walk around in amazement at the 1,000's of choices of food products and non-food products from all over the world. Sometimes we tell are kids, do you know where India is, this product came from there, from the other side of the world. This one from Italy, that one and many more from China, and on and on. The prices sometimes are so amazingly cheap, compared to other stuff, say like electricity, water, and gasoline!

Then again, I went to the very close-by local dollar store the other day to hopefully get some fried fish cornmeal breading stuff, cuz we were in a hurry, but they didnt have any, dang it. We just used flour instead, cuz we didnt want to make a little longer trip to the big luxurious stores they have around here in any direction, except south that is.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Mr. Solis

I love H-E-B and H-E-B plus, and I love Wal-Mart Super Centers. And I love the local Foys we have, and the Juniors, and even the little meat markets we have on every corner.

I am in fact very grateful for the vast variety of choices I have when I need to go buy some stuff. We sometimes just pick a direction from our house, and just go to the store thats in that direction.

And when we are in these huge evil stores, we love the air conditioning as it hits you like a freight train as you walk in the door, and the friendly faces of the workers as we walk in with our little family, they greet us and really seem to appreciate that we picked their store for that day. Sometimes we just walk around in amazement at the 1,000's of choices of food products and non-food products from all over the world. Sometimes we tell are kids, do you know where India is, this product came from there, from the other side of the world. This one from Italy, that one and many more from China, and on and on. The prices sometimes are so amazingly cheap, compared to other stuff, say like electricity, water, and gasoline!

Then again, I went to the very close-by local dollar store the other day to hopefully get some fried fish cornmeal breading stuff, cuz we were in a hurry, but they didnt have any, dang it. We just used flour instead, cuz we didnt want to make a little longer trip to the big luxurious stores they have around here in any direction, except south that is.

Well, we have so little choice than we either love it or leave it.....40+ HEB's.....11 Randalls....and a small handful of other, healthier choices....and it isn't just Austin either......

It looks like we have a plentitute of choices, but its an illusion..fact is, you have two stores that make all the purchasing/supplier decisions per what Austin eats....and one of those two controls 60% of the grocery market locally, and growing......

Question....how would you like it if all the other staples were controlled by 1-2 companies?....Is just retail grocery okay, or is it cool for the whole palate of retail to be controlled by a small handful, precluding any chance whatsoever fior a smaller player to muscle in with strength? At what point would you say a local retail sector is essentially controlled by a single company? 60% share? 70% share? 80%? 90?.......

Is there really a small business mindset in Austin, per the whole "Keep Austin Weird" campaign, which was a chamber of commerce led attempt to keep small business in Austin viable? Or has Austin sold-out completely to the one mega-franchise fits all concept, like the rest of the sunbelt, and most of the nation?

Is small business in Austin dead? What sectors besides entertainment/restuarants are not big-box/franchise controlled, locally or not?

[Mr. Solis]

Maybe it is dead, the small business dreams of millions.

So, just like when my gran-pappy died years ago.......you just have to roll with the punches

Eat while you can, and enjoy it

[mudbug]

New grocery group coming to town. Sprouts Farmers Markets. Five new locations in the Austin area.
Sprouts are small foot print stores with great produce. Kinda like a Central Market but smaller.
I think you will really enjoy these stores when they open. First one in Round Rock in September.
On HEB I have to say stop shoving your store brands down our throats. Try finding Green Giant frozen vegs. No store brands are not always as good try the HEB vanilla wafers. My dog would not eat them and he likes cookies.