Grocery Stores: What's up (Houston, Austin: prices, groceries, shop)

[inthecut]

Mom and Pop are dead....

So are their groceries.....

The monsters have taken over the asylum....

They go by the name of Super Wal-Mart...Super K-mart...Randalls....H-E-B......Albertsons...and a handful of others....

Meet Mr. Monsanto...........Mr. M sez you can't grow crops without his seed and special pesticides and herbicides......Mr. M also has an exclusive contract with H-E-B, Albertsons, and friends....
if you "grow your own" you are evil, and will get sued........Mr. Monsanto hates little organic co-ops and Mom and Pops stores, cause they can't be bought or sold quite yet.....and least the ones still left and fighting.....

Mr. Monsanto would like to control 100% of you and yours food consumption from cradle to grave....
Mr. M is well on his way to doing that, thanks to his buddies, Mr. HEB, Mr. Randalls, and other friends......

How can you defeat Mr M and friends in Austin?
Simple..shop at these places, and, even better, start your own co-ops.....
Before its too late, and Mr. HEB is the only place to purchase food in ANY form.....

Greenling Organic Delivery - Local food and Organic produce and groceries home delivered - Austin and San Antonio

Wheatsville Co-op

Sunflower Farmers Market - Grocery Store

Sunset Valley Farmers Market | Austin, Texas

Safm Info Page

Bee Cave Farmers Market

Remember...HEB is evil.....stay far away from there......Whole foods and central market are a bastardization of an organic market......organic markets should not be tied to the NYSE, with quarterly reports...they should be local, and only tied to the local community...

Support your local produce supplier, and give the one finger salute to H-E-B and friends...

[inthecut]

Want to know how to start a neighborhood food co-op?

here's how..
How to Start a Food Co-op | eHow.com

[Trainwreck20]

But if you run a neighborhood grocery store, make sure you don't become successful (ala HEB), because then you are the bad guy .

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

But if you run a neighborhood grocery store, make sure you don't become successful (ala HEB), because then you are the bad guy .

Well, we only have a few options for bad guys now...essentially two, Randalls and H-E-B......and a plethora of little guys.....the playing field is just a wee bit weighed in the favor of the large corp.

Or am I wrong?

[Trainwreck20]

HEB was a little company that was (and is) still family owned. They 'made it big', so they are suddenly a bad guy? A lot of little guys buy the same stuff as the big ones, so that is not a 'little guy' advantage. If they open a second store, are they a bad guy now? Or does it take a third or fourth? Or are there 'sorta bad guys'?

I have no problems with co-ops and they will never be put out of business by HEB or anyone else, so I am not sure how it is related. Shop where you want, it IS still a free country .

[orngkat]

HEB is privately owned so cannot be considered "evil" in the same way that a corporation can. I think they sold their soul though when they made a corporate type decision to compete with WalMart.

[Trainwreck20]

Yeah, those HEB Plus stores are pretty depressing, in many ways .

[inthecut]

Open question for you folks....what % of the Austin grocery market does H-E-B have NOW? Surely the majority of people in Austin shop at HEB,the majority of the time....is that right for one business, private OR public, to have the absolute lion's share of the market?

Does it make any difference if HEB is public or private if they eliminate essentially ALL of the smaller competition, besides little organic shops and such? Personally, I think we are so far down the line of business consolidation that we identify with such a removal of choice, ala Stockholm Syndrome..
In a world of little or no choice, including politics, we become GOOD with it.....

HEB is not inherently evil, but the lack of viable choice is........where is the supermarket competition, or the small corner stores? Answer..there simply are none......in this case, HEB IS the "choice", so to speak....like it or not, it is the only "place in your face" virtually everywhere in the Austin metro...with nothing even close in the running......

Call that what you want...

By the way, the family that owns H-E-B is the Butt family....just figures, doesn't it?

Founding figure...Howard Edward Butt...almost seems like a cartoon......i'll remember that next time I buy Butt steak....

More asides....

In 2003, the company was #10 on Forbes' list of largest privately held companies; H-E-B is also the largest privately held company in Texas(Over 14 BILLION in sales!). Mr. Butt, whose fortune is estimated to be over $2 billion, is the richest man in San Antonio.

Mr Butt also rankes #231 in the ranks of the 500 richest in the world...

http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/...atatype=Person



Charles Butt - The man, myth, and legend himself
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Just found out the following:

H-E-B operates over 40 Austin-area stores as of 2007 and holds more than a 60 percent share of the grocery market.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___

And how do they do it?...........

Simple..click here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_pricing

[ladylonghorn2]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Meet Mr. Monsanto...........Mr. M sez you can't grow crops without his seed and special pesticides and herbicides......Mr. M also has an exclusive contract with H-E-B, Albertsons, and friends....
if you "grow your own" you are evil, and will get sued........Mr. Monsanto hates little organic co-ops and Mom and Pops stores, cause they can't be bought or sold quite yet.....and least the ones still left and fighting.....

Mr. Monsanto would like to control 100% of you and yours food consumption from cradle to grave....
Mr. M is well on his way to doing that, thanks to his buddies, Mr. HEB, Mr. Randalls, and other friends......

How can you defeat Mr M and friends in Austin?
Simple..shop at these places, and, even better, start your own co-ops.....
Before its too late, and Mr. HEB is the only place to purchase food in ANY form.....

Greenling Organic Delivery - Local food and Organic produce and groceries home delivered - Austin and San Antonio

Wheatsville Co-op

Sunflower Farmers Market - Grocery Store

Sunset Valley Farmers Market | Austin, Texas

Safm Info Page

Bee Cave Farmers Market

Support your local produce supplier, and give the one finger salute to H-E-B and friends...

Here here!!! Great list of alternatives. For those who aren't schooled in the evils of our commodity-based food system, please read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemna". Can't wait to see Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

[Trainwreck20]

is that right for one business, private OR public, to have the absolute lion's share of the market?

They didn't used to...there were quite a few Albertson and/or Safeway stores to go along with Fiesta and Randalls. Problem was, everyone stopped shopping at Safeway and Albertson's. They were victimized by a combination of reasons, but at the time HEB was NOT some kind of gorilla in the room....the other stores were all bigger chains than HEB. HEB came in with a better business model, probably (although I don't really know) much stronger due to their 'no-debt' expansion approach.

Although it is never a good thing not to have a competitor, the solution would be, what? Have a competing chain come in and bleed money for years on end just to 'compete'? Or should I shop at a store that does not offer me the same quality/price/service just to support a competitor? If the end goal is to have affordable groceries, then I have, by definition, failed by shopping at a more expensive store.

If, in the future, HEB fails to provide a good shopping option (due to prices, products, or whatever), then I will surely go elsewhere. And the market is pretty good about providing an alternative when the time comes. I am sure Kroger's or someone else would love to expand their market the minute they see a weakness in HEB. In fact, the existence of other chains in the nearby market DO provide competition for HEB for that exact reason. HEB cannot afford to 'disgruntle' its customer base to the point that someone else can come in.