H-E-B Grocery Stores (Houston, Austin, Round Rock: sale, home, purchase)

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

I love Sun Harvest for produce, meats, herbal supplements and vitamins, and some specialty items. Their prices are reasonable and the quality is good. Before Sprouts and Newflower, we would go to SH first and whatever I didn't get there (cat food, trash bags, etc) I got at HEB on the way home. I'm thinking I'm ready to start shopping there again since the novelty of the new stores has worn off.

Where are they putting a new one?

That's good to know. They're putting one up here in Lubbock, and I just thought I'd ask.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

What HEB do you shop in that has the deli in the middle of the store that you have to walk around it to get to the cash register?

At my local HEB when you walk in the misc/home items/pharmacy are against the left wall, the "groceries" are against the right wall, the meat/seafood are against the back wall and the deli/bakery/produce are in the middle right in front of the registers. In many ways I think this works better because it generally leaves a bit more area in front of the registers (in theory because they tend to have tables of stuff setup and they rarely move/reconfigure them to allow more space). In the local Randalls the endcaps of the isles face the registers making for a tighter fit that one really can't do anything about.

[CptnRn]

I love HEB, in every Austin neighborhood I have lived in the nearest HEB has always been the best store. I have seen a lot of different grocery stores come and go in Austin and none of them were as good as HEB.

Currently in Legend Oaks the HEB beats the closes Albertsons hands down. It is easier to find things and prices are almost always better. I can find 95% of anything I'm looking for at HEB.

I don't sweat a dollor or so over an ice cube tray. After all, how often does one need to buy those things? It is a low volume product taking up shelf space. Doesn't surprise me it cost a little bit more.

[Danbo1957]

Originally Posted by neddy

Ok I have to say I love HEB but I grew up with them and have lived in towns without them and I hated the other choices that those towns had.

I was so happy to come back to HEB land...

I shop at the HEB on Far West twice a week for staples and go to Central Market every once in a while for niche foods. I rarely go to Whole Foods here in Austin, but I will in other cities do to familiarity. I'll also go to Randall's (Lake Austin, Mesa, and Balcones) for in-and-out items like milk, bread, eggs, beer, etc. The Randall's on Balcones a is really neat place that remains similar to that of smaller 1970's type stores.

[Taterhead]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

What HEB do you shop in that has the deli in the middle of the store that you have to walk around it to get to the cash register?

1431 and Parmer, if you go in left door the deli is more on that side in the middle but the bakery is right next to it in the middle also. Either way you can't get to the registers by cutting down the middle of the store from the back rows, you have to go around the bakery and deli to get to front

On the right side of the store is produce. You go around a corner from produce to the left then you see the meats straight ahead, and the back of store is all the boxed items.


What I like about WM is you have 2 choices, either you are going there to shop for clothing etc. or food. They have food on one side and other things on the other side. Registers at front and at anytime if I'm in back of store I can cut through to the front without going around the middle of things.

Edit to add the bathrooms at HEB are also smack dab in the middle too behind the bakery with tables of all the seasonal stuff too. It is a mess of a setup and zoo on most days.

[TexasHorseLady]

That's odd, at all the HEBs I go to (the Walmarts, too, for that matter), the bathrooms are in front along the front wall in the middle. I'll have to check that one out.

[luksky]

I don't like HEB

GASP!! Blasphemy!!!!!

[atxcio]

A lot of the HEBs in the city are different layouts. The buildings dictate where the restrooms and some other things are -- they usually won't change those, even in a remodel. HEB has had different architecture/layout to their stores over the years, and they've also moved into existing spaces that weren't developed by them. The Westlake HEB was an Albertsons, and they didn't change the location of major things like the restrooms, meat and seafood counters, front doors, etc. Restrooms are in the back corner, dairy is of course in the back, and the high margin stuff (central market counter, florist, sushi, wine) are located in the front.

The Far West HEB was the second building they built there... the original location is now the post office. I believe the new location was constructed in the late 80's/early 90's. It's very similar in layout to the HEB on Lake Creek near Westwood high school. Restrooms are on the left wall right as you enter (main entrance is basically the left wall of the store); checkout counters are in a straight line from the door heading to the "back" of the store, instead of in a line perpendicular to the entrance and at the front of the store (like most other groceries). Always thought that was an interesting layout. They must have been built at the same time.

If you want to see an old-school HEB, check out the one on South First just north of Slaughter. They don't even have the digital scales that print the little sticker you can put on your produce (maybe intentionally?). They carry some different items, and the prices are lower too.

[orbius]

Originally Posted by neddy

Ok I have to say I love HEB but I grew up with them and have lived in towns without them and I hated the other choices that those towns had. Omaha-Bakers,Hy Vee and super target then Albertsons came along as I was moving out...Cinci well I grew up hating Kroger and I think the headquarters are there so needless to say I shopped at SuperWalmart. My wally-mart was actually in Indiana and it had a hitching post fot the amish that came into town..wild. I was so happy to come back to HEB land...never again move away.

I kind of like Kroger I used to shop there instead of HEB in College Station. They had wider aisles, more selection and more/better produce than HEB.

Which reminds me of another gripe about HEB they dont warehouse food on site so if you shop at a certain time of day odds are a lot of stuff you want will be out of stock.

I mean I dont hate HEB I do shop there and marginally prefer it over Walmart. But today was a nice day and I was feeling really good and then I went in HEB and felt lousy. I think part of a shopping experience should be making the customer feel good and I just dont enjoy shopping at HEB. And no the people yelling at me from across the store to try their sample doesnt make me feel better about shopping there HEB management.

[mimimomx3]

My irritation about HEB is all about thier product selection. I can't stand the way they plaster the shelves with the HEB house brand, and relegate the national brands to a small amount of shelf space well below or above. I also hate the way they introduce a national brand and then take it away just when it starts getting popular only to replace it with an HEB house brand.

I prefer Randalls, or even WF. We very rarely go out to eat, we like to spend money on great groceries- including imported, gourmet and organic food.