Why all the HEB (Houston, San Antonio: sales, university, wages)

[Taraaa17]

Just curious about all the HEB's around here. Don't get me wrong I like HEB but I'm just wondering why there isn't more grocery stores? I hope all of them become like the HEB off De Zavala and I 10 ...it is the best one I have been to...the small sushi section and the wine selection is great.

[Insomniac]

Well, HEB is based in San Antonio, but that’s not why its the majority leader in SA. From what I’ve learned its because they drove out competition. SA used to have Kroger’s, Albertson’s and others but HEB forced them out of the market.

[Torrey]

Insomniac is right, HEB ran the others out. They have a MONOPOLY here. If you like the DeZavala store, you would like the "HEB Central Market" down on Broadway in Alamo Heights next to the University of the Incarnate Word.

[raven69david]

Originally Posted by Taraaa17

Just curious about all the HEB's around here. Don't get me wrong I like HEB but I'm just wondering why there isn't more grocery stores? I hope all of them become like the HEB off De Zavala and I 10 ...it is the best one I have been to...the small sushi section and the wine selection is great.

If you like that HEB, then you'll LOVE the HEB Plus on Potranco. You gotta check it out.

As far as the competition (Albertsons & Krogers), they were pretty much run out of town for other reasons and not because HEB dominated the market.

[dendox]

care to explain the "other reasons"? Not disagreeing, just curious. I always thought it was because they couldn't (wouldn't) compete with HEB price wise. Is that not true?

[raven69david]

Both krogers and albertsons were not competitive with HEB. That is the main reason they ended up leaving. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroger

Albertsons pulled out due to restructuring ( http://www.fundinguniverse.com/compa...y-History.html ) and Krogers left due to weak sales and a low market share. There is more to the story as reported during the time they were both leaving, but finding it will be a task. I vaguely remember something about some kind of argument either between the city and/or some other business entity that solidified their exit from the san antonio market. I wish i could remember, but it's been too long. Heck, i hardly remember what happened last week. LOL

Nonetheless, i've only shopped at HEB and never really at Albertsons, Krogers, Target or Wal Mart for groceries so i could care less that they're gone. It never affected me personally. Everytime we shopped there it was more expensive than HEB IMO.

[sapphire]

Kroger had union issues and didn't want to pay their people union wages, from what I remember.

[Trainwreck20]

HEB is (or was) a very localized business, covering a fairly small geographic area. It is also privately owned and operated. As such, they apparently managed to optimize their business model to the point that the larger chains could not compete. Also, HEB has historically adjusted rapidly to buisness or market changes, which larger (or more bureacratic) corporations (Kroger, Albertsons) could not. They also have adapted stores to their location instead of trying to 'enforce' their criteria on the consumer.

HEB, however, is growing rapidly and covering a much wider area, so it will be interesting to see if they can maintain their market dominance.

[lcw]

At one time, Randalls (Houston) and HEB had agreeements that they wouldn't enter each others turf. I do believe that there are now HEBs in Houston, but still no Randalls around here.

San Antonians love their HEBs and nobody has been able to compete or really tried recently as a true grocery store. WalMart and Targer have entered with their supercenters, but don't seem to be putting much of a dent in HEBs grocery business from my unscientific observations.

[ShaneSA]

Krogers closed in this area because the union demanded higher wages and more benefits. Kroger said no and offered less. Union said no. Kroger said Ok...and closed it's stores serviced by that union.