HEB grocery stores (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: how much, home, neighborhoods)

[montevista1]

It seems like HEB has a near monopoly on groceries in San Antonio. I have been to several cities in USA and have never seen a company that has so much market share in 1 city. Why is this, is there any company that can compete with HEB?

[Trainwreck20]

San Antonio is pretty much 'home turf' for HEB, so I think they work a little harder to keep the upper hand. There are other stores (most notably, I think, Albertson's). There are a few Fiesta's, too.

Anyway, HEB is a private company that historically has reacted quickly to 'needs' and provided good products for the price, as compared to the larger chains. HEB is growing, now, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep their competitive advantage.

[wCat]

Thanks to the huge military presence in this city, and the various commisary privileges at all the installations, the "civilian" grocery shopping market found itself competing with lower prices. Retired and off base/post military families needed to have a good reason to shop in the neighborhoods. HEB found the formula that could beat out the local grocers but still stay competitive with the commisaries. When I moved back here 10 years ago, there were Albertsons and Safeway....and a few others....one by one they closed up. Now HEB has it's "Central Market" stores to appeal to a higher end shopping market. They not only have gone international into Mexico...but are now spreading all over Texas.

They are a HUGE success story out of a small mom and pop grocery from Kerrville. As long as the military is in town, it's doubtful that HEB will hike up their prices. They know that they aren't really the only grocer in town.

[940]

Originally Posted by montevista1

It seems like HEB has a near monopoly on groceries in San Antonio. I have been to several cities in USA and have never seen a company that has so much market share in 1 city. Why is this, is there any company that can compete with HEB?

There used to be a larger selection of grocery stores to choose from but over time, they've closed up shop. The sheer number of HEB stores in the city doesn't help if you're a competitor. Albertson's closed in 2002 because they were losing money in Texas. They also closed all their Houston area stores but there are still a few stores in Austin and over 75 in the DFW area. Kroger left back in the early 90s because I heard there was a problem with unionization and their workers wanting more money. Instead of caving, Kroger just abruptly closed their stores and left the city. Someone with more info on this can correct me, please. Kroger is very successful in Houston and the DFW region.

Through the years, grocery stores have come and gone. Handy Andy was here for a long time but in the mid 90s, it was bought by a company that eventually went into bankrupt protection. It couldn't sell the 21 Handy Andy's so the chain folded in the late 90s. There were other stores including the old grocery chain, Piggly Wiggly. There were warehouse grocers also including one called Mega or something similar. You pretty much had to shop from the open boxes instead of choosing items off shelves and you had to bag your own groceries which didn't sit well with people who were used to HEB and their customer service. None of these lasted very long in SA.

[neddy]

Got to say that out of all the places that I have lived and spent some time in,(enough to do some grocery shopping) Denver,Austin, Dallas, Chicago,Indy, Cinci and Omaha I love HEB the best for the freshness and the friendliness. I remember when we just moved to Omaha we asked for some tortillas and they sent us to the chip section cause all they had was tostitos! That was either Baker's or HY Vee.

[Steel Man]

I remember a big tactic that HEB would use against its competitors. They would run full page ads in the newspaper that compared individual prices in a basket full of groceries with side-by-side listings to show how much cheaper their prices were. After Albertson's departed HEB then tried to take on Walgreen's in the medical goods arena. Well....there are more Walgreen's than ever now. You can't win them all.

[jwb123]

As a newbie to the Austin area - I have to say I love HEB. Fresh food, great prices... some out of the ordinary items. It seems like there has always been one main local grocery store in each major city I have lived in... NOVA area is Giant, Seattle is QFC - but HEB does it better!

[irnag]

940, I think you are thinking of Mega-Mart. The location I remember was on San Pedro just past that neat saloon I used to go to but now that name escapes me. I think after Mega-Mart left, it was Eagle, then after that I think there was a dancing/disco joint? Probably this is one for the GBNF thread.

When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be about Green Acres.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by irnag

940, I think you are thinking of Mega-Mart. The location I remember was on San Pedro just past that neat saloon I used to go to but now that name escapes me. I think after Mega-Mart left, it was Eagle, then after that I think there was a dancing/disco joint? Probably this is one for the GBNF thread.

When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be about Green Acres.

Up in the Dallas area we had a similar grocery concept called Sack N Save. It's still there (in Bedford). I hated it! I never could find anything.

I forgot about the superstores we have here now.....like Super Target and Super Walmart.....now with grocery stores included. So there are some options besides HEB. I hate them too, however....to be honest, I hate grocery shopping! Nothing like trying to read a tiny scribbled list and walk a football field length store (several times a trip) at the end of the day....only to get home an forget something important. THAT's what Walgreen's is good for.....

[irnag]

I need to correct my previous post. It was Magna-Mart.