Randalls just went 100% discount - Watch out H-E-B..... (Mart: month to, home)

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

By truce do you mean price fixing? Because that would violate antitrust laws.

Only if they get caught....laws so far haven't stopped the national banking system from falling apart, or the big banks granting huge bonuses after they got millions of our tax dollars to save them from bankrupcy....

What's more, those who have the gold make the rules anyway(golden rule)......the lobbyists largely draft regs and regulators themselves, ala the revolving door...

The answer is, again, not if they get caught, but HEB has the majority market share so would not be in any need to fix anything anyway.....Wal-Mart would be the party that need it, and HEB would never give them level price ground per any price fixing....

[SAguy]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Main reason HEB will not go national - they expand with cash instead of debt, which makes wholesale exansion very unlikely. As long as they stay near to their production centers, they can expand, but if they had to build a whole new series of production bases, it would be almost impossible w/o taking on debt. Corpus,San Antonio, and Houston all have facilities (tortillaria, bakeries, produce packing, milk/ice cream production, etc), so they have an effective limit on how far they can reach from those areas.

You do realize HEB has several stores in Mexico?
H-E-B

[woodinvilleguy]

Any other Northwesterners miss TOP foods?

[riaelise]

HEB's market share is eroding. They do not have the best prices anymore, and in this economy I don't want to be guaged for food. That's probably why they've abandoned that price patrol nonsense.

I used to think they were reasonable, but then I discovered Wal-mart, and to an extent Target. I buy 80% of my goods from Wal-Mart and the remainder from HEB. More people are noticing the differences too and are switching to Wal-Mart. They might not overtake HEB, but they sure will keep things competitive. The Wal-Marts I've shopped at - 620 and Pflugerville are VERY nice, clean, modern and stock a variety of items. Their fruit is fresh and of course, they are very competitive with Great Value brand. At one time I thumbed my nose at Wal-Mart but then I saw the price differences....paying a full .30 more per item, even at HeB. I was never really into the organic stuff..so it didn't bother me that there wasn't a huge selection at a Walmart. I like having all my options...something that was lacking in New York.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by davi78239

so do you think HEB will ever expand nationally?? I know my wife worked at HEB forever when she was younger and people visiting from up north or other parts of the country would go and absolutely love it say that they wish they had them where they were. I honestly don't ever see it happening because I think that's what makes them powerful (the whole local, regional thing). If they were to do that, the costs would be higher and then they might lose track of other things that make them so great right now.

I hope they will expand to Fort Worth! We miss the HEB on 360 (near Westlake) dearly. The perfect mix of high quality but not exorbitant prices. Great seafood, great baby back ribs, great overall quality and prices.

We do have CM here, but the prices are higher for the same products. Costco is nice for good cheeses and other bulk/specialty items, but nothing is as "catch-all" as HEB.

For you Californians: why are you bragging about paper bags being the default? Be civilized already! Bring your OWN reusable bags! No need to kill a tree or use more plastic.

And yes, HEB is in Northern Mexico. I went to one in Tampico recently and felt like I was back in Austin momentarily!

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

Any other Northwesterners miss TOP foods?

Nope. I think the closest one to me was all the way up in Shoreline so I did the bulk of my shopping at Trader Joes.

[Trainwreck20]

You do realize HEB has several stores in Mexico?

Well, those locations (although I did not look at them) are probably closer to SA and CC than FTW and Dallas are .

[achtungpv]

Really you should decide how you like to eat. It's easy to pick a store then.

Expensive/Healthy/Organic/Variety------------------------>Cheap/Junk Food/HFCS/Fat Kids

Whole Foods > Central Market > Sprouts > New Flower > Randalls > HEB > Target > WalMart

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Really you should decide how you like to eat. It's easy to pick a store then.

Expensive/Healthy/Organic/Variety------------------------>Cheap/Junk Food/HFCS/Fat Kids

Whole Foods > Central Market > Sprouts > New Flower > Randalls > HEB > Target > WalMart

Never seen it put quite that way. I guess I'd add "Tiger Mart" after Walmart.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Really you should decide how you like to eat. It's easy to pick a store then.

Expensive/Healthy/Organic/Variety------------------------>Cheap/Junk Food/HFCS/Fat Kids

Whole Foods > Central Market > Sprouts > New Flower > Randalls > HEB > Target > WalMart

How is Randalls>HEB when they carry almost the same stuff. The only difference I've found is price. Additionally, I cannot understand how Whole Food>Central Market and is not equal. From what I can tell, they are practically the same in what they offer. Finally, Sprouts just looks like brighter, newer New Flower. So unless you are using this as only the Expensive > Inexpensive, I think your chart is somewhat inaccurate.