H-E-B Grocery Stores (Houston, Killeen, Howe: buyer, price, shop)

[mudbug]

I have to agree that if we had a closer grocery store than HEB I would shop there. The remodel job at my Round Rock 620 HEB has been awful. However the store needed to be updated.
But now when you walk in the area with the greatest expansion... Greeting Cards and Floral!!!!
All HEB did at this location was add high margin items. Between HEB replacing brands with their label and the new add more junk remodel I wish we had some place else to buy FOOD.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by bubblelevel

I like Natural Grocer By Vitamin Cottage. All the produce is organic, and I can afford most of what I want there (and I live well below the poverty line), but good food is my main priority.

I've seen commercials for that place, always wondered where it was.

Although Austin may not have that many mainstream grocery chains (due to HEB), it sure does seem to have a lot of natural/organic groceries:

The big ones: Whole Foods and Central Market
The mid-sized: Sun Harvest, Sprouts, and Newflower Market
The smaller ones: Wheatesville Co-op, Natural Grocer

Not to mention the urban farms and several farmer's markets...

[Dr.Mom]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I've seen commercials for that place, always wondered where it was.

Although Austin may not have that many mainstream grocery chains (due to HEB), it sure does seem to have a lot of natural/organic groceries:

The big ones: Whole Foods and Central Market
The mid-sized: Sun Harvest, Sprouts, and Newflower Market
The smaller ones: Wheatesville Co-op, Natural Grocer

Not to mention the urban farms and several farmer's markets...

I've wondered for a while how the prices at Wheatsville compare to other organic grocers. Are they generally the same, or a bit cheaper? Unfortunately I've never had the time to stop in on my trips to Austin. I'll have to put it on the list for next time.

As for HEB, I used to shop there when I lived in Corpus and I wasn't impressed. Yes, the prices were cheap, which was great for a student's budget, but you definitely got what you paid for.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Dr.Mom

I've wondered for a while how the prices at Wheatsville compare to other organic grocers. Are they generally the same, or a bit cheaper? Unfortunately I've never had the time to stop in on my trips to Austin. I'll have to put it on the list for next time.

It's been years since I shopped there, but I remember the prices being OK compared to HEB. Just much more limited selection, of course, and you have to be a member (only $15).

I don't think they mark stuff up very much, you can definitely tell they are hardly making any profit. If the prices are bad, it's probably because they pay too much for their inventory.

[Dr.Mom]

Thanks atxcio! I tried to rep you, but the powers that be wouldn't let me.

[triwing]

Originally Posted by orbius

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.

I was the same way. I could run into Kroger, get what I needed, and get out of there within two minutes. The H-E-B in College Station has by far the worst layout for a grocery store I have ever seen. I shouldn't have to go through a maze in the produce section to get into the store. H-E-B was just an aggravation.

Also, I wouldn't call H-E-B a very good employer. There's a huge gap between the hourly employees and middle management.

[EllenArlingtonPark]

I really missed HEB while living in North Texas. HEB brands had me spoiled and they have a great selection. Walmart is cheap but so many things they do not carry. I miss HEB.

[villandra]

I'm finding one particular problem HEB; the HEB at Rundberg and Lamar, in Austin. They not only don't stock healthy foods, they have a real issue with stocking basics, and their employees shrug, "if the warehouse sent it". Management usually seem more with it, though not always, but the problem never goes away.

This HEB is an inner city store, in a predominantly but hardly exclusively Hispanic neighborhood, trying in their own words to be a "neighborhood store" (meaning a 7 eleven? because the selection is consistent) and to compete with nearby Mexican chain grocery stores.

They can't consistently stock 1% lactose free milk, which may seem quixotic until one realizes that every single store I've dealt with about that product has always told me it's a best seller. Has flavor, which the skim milk product lacks, but doesn't cause the weight gain 2% milk does.

One entire month, every single HEB in the northwestern quadrant of Austin had no 5 minute oats, either HEB or Quaker brand, for three straight weeks. Serious issue there, but not specific to the ghetto store.

The HEB at Rundberg has selectively;

not even carried a single brand of canned chopped tomatoes
refused to carry frozen salmon because, in the words of a Hispanic manager with a seriously large wasteline, "we don't eat that here".
seems to have trouble with frozen peas and broccoli.
often out of large bags of Lays potato chips
yesterday, there was not a single white potato in the store! Produce employee and manager both shrugged at me and said maybe the warehouse didn't send potatoes. ????

Has anyone heard there is a current shortage of white potatoes in the United States? Maybe potato blight struck last winter and it hasn't made the news?

I don't know if the attitude problem is with the store management or with the central management consistently short changing the inner city store.

If any local organization is working on the problems at HEB's inner city stores, I'd sure appreciate a contact at tiggernut24 at yahoo dot com .

It seems like I'm hearing enough complaints about HEB's inner city stores in the right places where there must be neighborhood or city wide organizations of some sort following it.

Thanks!

Yours,
Dora Smith

[mark311]

Originally Posted by villandra

yesterday, there was not a single white potato in the store! Produce employee and manager both shrugged at me and said maybe the warehouse didn't send potatoes. ????

Has anyone heard there is a current shortage of white potatoes in the United States? Maybe potato blight struck last winter and it hasn't made the news?

I don't know if the attitude problem is with the store management or with the central management consistently short changing the inner city store.

Eh, I don't know. I shop at one of the busier HEB stores in Cedar Park and they run out of stuff by Sunday night/Monday on weekends like this past one because they get hit so hard on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. I went late Sunday night and a lot of the shelves were bare because everyone had to restock for the kids going back to school after being out for two weeks. Sunday nights and Mondays are the worst days to see fully stocked shelves in my experience. I used to frequent the one on Braker just North of the Arboretum and they would always be out of 100% wheat bread on Sundays.

It's one of those things where the buyers have to guess what the demand for something will be at a particular store and some weeks you guess wrong. You only have so much storage space and perishable items like produce can be especially tricky. With all that said, contact HEB corporate with your complaints and be specific. They are definitely willing to listen and act when approached at the corporate level.

I definitely do not think that this has anything to do with it being an "inner city store", but has to do with meeting the constantly growing demand in the area driven by the extreme population growth here.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by mark311

Eh, I don't know. I shop at one of the busier HEB stores in Cedar Park and they run out of stuff by Sunday night/Monday on weekends like this past one because they get hit so hard on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. I went late Sunday night and a lot of the shelves were bare because everyone had to restock for the kids going back to school after being out for two weeks. Sunday nights and Mondays are the worst days to see fully stocked shelves in my experience. I used to frequent the one on Braker just North of the Arboretum and they would always be out of 100% wheat bread on Sundays.

It's one of those things where the buyers have to guess what the demand for something will be at a particular store and some weeks you guess wrong. You only have so much storage space and perishable items like produce can be especially tricky. With all that said, contact HEB corporate with your complaints and be specific. They are definitely willing to listen and act when approached at the corporate level.

I definitely do not think that this has anything to do with it being an "inner city store", but has to do with meeting the constantly growing demand in the area driven by the extreme population growth here.

They don't have to guess. Computers control it all..JIT and inventory.
Stores track what consumers buy and if they don't buy a lot of it then the store doesn't carry it.

I asked them because one HEB carries Quaker Oats barley and Lipton Ice Tea (White/Strawberry) while another HEB never has it and all their Ice Tea is diet. Each store bases their stock on what their consumers are buying.

Holiday dinner buying may have skewed it all up with their stock depleted quicker than normal.