H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American/Mexican privately heldsupermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 380 stores throughout Texas and Mexico.[4][5] The company also operates Central Market, an upscale organic and fine foods retailer.[6] As of 2022, the company had a total revenue of US$38.9 billion.[7] H-E-B ranked number 6 on Forbes' 2022 list of "America's Largest Private Companies".[8] The company also ranked number 3 on Forbes' 2024 list of "Customer Experience All-Stars."[9] H-E-B was named Retailer of the Year in 2010 by Progressive Grocer.[10] Supermarket News ranks H-E-B 13th on the list of "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" by sales.[11] Based on 2019 revenues, H-E-B is the 19th-largest retailer in the United States.[12] It donates 5% of pretax profits to charity.[13] The official mascot of H-E-B is named H-E-Buddy, an anthropomorphic brown grocery bag, with multiple grocery items emerging from the top.[14]
In the 1920s, Héctor and Elena Barrera, a young couple from Linares, Nuevo León, decided to leave behind their homeland in search of a better future in Texas. With their two young children, they crossed the border, leaving behind their family, their roots, and a struggling bakery. Their journey was fueled by hope, but upon arrival, they were met with poverty, language barriers, and the harsh reality of starting over in a foreign land.
Héctor worked tirelessly in the fields, while Elena cared for the children and supported the family’s dream. With their savings, they rented a small storefront and began selling basic groceries like rice, beans, and flour. Although their circumstances were difficult, Héctor found strength in a daily ritual. Every morning, he would look in the mirror and say to himself: “Hoy estoy bien” (“Today, I am well”). It became a mantra that gave him the courage to push forward, even on the hardest days.
The Name H-E-B: A Family Tribute
As the store began to grow, Héctor and Elena faced a pivotal moment when they decided to formally name their business. They chose H-E-B, a name with dual meaning: 1. Héctor, Elena, and Barrera: A tribute to their family. 2. Hoy Estoy Bien: The words that had carried Héctor through every struggle.
This name represented not only their commitment to hard work but also their perseverance and deep belief in better days ahead.
Growth and Legacy
What began as a humble grocery store quickly became a cornerstone of the local community. Héctor and Elena’s store offered not only essential products but also a sense of connection to their Mexican roots. They introduced items like dried chilies, traditional sweets, and freshly imported goods from Linares, making the store a gathering place for immigrants longing for home.
As the business grew, H-E-B became synonymous with quality, affordability, and family values. Over the decades, the small store transformed into one of Texas’s most iconic supermarket chains. However, the essence of Héctor and Elena’s dream remains alive in every aisle, a testament to their resilience and vision.
Today, H-E-B stands not only as a symbol of success but as a reminder of a simple yet powerful belief: “Hoy estoy bien.”
Operations
Houston's Buffalo Market H-E-B (#51)
Headquartered in downtown San Antonio, H-E-B operates more than 300 stores in over 150 communities across Texas.[15][16] As of late 2010, its operations serve approximately "55-plus" percent of the Texas market,[17][18] with primary Texas markets including the Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, Laredo and Houston metro areas. The company does business in five different retail formats: general H-E-B stores, Central Market, H-E-B Plus, Mi Tienda, and Joe V's Smart Shop. In 2010, the company announced plans to build 19 new stores in Texas.[19] H-E-B opened its first store outside of Texas in 1996, a 24,000-square-foot (2,200m2) H-E-B Pantry store in Lake Charles, Louisiana, though the expansion was short-lived and ultimately failed. The H-E-B Pantry store format was discontinued in 2000,[20] and the company closed its sole Louisiana store in 2003. In 2010, H-E-B offered consumers the opportunity to vote on possible designs for new stores as they expanded into new communities.[21]
The company operates several manufacturing facilities in Texas, including one of the largest milk- and bread-processing plants in the Southwest.[22] H-E-B produces many of their own-brand products, including milk, ice cream, bread, snacks, and ready-cooked meats and meals. These and other private-label products are sold under various brands, including "Central Market Naturals", "Central Market Organics", "H-E-B", "H-E-Buddy", "Hill Country Fare", "H-E-B Creamy Creations" ice cream, "H-E-B Mootopia" milk, and "H-E-B Fully Cooked".
Several stores include multiple-tenant operations through third-party lease arrangements. Many stores include a bank operation, cellular kiosk, and multiple nationally recognized tenants.[23][24][25]
The Austin Business Journal rated H-E-B as the largest private-sector employer in the region in 2017.[26]
In 2019, the company announced plans to build a technology center at its headquarters complex.[27]
In 1994, H-E-B introduced its Central Market concept in Austin. Based in San Antonio, Central Market offers an organic and international food selection, including a European-style bakery and extensive wine and beer selections. The chain is now composed of 10 stores – three in Dallas, two in Austin, and one each in Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, San Antonio, and Southlake.[28] H-E-B operates four different formats of stores that introduce general merchandise and elements of the "market" concept, though they are unrelated to Central Market's mainline stores: The Woodlands Market in The Woodlands in Montgomery County, Kingwood Market in the Kingwood section of Houston, and the Austin-Escarpment store in South Austin. H-E-B's Alon Market opened in San Antonio on October 17, 2008.[29]
In July 2015, the Market concept was expanded as a new Spring Creek Market was opened in southern Montgomery County in Spring, Texas, on Rayford Road.[30]
H-E-B Plus!
H-E-B Plus store in Laredo, Texas
In 2004, the company launched three (in Austin, Corpus Christi, and Waco) H-E-B Plus! stores with an expanded focus on nonfood categories, such as entertainment and other general merchandise. The company added three additional locations in 2005 (Corpus Christi, Round Rock, and San Antonio). The stores offered several new departments, including Do-It-Yourself and Texas Backyard, and greatly expanded product categories in baby, card and party, cosmetics, entertainment, housewares, and toys.
In 2006, H-E-B opened Mi Tienda in South Houston (adjacent to Pasadena) in greater Houston – a 63,000-square-foot (5,900m2) Latino-themed store.[38][39] Another Mi Tienda opened in north Houston in 2011; it is twice the size of the original location,[40] and has 97,000 square feet (9,000m2) of space.[41] This second location is off of Little York and Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59. Mi Tienda, which means "my store" in Spanish, sells Mexican baked goods: a tortilleria, where employees make tortillas, and a carniceria providing marinated cuts of chicken, beef, and pork. In addition, Mi Tienda also houses the Cocina restaurant, which serves Mexican food and drinks.[citation needed]
Joe V's Smart Shop
Joe V's Smart Shop in Harris County, Texas
In 2010, H-E-B opened 'Joe V's Smart Shop', a low-cost grocery chain featuring discounted items. As of June 2024, 10 stores are in Houston and one is in Dallas. A twelfth location is planned to open in Dallas in 2025.[42]
Store size is typically 55,000 square feet, and each location employs about 150 employees, who are eligible to receive the pay and benefits available to employees across H-E-B brand stores.[43]
The brand's name, Joe V's, is based on a company executive, Joe Villareal, who was the driving force behind the brand.[44][45]
Joe V's Smart Shop is part of the H-E-B family of brands, which includes H-E-B and Central Market stores across Texas and Mi Tienda stores in the Houston area. H-E-B also operates Favor Delivery, an on-demand delivery service that serves hundreds of communities throughout the state.
True Texas BBQ
True Texas BBQ is a barbecue restaurant chain located inside select H‑E‑B stores.[46]
H-E-B opened its first Mexican store in 1997 in Monterrey. It has more than 50 locations in Mexico. H-E-B crossed the $1 billion annual sales mark in Mexico in 2012.[47]
Litigation
In the mid-1980s, local grocery chains Handy Andy and Centeno joined a lawsuit against H-E-B citing unfair pricing practices.[48] H-E-B eventually settled the suit out of court with Centeno in 1998 for $6.5 million and with Handy Andy for an undisclosed settlement amount.[49][50]
H-E-B has paid $12 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the San Antonio-based grocery chain of Medicaid fraud. Since at least 2006, according to the suit, H-E-B allegedly submitted to Texas Medicaid inflated prices on thousands of claims for prescriptions it filled so the company could obtain higher reimbursements than allowed.[51]
Charitable activity
The company gives 5% of annual pretax earnings to causes in the areas in which it operates, including education and food banks.[52] The Excellence in Education Awards is an annual charitable program maintained by H-E-B since 2000, in which teachers, administrators, and schools in Texas are recognized, with awards totaling $500,000 in contributions in 2009.[53]
H-E-B coordinated donations to relief efforts in the wake of a fertilizer plant fire and explosion in West, Texas. The company donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross and launched a checkstand campaign benefiting the organization to get the community involved in the relief effort. The company said in a news release 100% of the donations from the campaign will support the American Red Cross's disaster relief efforts. H-E-B also activated its emergency response units, sending the H-E-B Eddie Garcia Mobile Kitchen and water tanker to West, including donations of meals and water to the victims and first responders.[54]
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, H-E-B donated $100,000 toward relief efforts. Its campaign drive for customer contributions totaled $1,000,000.[55] In addition, H-E-B's Mobile Kitchen and Disaster Relief Units distributed 10,000 hot meals to volunteers and victims in the affected areas in Texas.[55][56]
After the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed, H-E-B and the Butt family donated $10 million toward building a new school as founding donors. Initial participants joining the family included Texas architectural firm Huckabee and Texas general contractor Joeris General Contractors.[57]
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$43.6 billion+ (2022)
