H-E-B broadens Texas footprint

On Jan. 25, H-E-B officially opened its store in Cibolo, Texas, the first location for the retailer in the community northeast of San Antonio.

“We are excited to serve our new neighbors and our H‑E‑B partners are eager to earn the confidence of many new shoppers throughout the community,” commented Jamie Pomykal, Cibolo top store leader and 22-year H-E-B partner.

H-E-B designed the 110,000-square-foot store located at 850 FM 1103 to reflect the character unique to the Cibolo community, which was led by an all-female design and construction leadership team comprised of H-E-B partners as well as associates with the project’s contractor, Joeris. The location incorporates environmental sustainability design elements and several energy-efficient inclusions such as CO2 refrigeration units, LED lighting and extensive native landscaping throughout the property.

[Read more: H-E-B opens primary care clinics in Austin, Texas]

The retailer is also assisting the City of Cibolo with a hike and bike trail that will connect to the city’s Master Parks Trail System. The grocer is currently making upgrades to walking trails located on its property, which it aims to complete later this year.

Its investment into the Cibolo community will also include a 55,000-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center, which is expected to open later this year, to help support rising demand of online shopping. According to the company, these facilities use various forms of automation and allow for better product availability, greater efficiency and less aisle congestion for the in-store shopper. With these centers, H-E-B has grown supply chain capacity to help improve and power the expansion of its Curbside and Home Delivery services, which are available at more than 270 stores in Texas.

Meanwhile, Cibolo shoppers can take advantage of the store's full-service H-E-B Pharmacy with a drive-thru; a bakery featuring in-store made, warm tortillas; Sushiya offering handmade sushi selections made in-store daily; H-E-B Meal Simple with chef-inspired meals prepared in store; and Cooking Connection with live demos and samplings for easy recipes to make at home. The location also touts the retailer’s newest department, H-E-B Brand Shop, which features H-E-B themed merchandise from T-shirts, socks and baby clothes to hats, coffee mugs, shoes and more.

H-E-B commemorated the store’s grand opening with a $10,000 donation to the Schertz Cibolo Universal City Education Foundation and a $1,000 gift card and two Kodi bags full of snacks to SCUC District STEM Goes Red group.

[Read more: H-E-B opens e-commerce fulfillment center in Leander, Texas]

H-E-B Cibolo will employ about 350 partners. All available job opportunities can be found at H-E-B Careers. The store is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The largest privately held employer in Texas, San Antonio-based H-E-B has more than 420 stores and 145,000 employees in Texas and Mexico. The grocer’s store formats include H-E-B, Central Market, Joe V’s Smart Shop and Mi Tienda. It also owns Favor Delivery, a fast and convenient delivery service that serves cities across the state. 

This story originally appeared on Progressive Grocer.