Active HEB Formats in Houston area

[storewanderer]

What are current active HEB formats in Houston area?

1. HEB
2. HEB Plus
3. Joe V's Smart Shop
4. Central Market
5. Mi Tienda

Any other active formats?

Does "HEB Pantry" still exist?

[BillyGr]

What are current active HEB formats in Houston area?

1. HEB
2. HEB Plus
3. Joe V's Smart Shop
4. Central Market
5. Mi Tienda

Any other active formats?

Does "HEB Pantry" still exist?

Totally not connected, but interesting. We fairly recently had a small shop open locally (in NY) in what had been a restaurant space previously. Their name is Mi Tiendita - very similar to that chain.

Not that either cares, since the chain is nowhere near NY, just when I saw the post it made me think of that one.

[pseudo3d]

Well...that's a little hard to say. Those are the five active names in Houston, but some of them blend together, some of them don't. The H-E-B "mainline" format can vary tremendously from store to store, and there is definite "A", "B", or even "C" class stores that are almost certainly internal because some of those even extend to the décor.

Affluent stores like Bunker Hill are 100k+ square feet plus and usually have some sort of sit-down restaurant concept (currently making the rounds is "True Texas BBQ" but H-E-B has had coffeeshops or a Mexican roast chicken brand) and have bakeries, delis (cold cuts only), sushi, drug store, etc., but other stores don't necessarily have all that with missing departments and a much more downscale merchandise mix. They're also much smaller, closer to 40k-50k square feet (border-area stores are even smaller). Rural and less affluent areas are closer to Walmart Supercenter's food department in selection and merchandising (Boar's Head at H-E-B is not a guarantee), and in the case of smaller stores, usually there's a smaller butcher that will fill the quality gap when it comes to meat. H-E-B abandoned Rockdale when the Walmart expanded, and a small, extremely dated store in Marlin. Some of the rural stores do offer different features—the two stores in Kerrville offer hunting and fishing licenses.

"H-E-B plus!" originated in 2004 with a few 100k+ square foot stores that offered features like DVDs and CDs, toys, cookware, and some other non-food departments. They weren't in the first ones in 2004, but some H-E-B stores even offer garden centers (which were not in the initial 2004 stores). The problem is, some of these non-food departments spread to other stores, and the merchandise mix at H-E-B plus! is incomplete. Toys are still very limited (they have LEGO and some better brands, but that's about it). Clothing is the typical cheap women's clothes that sometimes show up in Safeway/Albertsons stores. A big display of "KODI" brand Yeti knockoffs. An awkward accessories department called Mia's Mirror with its own walls and ceiling. No sporting goods department. No hardware department outside the tiny aisle of convenience hardware items (including air filters). No automotive department. A dwindling selection of "electronics" replaced by a "home" department, which is just as embarrassing. The cookware has a lot of overpriced house brands and non-competitive prices in other brands. The brand only has two stores in the Houston area, it's more common along the I-35 corridor. The "plus!" stores are not particularly upscale.

H-E-B Pantry was specifically designed to go into markets where H-E-B had no stores and was competing against larger, full-line stores (AppleTree, Randalls, and Kroger). Where they went ran a whole gamut of locations—outdated grocery store sites, renovated retail spaces that would fit their footprint, new-build locations, and others. In 2000, H-E-B "officially" discontinued the format and in the next few years replaced some of their Houston stores with new full-line H-E-B stores. However, in some cases, they simply swapped out the signage for traditional H-E-B stores and are lacking in most service departments and pharmacy, as well as being small, <30k square feet sites.

Joe V's Smart Shop is more of a no-frills discount format with very limited lines (about a fifth of a normal H-E-B, which doesn't have especially great merchandising to begin with). No pharmacies, no service departments. Joe V's tend to run smaller than H-E-B stores on average. About 50k-60k square feet. Most were built new but there's at least one in a renovated Service Merchandise. They do pull in a pretty big crowd, though, but they're located in working class areas. Joe V's does have a "bakery" and puts out a pastry case and bolillos, but nothing like cakes or bread loaves.

Central Market is nothing like the mainstream H-E-B stores. In addition to a wildly different merchandise mix, the store essentially tunnels shoppers through the various perishable departments (produce, bakery, seafood, meat, etc.).

There are only two Mi Tienda stores. The first store (and for many years only store) was built as an Albertsons. After Albertsons closed, H-E-B reopened the store but only operated it for a short time before converting it to a Mi Tienda, which has its own special store-specific features that include a massive silo full of corn for tortillas (H-E-B makes tortillas, but not nearly in the same volume, and the better seller is flour tortillas), and more focus on Latin American brands. They also have unique décor.

Confusingly, Mi Tienda and Central Market are also used as store brands that are used across multiple brands.

H-E-B has also heavily invested in "Curbside" shopping and significant amounts of parking and store space have been carved out (moreso than other stores), as well as opening e-commerce fulfillment sites. (This may say something about the in-store experience being less than stellar, but I digress).

Finally I should point out, besides converting some H-E-B sites to "plus!" with a larger expansion, there hasn't been any conversions from one brand to another.

[storewanderer]

Sounds like the main HEB banner is rather confused, but the formats Joe V's, Central Market, and Mi Tienda do actually stand out. Central Market is the only one other than HEB I've actually been in. Have not been to Joe V's or Mi Tienda. For some reason I thought they had a Sprouts-like format of some sort but evidently not.

The Plus format probably has similar challenges on general merchandise to Kroger Marketplace. But I think Kroger Marketplace does quite a good job on the kitchen category.

[pseudo3d]

Sounds like the main HEB banner is rather confused, but the formats Joe V's, Central Market, and Mi Tienda do actually stand out. Central Market is the only one other than HEB I've actually been in. Have not been to Joe V's or Mi Tienda. For some reason I thought they had a Sprouts-like format of some sort but evidently not.

The Plus format probably has similar challenges on general merchandise to Kroger Marketplace. But I think Kroger Marketplace does quite a good job on the kitchen category.

Compounding this fact is that some Plus stores HAVE better selection, like some actually have PS5 games and stuff. Differentiation between different stores has its advantages but in many cases the only real similarities between stores is just concrete floors, spartan interiors, and aiming to be high volume.

[storewanderer]

Compounding this fact is that some Plus stores HAVE better selection, like some actually have PS5 games and stuff. Differentiation between different stores has its advantages but in many cases the only real similarities between stores is just concrete floors, spartan interiors, and aiming to be high volume.

Any idea how they source items like that for so few locations? Normally you'd need a greater count of locations/scale to source those items. Do they have more stores using the format in Mexico maybe?

[pseudo3d]

Compounding this fact is that some Plus stores HAVE better selection, like some actually have PS5 games and stuff. Differentiation between different stores has its advantages but in many cases the only real similarities between stores is just concrete floors, spartan interiors, and aiming to be high volume.

Any idea how they source items like that for so few locations? Normally you'd need a greater count of locations/scale to source those items. Do they have more stores using the format in Mexico maybe?

I'm actually told that those items may have been broomed already, but generally for video games I believe those are a "dealer" item. It's not the same distributor as Mexico as LatAm uses a different video game rating system.

[storewanderer]

Compounding this fact is that some Plus stores HAVE better selection, like some actually have PS5 games and stuff. Differentiation between different stores has its advantages but in many cases the only real similarities between stores is just concrete floors, spartan interiors, and aiming to be high volume.

Any idea how they source items like that for so few locations? Normally you'd need a greater count of locations/scale to source those items. Do they have more stores using the format in Mexico maybe?

I'm actually told that those items may have been broomed already, but generally for video games I believe those are a "dealer" item. It's not the same distributor as Mexico as LatAm uses a different video game rating system.

HEB may have been smart to not do as much with non food anymore because it seems like that business is getting really sour.

It appears there is a HEB Plus not too far south of Dallas too. We probably have a post about that opening here but I didn't catch the Plus part.

Was HEB Plus better when Auchan was there?

[pseudo3d]

Any idea how they source items like that for so few locations? Normally you'd need a greater count of locations/scale to source those items. Do they have more stores using the format in Mexico maybe?

I'm actually told that those items may have been broomed already, but generally for video games I believe those are a "dealer" item. It's not the same distributor as Mexico as LatAm uses a different video game rating system.

HEB may have been smart to not do as much with non food anymore because it seems like that business is getting really sour.

It appears there is a HEB Plus not too far south of Dallas too. We probably have a post about that opening here but I didn't catch the Plus part.

Was HEB Plus better when Auchan was there?

Auchan closed in early 2003 after a long decline. The first H-E-B Plus stores didn't open until 2004, and took even longer to get to Houston.

[biggins]

Any idea how they source items like that for so few locations? Normally you'd need a greater count of locations/scale to source those items. Do they have more stores using the format in Mexico maybe?

I'm actually told that those items may have been broomed already, but generally for video games I believe those are a "dealer" item. It's not the same distributor as Mexico as LatAm uses a different video game rating system.

HEB may have been smart to not do as much with non food anymore because it seems like that business is getting really sour.

It appears there is a HEB Plus not too far south of Dallas too. We probably have a post about that opening here but I didn't catch the Plus part.

Was HEB Plus better when Auchan was there?

The HEB in Waxahachie is being remodeled into a Plus. This would make two within 30 miles of the Metroplex, counting the older Plus location in Burleson. I believe most stores located along I-35 between Austin and DFW are already the Plus format.

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