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HEB Opens New Megastore with Fanfare
Rusty Graham
Memorial Examiner

The new H-E-B store in Bunker Hill reaches for grocery nirvana, the best of all grocery worlds.

The 127,900-square-foot H-E-B Bunker Hill Market combines the popular upscale offerings of its Central Market stores with the tried-and-true stock of its traditional grocery stores.

“It was great. It was excellent. It was better than expected,” John May, general manager, said of the store’s public opening Nov. 7. “The customers have been great. They’ve been thanking us for being here.”

May said the store saw “lots” of people but the opening went smoothly, and the excitement is carrying through to this week.

“This is a great neighborhood,” he said. “It’s a ‘grown-up’ neighborhood — most of the people have been here for a while. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Besides the upscale and standard food lines, the store has a cooking supply department, a row of games and toys, a few racks of specialty clothing, high-end cosmetics, and a row of bulk-packed products.

There’s ethnic and international foods from every region on earth. There’s the Cafe on the Run, where customers can eat a prepared meal, or carry out to eat elsewhere. There’s a business center where customers can pay all their bills, wire money and buy money orders. There’s an IBC Bank inside the store too.

There’s a full-service pharmacy. There are “Showtime” stations where food demonstations will take place throughout the day. There’s a cooking center where chefs will prepare recipes and share samples.

“The grocery business is very competitive,” said Russ Hammond, center store leader, who’s responsible for non-perishable goods. “You have to distinguish yourself.”

“We tailor each store to the surrounding neighborhood,” said Tom Jarvis, group vice president. “We went the extra mile (in Bunker Hill) — this store has more variety than any store in H-E-B.”

May said that for nine weeks, he and his leadership team met with community leaders, seeking input that was incorporated into the store in a number of ways, from product selection to some design elements. For instance, he learned that residents of the villages and surrounding areas were interested in wines and cheese. So the new H-E-B will offer more than 400 kinds of cheeses, and a number of fine wines along with its more affordable wine selection.

Abuzz with last-minute preparations, the store at 9710 Katy Freeway was a veritable beehive of activity during a media tour the day before opening. There was a sense of urgency, sure, and a thousand details to be tended to, but the work was steady, persistent, confident.

May smiled but wasn’t kidding when asked if the store would be ready. “It has to be. We’re opening Nov. 7.”

Outside, workers were in cherry pickers putting the final touches on the building’s facade. Another group of workers cemented masonry blocks around a large stone flower bed. Landscapers lay sod in the curbed concrete esplanades in the parking lot.

Inside, store employees — partners, in H-E-B parlance — stocked shelves, arranged displays, and attended to the myriad preparatory details. Bakers fashioned lumps of dough into loaves of bread. Fresh seafood was carefully arranged in iced displays. Another group was making cheese into edible works of art. Vendors were helping get their products and brands in place.

It all came together by Thursday night, when an estimated 2,000 Memorial-area residents turned out in cocktail attire for an invitation-only ribbon-cutting and preview party.

Guests who arrived early were entertained outside the entrance by dancers on stilts from the Aldine ISD. After words from H-E-B executives and store manager May, H-E-B presented officials from the Spring Branch Education Foundation with a $5,000 check.

“I’ve never seen in my career a business entity put more effort into supporting education,” said Duncan Klussmann, Spring Branch ISD superintendent.

Inside, the Memorial High School jazz band performed near the checkout. A more restrained string quartet from MHS played in the meat and cheese section of the store. Guest mingled while sampling foods prepared from the store’s stock or its ready-made complement.

The Central Market-style products are found on the store’s “edges,” with more traditional fare stocked in the store’s center. The edges include more than 1,000 items in produce, 400 cheeses, scratch-baked breads, seafood that’s brought in fresh seven days a week, prime, organic meats, fine wines, and more.

Hammond said H-E-B store designs are always evolving, taking the best elements from previous designs and carrying those forward.

May said he thinks the store will be a “destination” shopping stop, with customers coming from areas outside its Villages location. He also thinks the recent widening of the Katy Freeway will help bring those destination shoppers.

A community room is primarily for cooking classes and demonstration but will be available for community groups, non-profits and others who need space to meet, said Andres Garcia, the store’s community coordinator. Garcia said he’s already booked the room for several groups.

The food will be fresh — and local. Lori Gilmore, perishables leader, said that the store will take advantage of crops from local farmers, buying in-season produce that doesn’t have to be transported or imported.

Roel Villalon will manage the store’s operations, including the fuel station and car wash on the I-10 feeder road.

BY THE NUMBERS

A look at the H-E-B Bunker Hill Market.

127,900 square feet

4,000 titles in books and magazine

2,000 selections of wines

900 varieties of fresh fruits and vegatables

430 partners (employees)

100 kinds of certified organic produce

75 varieties of seafood available daily

30 live cooking demonstrations every week

24 checkout lanes

24 hour automated prescription refill line

1 destination

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