WILLIS, TEXAS — H-E-B is building four new stores across Houston’s suburbs as a growing number of households feeds the region’s sprawl.
The additions will narrow the gap between the San Antonio-based grocer, which has 104 local stores, and Kroger, Houston’s largest grocer by store count with 109, according to a Chronicle survey.
“We want to be able to feed Texans in every community,” the company said in a statement. “As communities throughout the region expand, we want to be there to meet their needs.”
In southeast Houston, H-E-B Bay Area will anchor Regency Center's new Eastfield at Baybrook shopping center at the Gulf Freeway and El Dorado. The store, spanning more than 100,000 square feet, is on track for completion by the end of the year and will replace a smaller one a few miles away.
H-E-B Clear Lake Market, a 56,000-square-foot store on El Camino Real, will close after 19 years. H-E-B owns the building but has not determined what will happen with the real estate. The store is in the southeast Houston region, which logged a 12 percent rise in home starts in the second quarter compared to the year earlier, according to Zonda, a housing consultancy.
South of Houston, H-E-B will anchor Manvel Town Center, a new project by Weitzman at Texas 288 and Texas 6, in summer 2023. The store will break ground in late 2022 after the developer has finished preparations for the site.
Second quarter home starts in the south region rose by 21 percent over the year, with sales in Sierra Vista/Sterling Lakes and Meridiana driving the gains, according to Zonda.
Two stores are planned in far north Houston region, where home starts jumped 39 percent year over year in the second quarter.
H-E-B will have a store in The Market at Willis Shopping Center, a project of Fidelis Realty Partners at Interstate 45 and FM 1097, serving the new Moran Ranch and other communities and set to open in fall 2022. A second H-E-B store in Magnolia is underway at Spur 149 and FM 1488 targeting a summer 2022 opening.
Kroger, which shifted to remodeling stores after a wave of expansions a few years ago, does not have any new stores in the pipeline, according to a spokesperson.
Second quarter home starts in the south region rose by 21 percent over the year, with sales in Sierra Vista/Sterling Lakes and Meridiana driving the gains, according to Zonda.
Two stores are planned in far north Houston region, where home starts jumped 39 percent year over year in the second quarter.
H-E-B will have a store in the Market at Willis Shopping Center, a project of Fidelis Realty Partners at Interstate 45 and FM 1097, serving the new Moran Ranch and other communities and set to open in fall 2022. A second H-E-B store in Magnolia is underway at Spur 149 and FM 1488 targeting a summer 2022 opening.
Kroger, which shifted to remodeling stores after a wave of expansions a few years ago, does not have any new stores in the pipeline, according to a spokesperson.