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H-E-B is No. 1 U.S. Grocery Chain

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 90546

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1 hour ago, Okie State said:

And yet I know people who actively choose Kroger or Randall's over HEB. Don't ask me why.

Put a Whataburger in next to a McDonalds, and those people will still choose McDonalds.  It's conditioning - for the longest time in the Sugar Land area, it was basically Randalls or Krogers, and it was like a sports team thing - people who went to one, wouldn't acknowledge the other.

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Rating WMT above Publix is ridiculous.  The only thing WMT has over Publix is their online pickup is pretty extensive at this point but otherwise, Publix is far superior.

WMT is everywhere though, and plenty running into Wally World for a small item end up grabbing a few groceries.  Still, it's cool that some local/regional chains are able to adapt and are beating them.  Hell, I've seen some HEBs and Krogers that are damn near adding a mini-Walmart to their store.  Weird seeing clothing in a Krogers.

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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11856

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27 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Put a Whataburger in next to a McDonalds, and those people will still choose McDonalds.  It's conditioning - for the longest time in the Sugar Land area, it was basically Randalls or Krogers, and it was like a sports team thing - people who went to one, wouldn't acknowledge the other.

WMT is everywhere though, and plenty running into Wally World for a small item end up grabbing a few groceries.  Still, it's cool that some local/regional chains are able to adapt and are beating them.  Hell, I've seen some HEBs and Krogers that are damn near adding a mini-Walmart to their store.  Weird seeing clothing in a Krogers.

It depends on the situation too.  I have a shitty neighborhood HEB at Manchaca and Slaughter.  I mean shitty as in a couple days before Christmas, they were out of celery.  For two days.  Before New Years?  Out of blackeyed peas (dried), again for a couple of days.  It doesn't have a butcher and just sucks in general, it's like going to the damned DMV.  So if I'm going to buy stuff for a meal (meat, produce) I generally go to the Randall's that's 5 minutes from my house.  They upgraded their store recently and added a butcher/seafood counter, and while their produce isn't top notch, they generally at least have some.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Publix is actually great store, started by a fraternity brother of mine.  You could buy a keg of beer there at mid nite on a school night and they had a fresh meals to go chiller up front years before any other chain did.  
 

it’s big negative though is that they are located in Florida.  

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1978horn

1978horn 904

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all bullshit and joking aside.
after harvey, heb rolled into victoria, hours after the storm cleared. they had a mobile pharmacy up and running. tons of free ice. they had at least two mobile kitchens serving 3 meals a day, free. they had a mini grocery store with necessities. HEB beat federal and state relief by almost 7 days. 


There was an article about this after it happened. HEB left trailers full of food in strategic locations and flew in drivers via helicopters to get food to the people quicker. The had a contingency plan for natural disaster scenarios and executed it perfectly. They opened stores within a day or so and had workers brought in from other stores. Quality company that cares about its employees and customers.
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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 78470

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21 minutes ago, 1978horn said:

 


There was an article about this after it happened. HEB left trailers full of food in strategic locations and flew in drivers via helicopters to get food to the people quicker. The had a contingency plan for natural disaster scenarios and executed it perfectly. They opened stores within a day or so and had workers brought in from other stores. Quality company that cares about its employees and customers.

 

They bused in a lot of employee To get those stores up and running 

I even think they HEBuddy there for the kids 

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Deej

Deej 77671

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4 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It depends on the situation too.  I have a shitty neighborhood HEB at Manchaca and Slaughter.  I mean shitty as in a couple days before Christmas, they were out of celery.  For two days.  Before New Years?  Out of blackeyed peas (dried), again for a couple of days.  It doesn't have a butcher and just sucks in general, it's like going to the damned DMV.  So if I'm going to buy stuff for a meal (meat, produce) I generally go to the Randall's that's 5 minutes from my house.  They upgraded their store recently and added a butcher/seafood counter, and while their produce isn't top notch, they generally at least have some.

I'll see your Manchaca and Slaughter location and raise you the Rundberg and Lamar one. Aside from just general shittiness, it has nothing close to the product others provide. 

Edited by Deej
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utee94

utee94 16066

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When I was a kid, Market Basket replaced the Handy Andy grocery store at Rockwood/Anderson Lane.  It was our closest grocery store and even so, we still drove all the way to the Far West HEB.  We could have gone to the Skaggs Alpha Beta on 183 as well, but that placed sucked even worse than Market Basket.

But, I did play a lot of Tron and Star Wars standup arcade game there, when I was being too lazy to ride my bike to The Gold Mine in Northcross Mall.

 

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 78470

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https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/heb-took-care-communities-harvey/

I never knew this story about the Beaumont Water System failing and HEB stepping up. 

Quote

DS: What’s been the most intense part of the past week and a half for you?

JN: We received a phone call Thursday morning from the emergency management coordinator for the city of Beaumont, after they lost their tube pumps and the city was surrounded by floodwater. They lost all water pressure, and it was the toughest day in my 24-year career at H-E-B when the city of Beaumont called asking ‘What do we do now that we have no water pressure in the city and the city’s surrounded by water?’ It was a surreal moment when he asked H-E-B to help. He had already asked for help from the state of Texas, and they had given him a timeline that wasn’t acceptable in his opinion. And he said, ‘I know that I’m asking a lot, but what can H-E-B do to get water to the citizens of Beaumont?’ You have to pause for a moment to consider the gravity of the situation, and what’s going on, and what are your next steps to make that happen, and I can tell you that from that moment on, out of everything that H-E-B did from our perspective, we mobilized tankers, we mobilized tractor-trailers of water, and we got those on the road and we got those into Beaumont on Thursday when nobody else could. I was a little disappointed in FEMA, because I saw on a news report that FEMA couldn’t get trailer-loads of water into Beaumont on Thursday afternoon. We had been going through two feet of water in our tractor-trailers with our senior vice president of supply chain in the lead truck, delivering those trailer-loads of water. We had ten tankers of water in Beaumont by the close of business on Thursday. I remember the emergency management coordinator in Beaumont called me and said, ‘If it wasn’t for H-E-B, we wouldn’t have water in the city of Beaumont for Friday.’ I think that’s pretty darn special, and a reflection of everything H-E-B does, and the spirit of H-E-B.

 
 

 

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The Ace of Aces

The Ace of Aces 5366

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8 hours ago, Helobious said:

My sister lives in Maryland and always bitches about how much Giant sucks. I’ve been there and can confirm she’s right. We really lucked out with HEB here.

Drive by 3 Giants every Friday night to get to Wegmans. Giant is like Tom Thumb, if anyone remembers those. I call it the third world grocery store, and they have a robot that follows you around probably filming your shopping pattern. Fuuuuuuuuck Giant.

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Post Oak

Post Oak 20551

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34 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/heb-took-care-communities-harvey/

I never knew this story about the Beaumont Water System failing and HEB stepping up. 

 

HEB is one of the few places I feel good about spending my money at. 

They understand they are stitched into the fabric of Texas and don't take that lightly.

Respect

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F250

F250 29174

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Back when I was bouncing around the country for work it was pretty common for me to buy some stuff at the local grocery store. There is no comparison between HEB and any other grocery store in the country. Surprisingly most grocery stores were pretty crappy by comparison.

I think the only decent place I went to was Meijer, they seem to be fairly popular in the Ohio Valley. Not nearly as nice as HEB but better than most. HEB is just light years ahead of everyone else.

 

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After irth

After irth 1245

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2 hours ago, Deej said:

I'll see your Manchaca and Slaughter location and raise you the Rundberg and Lamar one. Aside from just general shittiness, it has nothing close to the product others provide. 

Come to Lufkin sometime. I will double-down on a shitty HEB experience for ya. 

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After irth

After irth 1245

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1 minute ago, Deej said:

I'm willing to bet I'm more likely to be stabbed in the Rundberg HEB parking lot.

Well...when we’re done there, we can always go lick the ice cream at Wal-Mart. Maybe set the chip aisle on fire.  Doritos are highly flammable, ya know?

The possibilities are endless. Wanna make it a worthwhile trip for ya. 

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Zepol87

Zepol87 9308

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21 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Reading about all the times HEB steps up for local communities and I'm starting to think that if you have a local HEB and choose not to shop there, not only are you dumb...but you're also likely an asshole.

Yep. I’ve never heard of the local stories but that is awesome.

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Deej

Deej 77671

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27 minutes ago, After irth said:

Well...when we’re done there, we can always go lick the ice cream at Wal-Mart. Maybe set the chip aisle on fire.  Doritos are highly flammable, ya know?

The possibilities are endless. Wanna make it a worthwhile trip for ya. 

The only HEB I've been to that has fenced in employee parking with a card controlled gate.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26176

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11 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Wait, Market Basket still exists?  We used to have them out here WAY back in the day, but they all disappeared.  I assumed they went out of business.  

 

Not surprised the big ones out here- Ralphs, Vons, and Albertsons aren't on there.  They are all taking a shit.

I remember Market Basket. 

Vons and Albertson's are the same company now.  Ralphs is Kroger. 

Edited by Gil Bang
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106618

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I'll see your Manchaca and Slaughter location and raise you the Rundberg and Lamar one. Aside from just general shittiness, it has nothing close to the product others provide. 

Ummmm....I love that HEB. It’s the United Nations HEB. They have a massive setup of tamales fixings before Xmas. They have all kinds of produce that you don’t see at all the gringo HEBs. In the summer, they have a full fruit stand in the produce section, with aguas fresca. The don’t do roasted chicken - they do the split Mexican grilled chickens, with beans rice and tortillas. A huge section of fresh hot tortillas. Multiple types of chorizo, and a meat market with all kinds of goodies.
And, on most visits, I hear at least 4-5 languages. Sometimes, as many as 8. Loved watching a Somali dude arguing with his Central American wife in I think three languages (cracked me up, because it doesn’t matter the nationality or culture, married couple grocery store fights are all the same).
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Deej

Deej 77671

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They also don't sell a single decent steak, and you inevitably end up in line behind some moron having them recalculate every possible combination of product so they can pay with the $9.43 worth of change they have in their possession.

I will agree the produce section is better than most.

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Hate

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9 hours ago, Tailgate said:

I was bagging groceries in the mid 80s at their Westgate location. Always was a cool company to work for.

I worked for them a couple of times.  Once at their corporate offices at the Arsenal in downtown SA where I worked with Stephen Butt and once at the GM warehouse in San Marcos.  They were a good company to work for.  Sometimes I wish I had stuck it out as they were always willing to promote from within. 

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8 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It depends on the situation too.  I have a shitty neighborhood HEB at Manchaca and Slaughter.  I mean shitty as in a couple days before Christmas, they were out of celery.  For two days.  Before New Years?  Out of blackeyed peas (dried), again for a couple of days.  It doesn't have a butcher and just sucks in general, it's like going to the damned DMV.  So if I'm going to buy stuff for a meal (meat, produce) I generally go to the Randall's that's 5 minutes from my house.  They upgraded their store recently and added a butcher/seafood counter, and while their produce isn't top notch, they generally at least have some.

That used to be my HEB as I lived at Davis and Manchaca.  It was even worse before they expanded it somewhere around 2005 or so.  We used to have to go to the HEB at William Cannon and Brodie if we needed something more than the usual products.

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Iceman

Iceman 2956

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One of my sons worked for HEB while in high school.  They paid better than the competition.  They were flexible as hell with his schedule. They got free shit at the store from time to time, legit free, not five finger discount.  LOL.  they would get coupons in their check or on email, and it was typically new items to drive trial. They got a free ham or turkey at the holidays.

I already liked HEB, but when he went away to college,  he had called his boss on Thanksgiving and when he came home for winter break after finals,  they had him scheduled to work.  I thought that was incredibly awesome.  Maybe other employers do it too, but I felt like it was cool.  I know mom and pops do it, but that is a bigger organization with a different type of staff.

Finally, as a customer, we miss them like a motherfucker up here in West Texas.  United is not the United I grew up on, and WM is just WM.  The prices here suck, relative to Houston; but the quality and selection of groceries is lower.  Gimme some HEB brand stuff, hell, even Hill Country Fare will do. HEB is coming to Lubbock this year and word is that 2 stores are coming to Amarillo in the future. Bring it the fuck on...

Edited by Iceman
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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13707

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20 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I'm 100 percent gonna try that next time I'm at a Kroger-affiliated gas pump. At any given time, the discount might be maxed out. 

(Shell stations link to Kroger cards. Maybe others.)

You’re doing it wrong. If you have a friend with a large family, use one of their numbers.  Duh.

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8350

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5 minutes ago, Iceman said:

One of my sons worked for HEB while in high school.  They paid better than the competition.  They were flexible as hell with his schedule. They got free shit at the store from time to time, legit free, not five finger discount.  LOL.  they would get coupons in their check or on email, and it was typically new items to drive trial. They got a free ham or turkey at the holidays.

I already liked HEB, but when he went away to college,  he had called his boss on Thanksgiving and when he came home for winter break after finals,  they had him scheduled to work.  I thought that was incredibly awesome.  Maybe other employers do it too, but I felt like it was cool.  I know mom and pops do it, but that is a bigger organization with a different type of staff.

Finally, as a customer, we miss them like a motherfucker up here in West Texas.  United is not the United I grew up on, and WM is just WM.  The prices here suck, relative to Houston; but the quality and selection of groceries is lower.  Gimme some HEB brand stuff, hell, even Hill Country Fare will do. HEB is coming to Lubbock this year and word is that 2 stores are coming to Amarillo in the future. Bring it the fuck on...

When HEB opened in West U, it necessitated the closure of an old mom-and-pop drugstore, the Buffalo Pharmacy. So what did HEB do? Just kinda shrug it off as a sad consequence of capitalism? No -- they hired the entire staff of Buffalo as their in-store pharmacy department.

When they opened in Montrose, it necessitated the demolition of a really pretty 1940s apartment complex that had about 20 mature live oaks on the grounds. While they tore down the apartment buildings, they kept most of the trees, and now that is one of the nicest parking lots in town. I know for a fact Kroger would have just cut them all down.

I hate being such a fanboy for any company, but I am totally an HEB fanboy.

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TXSG8R

TXSG8R 3362

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1 hour ago, Iceman said:

One of my sons worked for HEB while in high school.  They paid better than the competition.  They were flexible as hell with his schedule. They got free shit at the store from time to time, legit free, not five finger discount.  LOL.  they would get coupons in their check or on email, and it was typically new items to drive trial. They got a free ham or turkey at the holidays.

I already liked HEB, but when he went away to college,  he had called his boss on Thanksgiving and when he came home for winter break after finals,  they had him scheduled to work.  I thought that was incredibly awesome.  Maybe other employers do it too, but I felt like it was cool.  I know mom and pops do it, but that is a bigger organization with a different type of staff.

Finally, as a customer, we miss them like a motherfucker up here in West Texas.  United is not the United I grew up on, and WM is just WM.  The prices here suck, relative to Houston; but the quality and selection of groceries is lower.  Gimme some HEB brand stuff, hell, even Hill Country Fare will do. HEB is coming to Lubbock this year and word is that 2 stores are coming to Amarillo in the future. Bring it the fuck on...

Yea, my son started working for HEB in high school too.  Once you get 300 hours you're essentially tenured, and your school semesters are just LOAs.  Hes been working all winter break.  This summer hes moving into an apartment in Austin, so he will just transfer to a store down there (something else they fully support) and continue to do the same thing.  Amazing company, its the hardest job to get here in town because they take such good care of people.  

I will say that the chicken tender pub sub is something HEB should actively work to steal.  That's about the only thing Publix is good for.  

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Flg8rfan

Flg8rfan 201

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SEC! folks will try to talk up Publix, which is better than Kroger, but not by much. And that's not saying a lot. HEB slays Publix. 

Love Publix but they did go downhill somewhat when they expanded out of Florida and diluted their experienced employees many years ago. The culture changed from a family type, employee owned company to a large chain (still employee owned though).

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Flg8rfan

Flg8rfan 201

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Publix is actually great store, started by a fraternity brother of mine.  You could buy a keg of beer there at mid nite on a school night and they had a fresh meals to go chiller up front years before any other chain did.  
 
it’s big negative though is that they are located in Florida.  

I forgot they did kegs, hauled many of those out for a customer back in the day!
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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Well you probably helped me with one back in the day.  I was the guy whose ID for the check I gave for the barrel and tap deposit didn’t match the ID he showed as proof of being 21 to buy the actual beer inside.  

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Iceman

Iceman 2956

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5 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:


I thought Ralph’s was Safeway from the interior of the only one I’ve been in that’s in Point Loma. Looks like Randall’s which is owned by Safeway IIRC.

Albertsons and Safeway merged a few years ago.  those are under the same flag now, along with King Soopers in the Colorado market. 

Ralphs is part of Kroger. 

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F250

F250 29174

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I worked at HEB as a cashier in high school during the early 90's. The floor manager used to clock our breaks with a stopwatch and I was making around $3.60 an hour. Working at HEB sucked big time.

I ended up quitting after getting hired at Krogers at $5.25 for the same job plus guaranteed raises every 3 months. The place was a union shop so management couldn't touch you regardless if you sucked or not. The inmates were definitely running the asylum at that store.

 

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