Another H-E-B store opens in North Texas on Wednesday. We got a look inside.
H-E-B will open another grocery store in North Texas early Wednesday, and we got a sneak peek inside.
The long-awaited H-E-B McKinney market at 8700 Eldorado Parkway is about eight miles east of the recently opened H-E-B in Frisco. The Star-Telegram and other media got a tour of the new store Tuesday.
No two H-E-Bs are the same, because the retailer likes to tailor each store’s products to the local community. But the McKinney H-E-B provides some glimpses of what Fort Worth and Mansfield shoppers can expect when the grocer opens stores there next year.
H-E-B began construction in November on an Alliance store in far north Fort Worth at Heritage Trace Parkway and North Riverside Drive. The H-E-B Alliance is expected to open in spring 2024.
The grocery chain broke ground on the Mansfield store in February at U.S. 287 and Broad Street. It also is slated to open in 2024.
H-E-B also purchased other land in Fort Worth in March at The Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch in far south Fort Worth in “anticipation of (the company’s) future needs.”
When discussing adding another H-E-B to North Texas, company spokesperson Mabrie Jackson said there are “many, many more to come.”
In the chain’s flagship format at 111,000 square feet, the McKinney store has the same products H-E-B fanatics have grown to know and love, including butter tortillas, fresh produce, ready-made meals, daily-delivered fish and meats, extensive beer and wine selections, beauty cosmetics and home goods.
Open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, the store will employ 750 people. The location features a gas station and a True Texas BBQ restaurant.
Juan-Carlos Ruck, executive vice president of H-E-B’s northwest food drug retail division, said people keep coming back to H-E-B not because of the “cool” products, low prices or good quality, but because of how they feel when they visit the store.
“It’s not that secret, our culture is a humanity culture, and it’s universal,” Ruck said Tuesday. “If you get the right leaders and right people, it’s really easy to get involved in it and want to be a part of it.”
Similar to the Frisco store, the McKinney H-E-B will carry Southeast Asian prepared foods as part of the company strategy to survey local demographics and cater product offerings toward the surrounding community. Frisco and McKinney have larger South Asian and Indian communities than the rest of the Metroplex, leading the chain to also include a section full of South Asian yogurt brands.
H-E-B customers are expected to camp out and line up ahead of Wednesday morning’s grand opening. The store will have a beignet truck and coffee outside starting at 5 a.m. with doors opening at 6. A DJ will entertain waiting customers in the morning.
Here’s a look inside H-E-B McKinney:
H-E-B has more than 430 locations in Texas and Mexico and achieved $39 billion in sales. It is the largest private employer in Texas with more than 155,000 employees across the state.
This story was originally published July 18, 2023 at 5:48 PM.
