I never paid much attention to grocery shopping when I was a kid, mainly because we ate out or ordered in a lot and, when my mother did grocery shop, it was an expedient experience. But that was a very long time ago. These days, however, the word “expedient” can hardly be applied to the task of shopping in one of the local massive supermarkets dominated by Texas’ own HEB chain. 

     Yes, everything’s bigger in Texas, but just to give you a concrete idea about how much bigger our big supermarkets are, the largest HEB store to date is here in San Antonio and is 182,000 sq.ft.; that’s about four football fields or roughly four acres. Even if you just need to “pop in” for a couple little things (under 10 items for self-checkout), walking across one of the huge HEB Plus stores to dairy (always in the far back corner), to meats (always in the opposite far corner), to produce and flowers (generally right up front), the only thing truly expedited on such a “pop in” is the 10,000 steps registered on your Fitbit! 

     The first HEB had come to my hometown of Victoria in 1934, but by the time I was growing up there in the 1950s, it had been considerably remodeled, enlarged and air-conditioned. It was still a small supermarket by today’s standards, but large compared to any of the other grocers in town. Over the years, the HEB stores grew throughout Texas and, eventually, put almost all competitors of any size out of business. Even Albertsons, a national grocery store chain once common in Texas and second only to Kroger in market share, eventually shut its South Texas operations. Interestingly, the last one to close was the one in Victoria in 2002, by which time there were two huge HEB stores in town.

     When I first married and moved to the Northeast, I was dismayed by the absence of what I considered to be real supermarkets. Yes, there were small local markets, bodegas, convenience stores, and specialty markets for meat and deli and breads in New York, but you had to go in search of who sold what to put it all together.  Even when we moved out into the suburbs of Fairfield County, CT in the mid-1970s, the only real grocery store in our area was an aging A&P, functional but cramped and without much non-food merchandise. I missed those wide, brightly-lit aisles and long, high freezer banks, not to mention the excitement of seasonal products and promotions. It took years before any truly big supermarkets such as Stop & Shop or Big Y moved into Connecticut, but even then they were only half the size of most HEBs.

      Once my Mother retired and had the time, she used to love to shop for groceries in Victoria and to peruse all the new products and choices available. She did her own shopping, even though she wasn’t exactly a gourmet cook, but when I would come down to visit from Connecticut we would make a special day trip to the new HEB Plus. I would even buy products there myself to take back home such as freshly made tortillas or tamales or Dia de los Muertos decorations.  

         Eventually, I retired here in San Antonio and had my very own HEB Plus nearby (the one pictured above, 135,000 sq. ft.) Gradually, as my Mother got older, she could no longer navigate an HEB, so then I would go down to Victoria and take her to the one small, older market in town, Dick’s Food Store, a family-owned grocery since 1955 that many elderly people patronized. It was sad because our shopping trips still took forever and she still couldn’t get everything there, so I would then have to “pop in” later without her to the local HEB Plus to pick up items that she liked. The days were hot and long and exhausting, but she had to have enough to last a couple weeks before I returned because she no longer drove.

     The H E B Grocery Company is a privately-owned supermarket chain headquartered in San Antonio. It was founded in 1905 when Florence Butt opened the C.C. Butt Grocery Store on the ground floor of her family home in Kerrville. With more than 440 stores throughout Texas and Mexico, the Company today has annual sales of $46.5 billion, was #5 on Forbes’ list of “America’s Largest Private Companies” in 2024, and was just named one of the best companies to work for in 2025 by U.S. News & World Report. It is the largest private employer in Texas claiming over 50 percent of the Texas grocery market and completely dominating the South Texas area in and around Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, Laredo, and Houston. In short, when you talk about going grocery shopping in Texas, you’re talking about the HEB.

     And you are talking about a trip. In fact, friends of mine who come to visit from other areas of the Country always want to go to my local HEB because they just don’t have such stores where they live. Sure there are Walmarts and Costcos, but their focus is not predominantly on groceries. My HEB Plus has a huge parking lot, has gasoline, a car wash, and rows of charging stations. Inside there is a complete pharmacy providing some health services, an extensive cosmetics and personal care section, and even pet supplies.The store’s gift shop, Mia’s Mirror, sells clothing and imported items, and other aisles feature baby items, toys, party and picnic supplies, greeting cards, gift wrap, seasonal decorations, and housewares and cookware. Oh, and did I mention that there is a florist, along with a patio area that has plants and shrubs and garden accents such as Talavera planters and metal art.  

     It goes without saying that in a store this size there would be a butcher with traditional meats including Wagyu beef, and also a poultry section, a fish market and a sushi bar.  There is a full-service deli, a bakery and pastry shop, and a huge fresh-food section devoted to soups, salads, grab-n-go items and “meal simples” for one — all made in house, along with the ever-popular roasted chickens, turkey breasts, and fresh tamales. On top of all that, there is a restaurant (or two) inside the store featuring True Texas BBQ, Flaming Bird, or Cocina. 

     No matter how big or varied they are, the emphasis is always on the food and the products in the grocery aisles. HEB has its own providers, growers, fisheries, and floral nurseries, and its own product manufacturing plants for their own private-label brands of  milk, ice cream, bread, snacks, canned goods and much more. They are forever introducing new things and there are always kiosks with samples to try and “partners” (employees) walking around with featured seasonal goodies to tempt you as you shop. 

     In addition to all of this, HEB is a true “partner” in the communities they serve. They do a tremendous amount of philanthropy, disaster food relief, school promotional projects, and civic awareness programs. They offer their full-time employees a full range of benefits and opportunities, and because they have their own brands and resources, they are very, very price competitive.  Like the San Antonio Spurs here in town, this company is a source of community pride and appreciation. For the most part, I truly enjoy shopping at my HEB, but … 

     If all this sounds exhausting, it is, especially when you are of “a certain age,” as I have now become. Like my Mother before me, I appreciate the abundance and the privilege of the grocery  shopping experience, but it can also be overwhelming — particularly on very hot Texas days when you have spent two hours or more in the store and then have to face the brutal blacktop of the parking lot, load the groceries into the car, and get it all home to unload it once again. On more than once occasion, I have become faint and light-headed in the store; I see a headline in my future: “Woman Keels Over at HEB: News at Six!”

     So I have now learned to “strategize” my grocery shopping. Often, I split my list into two parts, using the Curbside pick-up convenience for the non-perishable items, and then going back later to personally select fresh produce and meats. I also choose my times carefully, trying not to shop on weekends or right before holidays when working people need to shop. I also plan my shopping route within the store in advance and always have my cell phone at the ready for coupon discounts and item locations.

     Even though we are retired, my husband and I still make almost all our meals at home and dinner is an event every evening. I plan my menus a couple weeks in advance and make my shopping lists accordingly. Cooking is a passion for me, and good food well prepared and beautifully presented is one of life’s enduring pleasures. The day may come when I can no longer manage this, but for now, my HEB makes it all still possible.

     And on those hot, exhausting days when I come home with a carload of groceries and start to whine that I have to put it all away, I remember what my Mother used to say in the same circumstance: “We shouldn’t complain, because aren’t we lucky that we have all this food when so many people in the world have none.”