It's just a big old grocery store, or Supermarket if you will. Nothing like a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's. Just a good old produce, deli, frozen aisle, florist, typical grocer. The HEB Central Market, as someone mentioned above, is more like those gourmet Epicurean Markets. But it's always been a Texas based company, I shopped at the HEB in East Austin for years in the late 90's...
Absolutely. I would never buy fruit from the one near me. My wife brought home some ground beef from them once that was awful. They range from being incredibly nice to being Foodarama.
IMO, the best thing about HEB is their meat. The price is right, quality is better than their competition, and they have a wide selection (including prime cuts, preseasoned meat, and great specials). Not to mention, they don't add a 10% solution to ALL of their cuts like Wal Mart and Target.
It is hard to explain Trader Joes to the uninitiated. It is a smallish grocery store with an eclectic selection of high quality, low priced items. it is not really a store you would go to for generic milk, bread and eggs.
I am at the Fountain View and Westheimer location at least 3x a week... Its really the only grocery store option for those of us who live in the Galleria (and don't want to overspend at the Randalls at San Felipe and Sage) or at the Rice Epicurean at San Felipe and South Post Oak
and lots of good looking women wearing yoga pants shop there i would say its more of a unique store catering to the unique/health conscious type crowd. there are lot of different ethnic foods you can get there, heathly/vegetarian/vegan options and other unique things. its probably my favorite grocery store to shop at for food
I will also add that they seem to be a good employer. My friend's dad manages one of the HEB's down in the valley. On more than one occasion, he has outlined his burial plans to me, which consist of his buried casket facing in the direction of his HEB.
I don't know why Trader Joe's doesn't expand rapidly in and around large universities across the country. I think their products would sell really well with college kids -- it's relatively cheap food, tastes relatively good, and a lot of the stuff they sell is really quick to prepare.
Trader Joe's is also famous for it's Charles Shaw wine, aka "Two Buck Chuck" "Three Buck Chuck" if you are in NYC. But I believe they have a beer line with a microbrewery if I'm not mistaken, and their Trader Joe brand name items, such as deserts and pre-packaged meals/sandwiches, are always top notch. They'd make a killing in Austin, even with Whole Foods as their main competitor.
I've only been in SF for a year, but I love Trader Joe's. However, you can't go comparing it to HEB. I miss the only 20 pack of Bud Light for $9.99 specials, and all that cheap produce and meat. Not to mention all the other discounts over there. Used to live really close to the Oltorf and SoCo location.
from what I have seen of hebs and heard here it just seems like a larger competitive grocery store whereas TJ's is more of a specialty type grocery store and most TJs arent very big they are smaller than your average Krogers/Safeways/Vons/etc let alone those mega grocery stores I am surprised though that Trader Joe's hasnt expanded to more locations every single one I've been to here is always packed regardless of what time I go shop there.
My brother lives in NYC, and apparently they only have one TJs in Manhattan...which is always crazy packed. Here in Chicago we have three TJs in the city, with a bunch more out in the suburbs.
They absolutely dominate every market that they are in. They are a private company so they can be very careful in opening up stores. There is no pressure for them to expand. From what I've heard, their suppliers love them and they have very good prices on most items. In Austin and San Antonio, they have pretty much wiped out all the other super markets in the area. The only ones that are left are whole foods and a couple of upscale Randalls. Thin of them as the Walmart of grocery stores when Sam Walton was still running things.
No, go in some of the original stores near San Antonio, they have plaques on the wall that talk about him and use his nickname Harry.
Interesting. Trader Joe's sounds good but I've never seen one with my own eyes. Is it like Central Market? HEB - I don't know about their Houston locations, but in Austin/San Antonio/ the Hill Country they are the major grocery store brand. They are awesome. It's a regular grocery store, with good prices and now some of their more upscale "Central Market" items can be found in the regular stores. Those tend to be expensive, though. The Central Market stores themselves are great - again, not so good for getting staple items, but have all the specialties. They have good prepared items but those cost a little more; they have a lot of bulk bins which are better deals. Some of them have nice restaurants or eating areas. ...though that reminds me of another great thing about regular HEB's, or a lot of them. You could get a huge plate or container from the deli section (with tables to eat at) with chicken strips or boneless wings, wedge fries, another side, and refillable drink for $5. Not fancy but the best fast food deal around. Depends on the location though.
Not a joke. We did a case on them in one of my MBA classes. Their official name is the H.E. Butt Grocery Company.
And it's true they are named for Mr. Butt. Their cardboard boxes are actually stamped "H. E. Butt Grocery". (I cannot speak for whether "H. E." stands for Howard, Harry, or Huge Elephant.)
