Wow, do they have 30 foot murals of guys sucking each other off on the walls?
I have one right down the street. Its OK. Hard to go do regular shopping there. Its - as has been said - a niche thing.
Wow, do they have 30 foot murals of guys sucking each other off on the walls?
Meh, I watched a special awhile back and the "organic" stuff was not really any better it just cost more. So then I need to take my own HEB plastic bags? No worries, we do carry our own green grocery bags around. I see plenty of hotties at HEB all the time. I make my own caldo too.
Is Trader Joe's a good place for buying chiles? All I have seen at HEB is jalapeno, serrano, habanero, guajillo, ancho, and pasilla.
Trader Joe's has a fat free caramel popcorn that will absolutely blow your in' shorts off.
$1.49 for a pretty good sized bag.
Bend over, I'll give ya fat free caramel!
They have a red wine called Jam Jar. And HEB does have wineries that they own in France if I recall correctly. HEB has their hands in more things than the average customer knows. That sounds kind of ominous, but it actually isn't. It just means that HEB is creating far more self branded items than people even know about. , HEB makes more profit on land than they do in the grocery business. Little known fact by most people, HEB owns most of the property that their stores are on, which means that all the other businesses in the shopping center pay rent to HEB.
So they're going to be targeting the demographic served by Central Market then? Still HEB, so yeah, compe or. Plus, a lot of the stores are expanding the organic sections. A lot of the newer stores have Healthy Living sections with handmade soaps, organic products and alternative health meds in addition to the organic sections that are being expanded. My store has a wine steward on hand in addition to two full aisles dedicated to wine.
Also, you can't sell liquor in a supermarket in Texas. Not an HEB thing, a Texas thing. Walmarts outside of Texas have liquor from what I hear.
It's not that it's a religious experience, it's just that Albertsons and Krogers bailed on the market because of HEB. Other stores have to find gaps in the market shares just to survive (La Fiesta, Handy Andy [almost non existent now], Sprouts, etc.).
Them's the facts is all. Any grocer coming in has to worry about HEB as they have dominated the market, and are the only large retail supermarket chain that goes dollar for dollar with Walmart. Everyone else is more expensive than Walmart. If you found out how little HEB makes on each dollar, you'd wonder how the chain has survived for over 106 years now, but they make money in other ways.
Again, catering to the market goes a long way, and HEB has expanded while still maintaining that feeling of ownership by the customer. You've all heard the phrase "Your friendly (insert neighborhood name here) HEB".
HEB pretty much blows. The Albertsons and Smiths in my area aren't much better, though. Whole Foods is way better, but there's a reason its got the nickname Whole Paycheck. I do like Trader Joes. I should probably go more often.
I've never been to a Trader Joe's, so I don't have an opinion on it. The store I work in is pretty damn nice as it has a large variety of everything, from national brand to niche brand items as well as an electronics department (and Texas outdoor coming in a few months for when I get a house).
Every now and then I'll go to Sprouts (Sun Harvest whatever) or a meat market if I want to barbecue. I actually like Sprouts. Wouldn't do a Whole Foods though.
Whole Foods? Every time I go to that place I figure I might as well just go eat out for the price.
This. More than a few times I filled a box of deli food and paid more than $15 for it each time.
Trader's Joe landed here in NJ about 6 months ago. Went there for the opening and maybe one other time, but nothing to write home about, tbh... prices were about the same as any other place, if not more expensive on certain items.
Exactly. My HEB has everything I need, I know where it is at and I get in and out with no problems. It has a deli and coffee area. What more do I need?
You can catch good produce and meat/poultry/fish deals if you check out specials weekly. Their bulk dept and everything else is pretty inflated though. Reasonable growler fill prices as well at the downtown one in Austin - $12 I believe.
Last edited by leemajors; 12-03-2011 at 11:16 AM.
I could give two s about an electronics dept in a ing grocery store.
I've only seen one HEB with that and no one was in that department.
I liked that Trader Joes had Heirloom tomatoes for cheap. That made me very happy.
Pretty much every H-E-B plus has one...
Went to Sprouts today because I didn't feel like dragging my kids to HEB as they were being pains and figured I could get everything from Sprouts and it's closer to my place.
I will say this, I like their produce better than HEB and it's usually cheaper. The market is about the same in cost, but their dry groceries are more expensive, even for the basic non organic stuff.
If Trader Joe's is like this, and is close by, I could see myself making trips every now and then. If I was just going for produce, I'd visit Sprouts more often. Usually I need stuff that they don't carry though, in addition to grocery and produce items.
And sometimes I shop at my store when I get out of work, since I'm already in a store.
Really is no different than Walmart or Target. If you hate Walmart, then whatever, so be it. But some of our customers felt a little weird about the department for the first week, but that didn't stop hundreds from lining up outside the store waiting for it to open at 4 a.m. and then literally running to the electronics department to snag TVs, iPads, tablets, phones and game consoles.
Plus, the electronics department at my store always has people there.
top 3 best buys from there
1,chicken tikka massala
2, orangeboom beer (a dollar for a tall dutch beer !!!)
3,most of the chocolate
love the place .. henrys
You guys should put a house in the store too. You can have people lining up at 4am every night.
It's been well known for awhile they were coming to Austin & Houston. I coincidently talked to an employ of the Company today (In Seattle) who said those were the only two TX stores with a green light.
Not saying they aren't coming, just saying I don't think they are (right now)
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