H-E-B Pantry Foods

H-E-B is a familiar name to just about anyone in Texas. The company operates 4 separate grocery store brands (Central Market, Joe V’s Smart Shop, Mi Tienda, and H-E-B) with locations in 4 out of the 5 largest metroplexes in the state, sorry El Paso. H-E-B even has extensive operations throughout Northeastern and Central Mexico. However, a grandiose expansion was not exactly how H-E-B entered the Houston market. With roots in the Hill Country town of Kerrville, Texas. Initial expansion of H-E-B was slow and limited to small towns around the headquarters. Throughout the 20th century HEB would increase their presence in smaller and rural communities, along with San Antonio. At the time larger cities, like Dallas and Austin faced fierce competition from mostly from huge out of state chains. Houston was no exception and by the 1980s are the three most dominant chains in Houston were Kroger, Safeway, and Randall’s.

 

After braving markets far outside their home territory H-E-B began a slow crawl up the Gulf Coast into Houston, starting slowly from the successful Corpus Christi market. To test the new Houston market a cost saving measure was made to open a few “Pantry Foods” locations in older disused grocery stores. The Houston area had plenty of these thanks to the respective bankruptcies of Safeway/AppleTree. As many of these stores were pushing 30 years old space was limited. As such Pantry Foods banner did not carry as much stock compared to other grocery stores of the time. There were no specialty shops such as a Deli, Bakery, Butcher, or Pharmacy. The variety of items was quite low, shelf space was usually reserved for one name brand item, and one generic. There was little staff outside of the stockers and cashiers, if a product wasn’t out on the shelf to be sold, it wasn’t available. The number of items in the store was also dropped limiting variety. These ideas helped to keep costs down with the end goal of introducing H-E-B to the Houston area, as a serious competitor against chains like Kroger, and Albertsons.

The plan of attack was simple, H-E-B would start from the small towns around Houston abandoned by closing Safeways and use that to build. Throughout the early 90s multiple stores were opened around Houston and in the suburbs surrounding the area. By the mid 90s development had moved within the loop. The stores in the Houston Metro area were generally a little bit bigger than their more rural counterparts. Again, this was due to reusing old stores and living with whatever choices that first company had made.

By the end of the decade H-E-B had become an established name in Houston. They were seen as a smaller and somewhat scrappier competitor, but their prices kept customers coming back. In 2000 H-E-B Corporate offices announced that all Pantry Foods locations would be either converted to full H-E-B locations or closed. With the grocery expansion Wal-Mart had undertaken, and the GM expansions many grocery stores undertook, Pantry Foods began to seem a bit quaint. The lack of space and selection began to hurt the company as many shoppers moved to “One Stop Shop” grocery stores such as, Kroger Signature, Walmart Supercenter, and even Randall’s Flagship. By 2002 the company was closing their final Pantry Foods locations.

For the most part the locations were either replaced by new builds or remodeled and expanded, with only a few closing permanently. At the same time, H-E-B began a huge push into Houston. Many locations which never had Pantry Foods locations gained new H-E-B’s. With many shopping center orienting themselves around the huge new stores. The Pantry Foods experiment only lasted about 10 years. Some stores did survive, simply dropping the Pantry Foods banner. Some of these locations received small updates, and new products. However, they’re still quite limited compared to most other grocery stores.

 

Locations throughout Texas – Credit to Aaron Johnson of The Houston Files for helping with this list.

Store Number	Address	Notes	Image
304	435 Uvalde Rd Houston, TX 77015	Originally a Weingarten, Then Safeway Budget Store, Did not become AppleTree, Now a dd's Discounts
305	1033 Bay Area Blvd Clear Lake, Webster, TX 77062	Originally an Eagle Discount Supermarket, Then Pyburn's Farm Fresh Foods, Then Super Warehouse Foods, HEB 1992-2001, Now Specs
306	4980 Hwy 6 N Houston, TX 77084	Originally an Eagle Discount Supermarket, Then Kingsaver, HEB 1992-2002 Now 99 Cent Only Stores
307	2211 Southmore Ave Pasadena, TX 77502	Originally a Kroger, Then Phil's Hometown Food, HEB 1993-2004, Now subdivided mostly El Ahorro Supermarket
308	22618 Aldine Westfield Rd Spring, TX 77373	Originally a Rice Food Market, HEB 1992-2017 Replaced by Joe V's, Now a Dollar Tree
309	5815 Antoine Dr Houston, TX 77091	Built 1992, Closed around 2003, Now Harris Co. Annex 38
310	13730 Cypress North Houston Rd Cypress, TX 77429	Built 1992, Closed around 2004, Now Hunting Specialty Supplies
311	5320 FM 1765 Texas City, TX 77591	HEB 1992-? ,Food-Rite Market; More Research needed
315	2226 Shaver St Pasadena, TX 77502	Built 1992, Closed around 2002, Later 99 Cent Only Stores
316	9510 Beechnut St Houston, TX 77036	Built 1992, Closed around 2002, Now subdivided betweenGol Bar and Dollar City
317	15707 Bellaire Blvd Houston, TX 77083	Built 1992, Closed around 2002, Now Cubesmart
318	28520 Tomball Pkwy Tomball, TX 77375	Built 1992, next to Academy in a former Safeway, replaced 2003, both buildings demolished
319	12900 Aldine Westfield Rd Houston, TX 77039	Built 1992, Closed around 2009, Now Dollar Tree and smaller stores
320	8440 Bissonnet St Houston, TX 77074	Built 1992, Closed around 2002, Now Southwest Schools - Elementary Campus
321	12638 Bissonnet St Houston, TX 77099	Originally a Safeway, Did not become AppleTree, HEB 1992-2002, Now Pakistani Community Center
322	5417 S Braeswood Blvd Houston, TX 77096	Originally a Rice Food Market, 1992-2018 Hurricane Harvey. Replaced by Meyerland Plaza Store
323	215 W Main St League City, TX 77573	Originally a Kroger, HEB 1995-2002, Now Palais Royal
326	115 W Parkwood Ave Friendswood, TX 7754	Converted into smaller shops (most of parking displaced by bank)
328	3131 Campbell Rd Houston, TX 77080	Built 1994, Closed around 2004, Now an HEB production facility for prepared foods.
329	11616 Beamer Rd Houston, TX 77089	Built 1992, Closed around 2006, Now CubeSmart
330	11940 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077	Originally a Continental Finer Foods, Then Minimax, Then Jumbo, Then Sak-n-Save, HEB Now a Sprouts Farmers Market
331	301 W 11th St. Houston TX 77008	Originally a Lucky-Seven, Torn down, HEB 1993-? Demolished for Regions Bank
335	1050 Federal Rd Houston, TX 77015	Currently Sellers Bros., former Safeway...may not have been AppleTree
337	12550 Bammel North Houston Rd Houston, TX 77066	Now a campus for Vistas High School (Klein ISD)	https://houstonhistoricretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HEB-Pantry-Food-337-12550-Bammel-North-Houston-2020.jpeg
338	4703 Lexington Blvd Missouri City, TX 77459	Now Embody Fitness Center, facade still intact.
349	7308 Louetta Rd Spring, TX 77379	Rebuilt with new store directly behind it
352	5130 Cedar St Bellaire, TX 77401	Opened April 1994 as per outside plaque. Demolished in 2016 for replacement store
362	1550 S Mason Rd Katy, TX 77450	Now a 24 hour Fitness Sport location
364	11700 Bellaire Blvd Houston, TX 77072	Now Bellaire Auto Parts
365	11320 Chimney Rock Rd Houston, TX 77035	Now a 99 Cent Only Store
369	6102 Scott St Houston, TX 77021	"Upgraded" Closed 2019 after replacement
435	1511 W 18th St Houston, TX 77008	Opened August 1997 as per outside plaque, still open, replacement underway
436	216 FM 1960 Humble, TX 77338	99 Cents Only Store
437	2000 Bayport Blvd Seabrook, TX 77586	Palais Royal
438	5104 Harrisburg Blvd Houston, TX 77011	Now an AutoZone and other stores.
439	5450 Airline Dr Houston, TX 77076	King Dollar
440	1414 Wirt Rd Houston, TX 77055	Now the Trini Mendenhall Community Center. Originally a Safeway.
442	1011 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77006	Now a Half Price Books
456	6960 Barker Cypress Rd Houston, TX 77084	After sitting vacant for many years, this location was finally converted into a Planet Fitness Speciality location further investigation needed
460	7994 Bellfort St Houston, TX 77061	Now Northern Tool + Equipment
469	9215 West Rd Houston, TX 77064	Split between a Goodwill and Dollar Tree
470	21155 Tomball Pkwy Houston, TX 77070	Now a Stein Mart
471	14540 Memorial Dr Houston, TX 77079	Closed 2018 to become an delivery distrobution center
492	1550 Fry Rd Houston, TX 77084	Permits filed as a Pantry Foods, opened as a full HEB. Still Open
12	1180 S 11th St Beaumont, TX 77701	Goodwill
15	909 S Sam Houston Ave Huntsville, TX 77340
17	1239 E Mulberry St Angleton, TX 77515	Still Open
21	3601 Center St Deer Park, TX 77536	Building existed prior to 1990s, was likely built as a Safeway.
23	14670 FM 2100 Crosby, TX 77532	Crosby ISD Transportation Building
33	75 N Major Dr Beaumont, TX 77707	Storage Spot
35	2424 N 16th St Orange, TX 77630	Still open
44	320 S Twin City Hwy Nederland, TX 77627	Home Surplus Outlet
53	5000 32nd St Groves, TX 77619	Still Open
59	2026 Texas Avenue South College Station, TX 77840	Open as H-E-B Pantry 1991-2002, later Gattitown (2003-2012), now DSW (2013-)
62	1905 Old Hearne Rd Bryan, TX 77803	Replacement store built almost directly next to it in 2011, original store torn down
73	3930 E Lucas Dr Beaumont, TX 77706	vacant
86	3401 Gulfway Dr Port Arthur, TX 77642	Still Open
116	819 S Main St Lumberton, TX 77657	Still Open
118	2031 Texas Ave Bryan, TX 77802	Harmony Science Academy
256	2105 Milam St Columbus, TX 789	Still Open
257	100 Truly PLZ Cleveland, TX 77327	Still Open
261	1502 W Cameron Ave Rockdale, TX 76567	Former Safeway, closed without replacement in 2005 (no mention of "Pantry" signage)
266	420 E Gibson St Jasper, TX 75951	Harbor Freight Tools
267	918 21st St N Texas City, TX 77590	Relocated 2015, empty.
271	110 E Brazos Ave West Columbia, TX 77486	Still Open
277	3216 E Broadway St Pearland, TX 77581	Later Athletic Dreams, now Forgotten Angels Resale Shop
278	1021 N Main St Liberty, TX 77575	Vacant, but not before becoming "Thrif-Tee Food Center"
279	410 Plantation Dr Lake Jackson, TX 77566	Closed
283	2200 N Main St Baytown, TX 77520	vacant
286	6013 Stewart Rd Galveston, TX 77551	Opened 1990 (former Safeway), closed 2008 after Ike, now Odyssey Academy
287	1035 E Loop 304 Crockett, TX 75835	Still Open
288	207 E South St Alvin, TX 77511	Still Open
297	20 Porterwood Vlg Porter, TX 77365	Now a Goodwill
307	2211 Southmore Ave Pasadena, TX 77502	El Ahorro Supermarket
326	115 W Parkwood Ave Friendswood, TX 7754	Converted into smaller shops (most of parking displaced by bank)
336	7130 FM 1960 Humble, TX 77346	99 Cents Only Store
339	1509 W Church St Livingston, TX 77351	Still Open
348	4206 Avenue T Santa Fe, TX 77510	Still Open
351	301 N Wells St Edna, TX 77957	Still Open
355	201 W Gonzales St Yoakum, TX 77995	Still Open
358	4431 Nelson Rd Lake Charles, LA 70605	Opened 1996 (acquired from Delchamps) and closed 2003 (later became Market Basket)
360	2108 N Frazier St Conroe, TX 77301	Still Open
368	1161 N Esplanade St Cuero, TX 77954	Closed After 2013
416	450 E Travis St La Grange, TX 78945	Still Open
417	424 St Matthew St Gonzales, TX 78629	Still Open
457	1305 Tenaha St Center, TX 75938	Currently vacant; Originally Safeway later part of U Save Foods
458	419 Texas Loop 436 Carthage, TX 75633	Open; Originally a Safeway, branched off with U Save Foods.
459	412 N Timberland Dr Lufkin, TX 75901	Still Open