Is H-E-B planning to build a new Bellaire store in the triangle-shaped block surrounded by S. Rice Ave., Bissonnet, and Cedar St., in the north corner of the Bellaire Triangle? This week’s Southwest News implies that the Texas-based grocery company is: “H-E-B has tentatively reserved Bellaire’s Civic Center auditorium on Feb. 24 for the Big Reveal: a new supermarket for Bellaire,” reads the page-one story, which also notes that engineers have submitted a planned development request with the city for an H-E-B at 5106 Cedar St., to be heard by the zoning commission on March 10.
But H-E-B Houston division president Scott McClelland tells Swamplot that the Cedar St. spot is only “one location we are considering. Because of the size and shape of the center, we would have to be innovative in our approach. We have not locked down firm plans at this time.”
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Innovative may be an understatement: The triangle surrounded by S. Rice, Bissonnet, and Cedar — the site of a Starbucks and a few small shops facing Cedar St. (including Frenchy’s Barber Shop, at 5106 Cedar St., pictured above) — measures less than half an acre. That’s far smaller than most supermarket sites. It’s possible that H-E-B is looking at joining several adjacent sites into a larger parcel, possibly across Cedar St.
“To do our due diligence,” McClelland tells Swamplot, “we need to go before the local planning commission. That is why the meeting was called.”
McLelland says the nearby H-E-B Pantry at 5130 Cedar St. — one of the first locations opened in the Houston area — has served the company well, but that “the community deserves more.” The company has been searching for a site in Bellaire for a larger store.
A Randalls, formerly a Weingarten’s grocery store, lies across Bissonnet from the H-E-B Pantry, at 5130 Bellaire Blvd.
- A New HEB is Coming to Bellaire [Southwest News]
Photo of Frenchy’s Barber Shop: Locations Hub/Alfred
This is good news! With the exception of the store on Buffalo Speedway, HEB’s Houston stores are an embarrassment compared to what they’ve got in the suburbs.
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Will they also upgrade the Meyerland HEB Pantry? The situation over there is desperate.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let this be true! The grocery stores in Bellaire and the Meyerland-Westbury area run from mediocre to terrible, especially the HEB on South Braeswood. I would love something like HEB’s Montrose Market or Buffalo Market to open in this neck of the woods.
AWESOME!!! Bellaire outside of 610 is severely under served grocery wise. Randalls is terrible and a real HEB would be perfect for the area. I live in Sharpstown off of Bellaire and Hillcroft so this would be a perfect 5 minute drive for me.
ZAW: With the exception of the store on Buffalo Speedway? What about the one in Montrose? I think that one is pretty nice. Though to be fair, I don’t go to the others (and have only even been to another HEB maybe 3-4 times) so I don’t have a baseline. I can’t imagine that the BFE HEBs are much nicer than the Montrose location though…
@ZAW: You’re right, the Meyerland HEB is pretty lame. I assumed there was too much competition for them to spend much on that one.
We are desperate in meyerland for lots of things, esp. a new heb, better restaurants (maybe a bb’s, zoe’s, ruggles green, etc etc)….btw, the heb in Montrose is an awesome store!
I’m thinking there’s some address and geometry confusion going on here. I mean the article says “Brown and GRAY engineers” instead of “Brown and GAY engineers.” C’mon. Unless HEB is buying the Randalls, I don’t see them building in the same parking lot as them. Perhaps look to the triangle (really a polygon) that HEB already occupies on the north side of Bissonnet.
I consider Meyerland a suburb.
ZAW, explain how the Montrose store is an embarrassment?
I love for the Meyerland Willowbend area to get a super HEB but the current location can not be expaned. The Randalls 2.5 miles away would be a perfect location for a much bigger HEB
ZAW, would you not rank the Montrose Market and the Central Market up there with the good ones?
The article says they would consider closing the one at Chimney Rock and S. Braeswood, which i don’t understand. They are lots of apartment dwellers in the area that shop there instead of Belden’s, not to mention thrifty Meyerland residents. Unless they want to abandon the area to the Wal Mart grocery on Hillcroft and the Target.
I love that Randall’s, it’s always empty and makes for a quick in and out. That HEB definitely needs some love, it’s like the size of a gas station inside.
OK. I’ll admit, I haven’t been to the new Montrose store.
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@Courtney & Memebag: what I don’t get is why they’d even have a store in Meyerland if it can’t compete with the Belden’s across the bayou. I mean honestly, Belden’s is cleaner, has better selection…..
Gusssshhhhhh! it’s getting kind of moist around here….
@ZAW: Belden’s is definitely nicer than that tiny HEB, but it is so overpriced. I think it only stays in business because of its kosher selection. Having a nice HEB in the Bellaire/near-southwest Houston area would be fantastic. The company is generally really good at tailoring their stores to the neighborhood, so I imagine such a store would have a great selection of kosher, Latin American and Asian food.
Belden’s survives because there are a bunch of people nearby (like me) who aren’t price sensitive. I assume the HEB on the other side of the bayou survives because there are a bunch of people nearby who are price sensitive.
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Bellaire is too far for the Westburians to drive for a grocery store. Or rather, if I’m going to drive that far I’ll just go to Central Market. Plus the Kroger at S. Post Oak is kind of fabulous, especially since they polished the old floor.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, HEB committed to this particular block. For the added cost of removing or remodeling the existing structure, they stand to gain a shiny, new store NO BIGGER than the one that already exists across the street and has its own parking lot. *facepalm*
Really want to serve the community, HEB? Put the next store at Gulfton and Chimney Rock. It’s less than a mile away, and you’d be leading the Galleria’s charge south to Bellaire while staking your claim as a kind of spiritual successor to quirky, eclectic grocers like the old Montrose Kroger, RIP. Oh, and you’d help an already severely under-served community have one less thing to have to drive out of the neighborhood for: decent vegetables! There’s that. /rant
How about a new HEB in meyerland!
I’d agree with SixTenor that a great option would be for HEB to take over the old shuttered Kroger at Chimney Rock and Gulfton. But, it wouldn’t draw the Bellaire or (even farther) Westburians up to the Gulfton area.
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Like others have said, that Meyerland HEB at Chimney Rock and South Braeswood is the pits. Want to know how bad it is? It may even make quite a few skanky Sellers Brothers stores look good. Now, that’s bad.