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Coveted Corporations

They may be corporate chains, but these companies know how to make us want them.

H-E-B

FIRST STORE Kerrville, Texas in 1905

COMPANY HOME San Antonio, Texas

TOTAL STORES 329 in Texas and Mexico

CLOSEST STORE Burleson, Texas, 49 miles

WHAT’S THEBIG DEAL? Customers love H-E-B’s high-quality products, especially produce, for low prices — no customer card needed. And unlike sister store Central Market, H-E-B carries staples like Cheerios, paper plates and 12-packs of soda pop. The company is in expansion mode, but doesn’t have plans to expand beyond Texas, according to an Austin American Statesman article quoting company president and COO Craig Boyan. In the same January 2010 article, Boyan said that the company’s move into Burleson was not indicative of expansion into Dallas: “It really is to serve Central Texas better. If you were going to go into Dallas, you’d put a warehouse in Dallas.”

FROM THEHORSE’S MOUTH “Our Central Market stores are the stores that serve the Dallas area. We have our distribution network that is largely centered in South and Central Texas as well as in the Houston area, and several stores around Waco and Cleburne. Most recently we opened our northernmost store in Burleson, which was a natural progression of growth for us — 15 miles away from one of our existing stores in Cleburne that has a lot of traffic, and we need to relieve that store, and Burleson is a burgeoning community with lots of young families. We’re very proud of Central Market stores in Dallas-Fort Worth area. They’re serving customers well, and it’s working very well for us. We’ll continue to use that format.”

—LESLIE SWEET, HEB DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

EXPERT OPINION “Anybody that knows H-E-B loves them and wishes they were here. They’re what Tom Thumb was to Dallas 20 years ago. They’re a family business, and they’ll adapt a store to the area around it. H-E-B has pretty strong coverage throughout the state. You think, OK, Dallas has to happen. On the other hand, they’re thinking let’s be cautious. I think they’re always thinking what’s the trigger that will cause them to address Dallas.”

—MIKE GEISLER

“The move to DFW market is inevitable. It’s just a matter of timing for those guys.”

—DAVID SHELTON

What about our neighborhood?

Our neighborhood lacks affordable land for large-scale retailers, but that doesn’t mean developers aren’t trying to find it — even if it’s more difficult and more expensive here than in other parts of the city.

Take the former Timbercreek apartments’ site at the northeast corner of Skillman and Northwest Highway, for instance.

“Trammel Crow raised the whole site out of the flood plain,” says Scott Wynne, vice president-finance for ING Clarion Partners, a real estate investment management company. “There were millions of dollars invested in it before it went vertical.”

The result will be a double-decker Walmart and Sam’s Club, JC Penney, Chick-Fil-A, Whataburger and more.

Another large site ripe for redevelopment is the former Steakley Chevrolet dealership just across Skillman. But the current owners have been trying to sell for nearly three years and still haven’t received an offer they like.

What’s more likely to happen is urban infill over time. Retailers are well aware of the wealth it takes to buy a house in our neighborhood. It’s the reason Whole Foods amped up its presence by opening the Lakewood store in March 2009, and the reason the grocer still is paying rent on its former location on Lower Greenville.

“They have about two or three years on their lease agreement, and they won’t give it up because they’re afraid I’ll give it to another grocery store,” says Mitchell rasansky, a real estate investor and former city councilman who owns the property and thinks it would be a great location for a Trader Joe’s.

Our neighborhood also is likely to attract more mom-and-pop shops and non-chain restaurants, thanks in part to the success of the andres brothers along Henderson avenue. The stretch between ross and Central has blossomed over the last couple of years with more new boutiques and eateries than neighbors can keep track of.

“rents there are measurably higher if you go east,” says robert young, referring to Knox. Small businesses like to turn a profit, he says, and “paying higher rent doesn’t get them there.” young also gives the example of urbano Café’s move from McKinney avenue to bryan and Fitzhugh, right behind Jimmy’s Food Store — “a niche market. The neighborhood is a little dicey, but the product is good, and the feel is good.”