At just past 6 a.m. on Wednesday, almost all of the spots in the 500-space garage at the new H-E-B on South Congress Avenue were full. Music was bumping. Confetti was fluttering through the air. UT Austin cheerleaders were dancing. A couple kissed in front of a giant red H-E-B heart sign hanging above the escalators.
The store at 2400 S. Congress Ave., which opened Wednesday, marks the resurrection of the longest-standing H-E-B grocery store in Austin. The original store opened in 1957 and sat at 25,000 square feet.
The new store is two stories high, spans more than 145,000 square feet and is run by more than 600 employees. It has a True Texas barbecue restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, machines to grind your own nut butter on the spot, murals painted by local artists and the largest wine selection of any H-E-B store.
A lot has changed over the past 67 years, but loyalty to the Texas staple has not.
Johnny Mojica, H-E-B’s public affairs manager, said the first shopper got in line at 10 p.m. Tuesday evening. Another wave of customers lined up around 2 a.m.
Hutto resident Sandra Reyes woke up at 3 a.m. to see the doors open.
“This was my store growing up since I was five. I had to come see it open. There was just no way I was going to miss that,” she said.
Reyes said she loved the original location so much, she took a small piece of the building home with her when it was demolished in 2022. She keeps it on a shelf in her living room.
“That’s the store I grew up with, so I had to keep a piece of it,” she said. “That was my heart. My home.”
South Austin resident Marcos Gonzales said he’s been shopping at this H-E-B since the ‘80s. He was among a lucky few to receive a special gift bag with a $250 gift card and a signed Austin FC jersey.
“I’m very very excited as you can tell,” he said. “I have to be careful not to hyperventilate.”
As part of the grand opening, H-E-B donated $50,000 to local nonprofits. The Barton Springs Conservancy, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, St. Edward’s University's food pantry, the Texas School for the Deaf and the St. Ignatius Martyr Church Food Pantry each received $10,000.
“This company, H-E-B, when they talk about ‘people matter,’ they really mean that,” said Troy Williams, an employee at H-E-B’s Round Rock store who drove to Austin this morning to help out for the grand opening. “It’s not just lip service. I mean we really are here to make the lives of Texans better. I know that maybe sounds like a commercial, but it’s really true.”
