TEXAS - The enduring hold H-E-B has on the Texas market is remarkable, and one worthy of study. A fascinating article in KERA News crossed our desks, detailing some of the reasoning behind H-E-B’s sway over Texan shoppers and offering insights into what drives consumers into the store.

Let’s dive in.

With over 420 stores in Texas and Mexico, H-E-B has quite the operational footprint, and its expansion into North Texas was commented upon by the shoppers in that area with excitement. KERA News spoke with one woman who camped out in front of a new H-E-B to be the first customer in line.

So, what drives this level of loyalty? According to Sriram Villupuram, a finance and real estate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, part of the appeal is H-E-B’s Texan roots, which he remarks appeals to the Texas palate.

With such a devoted fanbase, why then has the grocer been relatively slow in expanding? Villupuram suggests that this means the retailer is playing the waiting game and determining the state of the market before making any moves.

Currently, H-E-B does not have storefronts in central Texas in the major cities of Fort Worth and Dallas. I don’t think that means we’ll never see them there—only that the grocer is biding its time.

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