Struggling H-E-B store will pivot to e-commerce
Grocer to shutter Memorial-area spot, transform it into warehouse to support home delivery, curbside pickup services
H-E-B will close its struggling Memorial and Dairy Ashford store next month and turn the space into an e-commerce warehouse to support its home delivery and curbside pickup businesses.
President Scott McClelland announced the closing Thursday morning on the “Memorial Area Eats!” Facebook group, where residents have criticized the store’s selection and freshness of its food.
“There’s probably been more feedback on that little store than any other store in H-E-B,” McClelland said in an interview.
At 28,000 square feet, the store isn’t large enough to operate the kind of perishable departments or carry they type of selection customers have been asking for, McClelland said. As a result, the location has never been a destination and can’t compete with bigger operators.
“I know many will be disappointed by this decision and will wonder why we didn’t just remodel. Those economics don’t work in a 28k store. There just isn’t enough space to fit everything that you would be looking for,” he said in his Facebook post.
McClelland said he is committed to bringing a better store to the 77079 ZIP code, but it won’t hap-
pen overnight.
The responses were generally supportive.
“Looking forward to the solution. I’m a loyal H-E-B customer and I’ll miss the convenience of the little store!” one commenter posted.
“Yes! I will miss your team at that store. I will miss quick trips for food instead of the chaos of parking and so many people at Bunker Hill. I’m sad to see it go but so appreciate the open communication,” another wrote.
In the meantime, the store space will be converted into H-E-B’s first e-commerce warehouse in Houston. It is building one in San Antonio, where the grocer is based.
The facility will be used as a satellite location for stores offering pickup or home delivery.
“You’re seeing more people seeking convenience, so we’ve added that into a lot of stores,” McClelland said. “We need to supplement their capacity.”
The west Houston store at 14540 Memorial Drive has been open since the early 1990s.
The location will close Sept. 9.
“My real estate team is beating the bushes to find a new location for a larger store,” McClelland wrote in his post, “not as big as Bunker Hill, but more like what we’ve built in Montrose, Tanglewood, Bellaire and soon in the Heights.”