H-E-B debuts first two-story market in Texas

SAN ANTONIO – After tearing down its oldest operating store and building a new store in its place, H-E-B’s Nogalitos location will reopen this week as the company’s first two-story grocery store in Texas.

The size of the old store was 26,000 sf and the new store’s footprint is 62,000 sf.

The new H-E-B store at 1601 Nogalitos St. will carry five times more craft beer than previously offered, 300 different wine labels, expanded produce and deli sections and a “travelator.”

As H-E-B’s first multilevel market in Texas, the Nogalitos store connects parking on the ground floor with shopping on the second via a slightly inclined escalator that uses a magnetic strip to lock specialized shopping carts in place.

The two-story market replaces H-E-B’s oldest operating store, which the locally based grocery chain closed and demolished last year. Construction crews retained part of the iconic facade and used it to surround a small courtyard in front of the new store.

H-E-B already operates several multilevel locations in northern Mexico and chose the format for the Nogalitos store because of the dense residential area surrounding it.

Approximately 80 additional employees were hired to staff the store.

Read more at the San Antonio Express-News.