Hereford opens 35,000-SF Amigos store, 150 jobs

HEREFORD, DEAF SMITH COUNTY – United Supermarkets opened a 35,000-sf Amigos store and a 2,400-sf convenience store on a 5.2-acre site at 520 N. 25-Mile Ave., according to Juan Enchinton, United business director of Hispanic initiatives.

The project had a construction value of $5 million according to City of Hereford building permit information, said Assistant City Manager Steve Bartels.

As a result of the new facilities, 150 jobs were created, according to Michael Kitten, Executive Director of the Hereford Economic Development Corporation (HEDC). HEDC offered The United Family an incentive of $200,000 for completing construction and reaching a store gross payroll of $2.5 million by August 2017.

United previously converted existing supermarkets in Amarillo, Plainview and Lubbock into Amigos stores.

Amarillo’s store is at East I-40 and South Grand St. The Hereford store, the first one built from the ground up, relies on a mix of Hispanic-focused features and qualities of a regular United Supermarket.

The United Family is an independent subsidiary of Albertson’s LLC, which closed its $385 million purchase of Lubbock-based United in 2013.