Dive Brief:
- H-E-B has opened a new e-commerce fulfillment center in Houston, the grocer announced on Feb. 19.
- The 100,000-square-foot facility is stocked with goods found in the grocer’s stores and will support pickup and home delivery orders in the greater Houston metropolitan area, according to the announcement.
- The new e-commerce facility marks yet another investment in dedicated fulfillment centers for H-E-B at a time when most grocers are relying on their stores to fill online orders.
Dive Insight:
The new facility comes at a time when H-E-B is ramping up its presence in the growing Houston metropolitan area.
The population of Harris County, where Houston is located, grew just over 2% from 2020 to 2023, while the surrounding counties of Liberty, Montgomery, Waller and Fort Bend all grew more than 10% during the same period, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited by Axios Houston.
In October, H-E-B opened a 128,000-square-foot store in Cypress, Texas, an unincorporated community in Harris County. The Houston fulfillment center is the grocer's third in the city.
Since 2018, H-E-B has opened nine e-commerce fulfillment centers. The grocer said these centers reduce aisle congestion at its stores, improve product availability and help workers pick and pack orders with automation. The facilities have grown the grocer’s supply chain capacity, allowing the grocer to expand its curbside and home delivery services, the announcement noted.
H-E-B said it is hiring for part- and full-time jobs at the facility but did not say how many positions are open.
The company plans to open more facilities across the state to help support its expansion efforts. H-E-B runs over 435 stores in Texas and Mexico.
