2024 SW Central Market 30th Anniversary

NOVEMBER 2024

30 Years of Wows

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Worthy celebration The San Antonio, Texas-based retailer held a two-week celebration in September to commemorate Central Market’s 30th anniversary. The retailer used the catchy phrase “Let’s Renew Our Wows” as a touchpoint for the celebrations.

“Clever and fun marketing is a mainstay of the Central Market brand,” said Chris Bostad, VP of procurement and marketing for Central Market. “We’re very serious about food, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and our marketing reflects that energy.

“Instead of the usual anniversary sales that you see elsewhere, we had a ‘Renew Our Wows’ celebration that acknowledged our 30-year relationship with our customers and the special bond we hold together for the love of food. It was a huge success, and we had lots of fun with it.”

Every store had a full roster of events, according to Bostad.

“We held a 30th Anniversary Celebration tasting event featuring items from around the world, like Japanese Snow-Aged Wagyu Beef, commemorative Flamigni Panettone and Crucolo cheese sourced from southern Italy’s Dolomite Mountains.”

Local Texas chefs Ryan Pera, Tiffany Derry, Chris Shepherd and Alex Snodgrass brought some of their favorite signature dishes to the stores.

There also was a “Future Foodies” event for kids, “where they got to take a palate-expanding food journey as they explored and experienced products from around the store,” Bostad said. “We had a Bengali wedding celebration in one of our cooking schools, where more than 80 customers got to experience food in a new way. Our cooking schools hosted celebrity chefs such as Martin Yan, Virginia Willis and special wine classes with legendary winemaker Jean‑Charles Boisset.”

And to kick off the celebration in a huge way, on Sept. 11 the grocer set a Guinness World Record for Largest Charcuterie Board. It weighed in at a record 1,032 pounds and was constructed at the company’s first location, on North Lamar in Austin.

It included 540 pounds of cured meats, such as Niman Ranch applewood-smoked ham, Levoni schiacciata piccante and Salami Napoli; 240 pounds of Manchego and triple-cream brie cheeses; 130 pounds of fruits, including Divina Castelvetrano olives; and 90 pounds of Divina fig spread and Janet’s Finest mixed berry ­jalapeño compote.

“We hosted returning favorites Ray Benson and Friends at our Westgate location to celebrate our 30th in style, and they brought the same convivial spirit of South Austin that they brought to our 10- and 20-year anniversaries,” he added.

Bostad said the response on social media “reflected lots of love from our customers.”

“As part of our Napa Wine Weekend sweepstakes, customers wrote us love letters to share fond memories of shopping our stores over the past 20 and 30 years, how our Partners made a difference in their most important meals and events, and how Central Market has fostered their sense of culinary discovery over these years,” he said.

In addition, a $30,000 check was presented to the St. David’s Foundation as part of the festivities, reflecting Central Market’s care for its communities over the last three decades.

The Fort Worth Central Market, on West Freeway.

The Houston Central Market, on Westheimer.

Guinness World Record representatives officially declared Central Market’s creation as “the largest charcuterie board in the world to be created and consumed.” In honor of the format’s 30th anniversary, the retailer set the record Sept. 11 with a 12’ x 24’ charcuterie board with 1,000 pounds of artisanal meats and cheeses, plus crackers, fruits, nuts and more. The board was created at the first Central Market, on North Lamar in Austin, which opened in January 1994. Guests were invited to partake of the board and beverages and enjoy live music on the patio. The product was donated to the Central Texas Food Bank.

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Ray Benson and Friends have been on hand to entertain crowds at Central Market’s 10th, 20th and now 30th anniversary celebrations. The photo features Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel at the 20th anniversary celebration at the Fort Worth Central Market.

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‘Unique food-focused format’ helped scratch H-E-B’s itch for innovation

by Lorrie Griffith / senior content creator Stephen Butt, H-E-B’s president of shareholder relations and the Central Market division, talks about the origins of Central Market and how it has evolved over the years.

What prompted the creation of Central Market? How did the idea for this concept come to be?

Stephen Butt In the mid-1980s, H-E-B was becoming “restlessly dissatisfied” with the lack of innovation in the grocery retailing industry. A new store on the West Coast looked very similar to a new store on the East Coast. In response to this reality, H-E-B’s chairman, Charles Butt, was pushing the organization for more change and innovation.

It was against this backdrop that in the early ’90s H-E-B began to partner with the developer Barshop & Oles in creating a new shopping center on land owned by the Texas State Hospital, at the corner of 38th and North Lamar near the UT-Austin campus.

The first Central Market, located on North Lamar in Austin.

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A creative team was assembled, and this group was charged with developing a “unique food-focused format” that would showcase the freshest foods domestically and from around the world. At this same time, the neighborhood this new shopping center would serve was expressing its desire for a “new and different type of store.”

H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt tours the first Central Market with Texas Gov. Ann Richards in 1994.

So, the creation of Central Market was prompted by a desire for “shaking up the status quo in grocery retailing,” a premier piece of real estate and the community’s desire for a “new and different shopping experience.”

Given that this new, unique, food-focused market would not sell common, everyday brands like Coca-Cola or FritoLay, Tide or Pepsi, there were a number of predictions that this new, food-centric, fresh market store would fail to attract customers. And some advised us to not open the store.

Despite these warnings, H-E-B moved forward and

opened our first Central Market on Jan. 22, 1994, with a special preview party that helped shape the way H-E-B opens important new stores today.

For the first year, the store was moderately successful. In year two, we began to notice more shoppers commuting from longer distances for their shopping, often carpooling from Houston or Dallas with large coolers as they took turns bringing their friends’ shopping lists to the new store.

By the third year, Central Market was becoming a “destination” fresh market, with customers regularly driving up to 25 miles to shop with us. Our new store was becoming one of Austin’s most popular tourist destinations.

Today H-E-B is known as a multi-format retailer. While 30 years ago Central Market was the first of H-E-B’s new formats, since that time concepts such as H-E-B Plus (with expanded general merchandise), Joe V’s Smart Shop (serving Houston and now DFW), Mi Tienda and Favor have been created and joined as important members of H-E-B’s family of brands.

We had dabbled in different formats before. There was a store called H-E-B Marketplace that we opened on the northwest side of San Antonio; that was really H-E-B’s first different type of store. We didn’t turn it into a format; it was a kind of one-of-a-kind, unique store. Over time, it transitioned back into the H-E-B portfolio, but it played an important forerunning role for Central Market.

At one time, we had a full network of Pantry stores across East Texas and Houston. They were very successful, and Pantry served an important role for H-E-B at that time. We don’t operate Pantry stores any longer – that chapter is behind us now.

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More recently, our Joe V’s Smart Shop price format has been very successful in Houston. We have 10 locations in Houston and now one in DFW, and a second one to open after the first of the year.

We have our Mi Tienda format, offering authentic Hispanic cuisine and products. And we also have Favor, our e-commerce delivery service that we acquired in Austin some years ago as part of our becoming a digital e-commerce retailer.

So now we talk about H-E-B being a family of brands, a multi-format retailer. That’s who we are today. But Central Market played an important role in our beginning to evolve in that direction.

I would add that there are many leaders in H-E-B that support the different brands and formats. And none of our formats would be successful if we didn’t have the support of the full organization.

Officers on horseback taking advantage of curbside service at the Fort Worth store.

Has the Central Market format changed over the years or largely stayed the same?

The products we offer have changed dramatically over the past 30 years. As we introduce new products, frequently within the first year or two, these products work their way onto our competitors’ shelves as they become more “mainstream,” and we continue to move our customers onto the next new thing.

What has not changed is our longstanding commitment to “destination variety” – surprising the customer around each corner, offering the deepest variety in fresh produce, meat, seafood, floral, bakery, etc.

From day one, Central Market has been the “cook’s store,” the place where you can find any ingredient you need to fulfill every recipe. If Central Market doesn’t carry it, we’ll find it for you.

Walk me through what I would encounter on a trip to Central Market.

The Central Market shopping experience engages all of your senses – bright, fresh colors, all natural, lots of ice, cool temperatures for keeping produce, meat and seafood very fresh. You’ll find wood display tables, a fresh market in the

truest sense, a wide range of pleasant smells – fresh juice, grilling meats, the aroma of fresh-cut flowers – and samples of great-tasting foods served by friendly, knowledgeable Partners (Central Market team members).

Shoppers are welcomed to “try before you buy.” We work to deliver “a surprise around every corner” and for our customers to leave feeling uplifted by their Central Market shopping experience.

How does each Central Market reflect the neighborhoods they serve?

Each of our 10 Central Markets has its own distinct personality, reflecting the differences in the local community and neighborhoods each serves. This begins with building our team of Partners – hiring the best and friendliest people from the neighborhoods closest to our stores.

Our Partners are the heart and soul of each Central Market, and the communities we serve are reflected in their faces and personalities.

We also feature murals in each store, located in prominent positions, that we have commissioned from local and nationally recognized artists. The original Central Market features a beautiful tile mural of Barton Springs, in Austin, created by Malou Flato, a highly respected Texas artist who splits her time between Texas and Montana. Central Market has commissioned other works for each of our locations to similarly reflect the communities we serve.

Most importantly, we localize each Central Market with a wide range of locally produced products from local suppliers, which is important to our customers and the supplier community. Localizing our assortment for customers is a longstanding commitment of Central Market.

It’s an exciting business; we’re proud of it. It’s helped, I think, H-E-B’s reputation as a quality retailer. Our team is proud of that. We’re only as good as our people, and we’ve got great leaders that lead these stores.

Tell us about Central Market’s charitable giving efforts.

As part of the H-E-B’s family of brands, Central Market participates in hosting our Feast of Sharing holiday dinners in both Dallas and Fort Worth. With the help of good-hearted volunteers – many of whom are our shoppers – and H-E-B and Central Market Partners, we serve more than 10,000 hot meals at each of our Feast of Sharing events in these two cities and have done so for many years.

Regarding H-E-B’s disaster relief efforts, when the F-3 tornado hit the city of Dallas in 2019, damaging and closing our Preston-Royal Central Market, H-E-B’s Mobile Kitchen was dispatched to this location to help with hot meals for first

responders and neighbors near our store who lost their homes in this tragic event.

Also lost to the tornado were two public schools, which had to be closed due to severe damage. Several months following the tornado, H-E-B gave $1 million to the Dallas Independent School District to assist in the rebuilding efforts of these two schools.

Yes, H-E-B’s “Spirit of Giving” is alive and well at Central Market. And we try to be a gathering place for communities.

The live music outside at some of our stores, the international cuisine-related events we hold regularly – like for Portugal and Argentina – those obviously bring a lot of people.

We enjoy when we see Central Market being a gathering place for the communities that we serve; that’s a role we’ve tried to play. There are only 10 Central Markets, so we feel a responsibility; they’ve got to be special and different stores.

You’re not going to build 100 of them. We’ve only got 10, and our team takes a lot of pride in making the 10 as good as we possibly can.

Any plans for future Central Markets?

Given the unique nature of the Central Market format, we’re very selective of where and when we expand our network with new locations. We work closely with H-E-B’s real estate team to identify future opportunities that fit well with H-E-B’s overall real estate plans and where we feel Central Market can add a new store successfully.

We’re always evaluating new opportunities. Our next new location will likely be in the Uptown area of Dallas. We have a building, a former Albertsons, that we have been working to develop for several years. Following a few COVID-19-related delays, we are now working with the city and hope to have a new construction timetable to get this project underway in the very near future.

Central Market - Austin Westgate. Artwork by Will Hatch Crosby

Central Market - Austin Westgate. Artwork by Kerry Awn.

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Special events let shoppers get up close, personal with food from around world Kevin Blessing, chief operating officer for Central Market, discusses the special events and other ways the stores seek to expand the culinary worlds of its shoppers.

Describe the “foodie” events held at Central Market stores that celebrate seasonal products, like the Hatch Chile.

Kevin Blessing Do vendors participate in these events?

We have multiple events throughout the year highlighting holidays and celebrating food. Our biannual Passport Events feature the foods of an exciting country as our teams transform each Central Market with products, attire and décor from that nation.

We also create a full calendar of “Foodie” events that feature deep variety with specific products, such as our annual longstanding Hatch Chile Festival – those popular and spicy peppers from New Mexico – as well as our annual Texas, Cheese, Tropicals and Wine events, among others.

Our vendor partners are important to each of these events, as they support sourcing for these events and frequently make “in-person” appearances and personally sample their products while talking with customers.

Our brand promise to our shoppers states that our partners should be knowledgeable about the products we sell. So, yes, this is extremely important.

Our buyers and their vendor partners are currently conducting classes to educate our partners on products and programs. We also have daily “Good Morning Meetings” where we share new, unique and seasonal items with all store partners. These are a few examples of how we educate our teams.

An “informed relationship with food” – how does Central Market help shoppers develop this?

Our partners and “foodies” are the key. Their interaction and understanding of where each customer is on their “relationship with food” guides their conversations.

Our sampling/demos is another powerful way we support our customers’ “informed relationship with food.”

One of Central Market’s promises to our shoppers is that you

can “try before you buy,” which helps reduce the risk or fear of trying new products or flavors.

Though they are focused on food, do you also embrace technology in Central Markets?

Yes, we look at technology solutions frequently. Our decision-making first focuses on the customer shopping experience, the partner experience and what’s the benefit for each.

Once this is quantified, we review for financial benefits. We are working on self-checkout expansion and collaborating on additional technology possibilities.

Describe the importance of knowledgeable staff in a store such as Central Market. What methods of training do you use to keep them up to speed on the items you carry?

Vast variety of global, local flavors waiting to be discovered throughout store Chris Bostad, VP of procurement and marketing for Central Market, highlights the bountiful, ever-changing assortment found throughout the stores as well as the education offered through the seven Central Market Cooking Schools, plus what’s ahead in the future.

Are “Flavors Around the World” grouped together at Central Market?

You’ll find different cuisines and flavors represented in each of the markets within our stores.

Chris Bostad In produce, you will find a large assortment of domestic and international fruits and vegetables, with a vast variety of tropicals from Central America, Australia and Asia. You’ll also find garlic grown in the U.S., as well as hard-to-find varieties from France.

We follow the seasons and source the best product available when it’s in season from the best growing locations around the world.

In meat, we have kabobs and satays made with our high-quality meat and poultry from the U.S. In seafood, we sustainably source from fisheries around the world and have fish flown from boat to store within 24 hours of catch from places like New Zealand, Chile, UK, Scotland and Norway.

We have a large assortment that includes more than 2,000 wines grouped in collections, that reflect both old and new world traditions of winemaking. Our focus is to form relationships with the highest quality wine producers from around the world.

Our specialty grocery aisles group together products for easy and intuitive shopping. You’ll find separate groupings of Italian, Asian and Indian products.

We have a cheese selection that includes more than 500 hand-cut varieties sourced locally, domestically and from all around Europe.

Are there new cuisines/ingredients you’ve recently incorporated into the assortment?

The global flavors category continues to grow. Our customers are world travelers, and they continue to ask for items they have seen and tasted from countries they have visited.

One example is conservas, or tinned seafood. We have one of the largest conserva assortments in the United States. Customers travel to Spain and Portugal and fall in love with the high-quality tinned seafood products and want to bring those flavors home for their “sea-cuterie” boards and tapas spreads, so we expanded our range to meet their needs.

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New location coming to Uptown Dallas, remodel underway in San Antonio Ten Central Markets have opened in the three decades since the first store debuted on North Lamar in Austin.

An 11th store is on the drawing boards for Uptown Dallas, where H-E-B procured a former Albertsons store site prior to COVID-19. After much anticipation and inquiries from food lovers and neighbors, Central Market has unveiled preliminary drawings for its Uptown Dallas location.

The most recent opening was in 2018 for the Dallas Midway store, located at 4349 W. Northwest Highway.

But then again, one could probably count the rebuilt Dallas Preston Royal store as technically the newest. The 2019 tornado that ripped through the area damaged the store so badly that it had to be shut down for two years and rebuilt before reopening in 2021.

Stephen Butt, president of the Central Market format for H-E-B, said it was a rare opportunity to rebuild a store a few years after it opened.

“We made a few adjustments, because you don’t often get a chance to do that,” he said. “We had operated the store for about five years, and we made some changes to the front end, to the entry, update a little bit of equipment.

“It wasn’t dramatic, but we added more seating and made some other refinements. You don’t really get to open a store and then five years later get to rebuild; that just doesn’t happen. So, we did take every opportunity to make it better, because we knew that chance wouldn’t come around again.”

The Central Market in San Antonio is currently in the midst of a major renovation. The 90,000-square-foot store, at 4821 Broadway, opened in 1951 as an H-E-B store. It is getting a two-phase upgrade.

The first phase that has been completed included updates to the parking lot and the addition of a produce loading dock on the upper level.

The second phase, now underway and expected to last until mid-2026, calls for repositioning select departments, adding more energy-efficient fixtures and equipment and

expanding seating area for the café. The grocer also seeks to improve the breakroom and administrative spaces, streamlining work areas for store employees.

The storefront updates will introduce design elements that complement the neighborhood, such as adding windows for more natural lighting and incorporating materials and textures like wood, D’Hanis brick and metals.

The store was rebranded as Central Market in 1999, becoming the second location for the format.

“For decades, at the corner of Broadway and Patterson, a special relationship has been built between our store, this community and our Partners,” said Butt, who also serves as president of shareholder relations for H-E-B. “This major project will take time to complete. When our work is finished, the newly renovated Broadway Central Market and our friendly Partners will be well equipped to continue serving our customers with the freshest and best specialty products the world has to offer, for many years to come.”

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Interest in Asian cuisine is growing by leaps and bounds. We continually increase our assortment as customers now consider Thai, Korean and Japanese food as a mainstay in their meal rotation and are on the lookout for the newest, most flavorful ingredients.

We are also seeing demand for more North African flavors and spices like za’atar, sumac, ras el hanout, harissa and preserved lemon.

Our buyers are continuously seeking out new, unique and hard-to-find ingredients and products to add new flavors to our assortment and get ahead of upcoming trends.

Do you have cooking schools in each Central Market? Have you seen an uptick in people wanting to learn to cook?

Central Market operates cooking schools in seven of our 10 large-format stores.

Central Market openings January 1994 – North Lamar February 1999 – Broadway March 1999 – Westgate June 2001 – Houston October 2001 – Fort Worth February 2002 – Plano July 2002 – Lovers December 2006 – Southlake February 2012 – Preston September 2018 – Midway

Coming out of COVID, we have seen an uptick in cooking school attendance.

We are always adding new types of classes to meet our customers’ needs, like Parentand-Child classes, Make-andTake classes and classes that celebrate flavors of the season.

We have classes that are tailored to food-savvy experienced cooks and classed geared to beginners to learn kitchen basics like knife skills and tips and tricks for cooking with cast-iron skillets.

One growing trend is hands-on classes. Customers want to experience and learn how to cook. They can find plenty of information on the internet, but kinesthetic learning – physically being able to learn how to do something with our instructors – is something our customers love.

Our classes deliver memorable experiences with friends and family and, at the same time, attendees are picking up kitchen tips and tricks that they’ll have for a lifetime.

How will Central Market continue to blaze new trails into the future?

Innovation is essential to Central Market. We pride ourselves on our ability to introduce customers to new flavors, products and culinary inspiration from around the world.

Our buyers are constantly making their way around the globe to find new and exciting items and new ways of highlighting ingredients. Recently, buying teams traveled to Korea, Peru and the UK. A key part of our work includes dedicated “Innovation Meetings” where our buyers share ideas and report on new concepts and projects they are focusing on. Everyone is expected to present ideas that push the edge of retail so that we can deliver a memorable shopping experience, which is our No. 1 promise to our customers.

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