HEB Distribution Center, Temple Texas 76504

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. has big plans for 2010. The grocer is slashing prices on more than 5,000 items, open new store locations, create some 5,000 new jobs and continue to invest in the local communities where H-E-B has operations. Statewide, H-E-B is planning to open 13 new stores which should create 5,000 jobs in Texas.

The company will also build a new 516,138 square foot distribution center in the Temple Industrial Park, at 4750 Wendland Road, Temple, Texas, including 459,991sf dry warehouse, 30,695sf TRC, and 25,452sf for office support. The company is developing the center on a 158.81 acre site next to the rail park. HEB purchased the land in early 2009. Construction is still underway, but once completed, the center will employ around 112 to 116 people, and house stock for more than 50 H-E-B grocery stores between Austin and Dallas.

H-E-B will also remodel and update more than 60 of its existing stores. H-E-B officials say the remodeling and expansion activity will create thousands of new construction jobs. H-E-B will continue to invest in its manufacturing and distribution centers. The company owns 11 manufacturing plants throughout Texas, including one of the largest milk and bread processing plants in the Southwest.

The company's 17 distribution centers stock stores throughout the state with grocery items and general merchandise. H-E-B will also continue to participate in community giving initiatives. The H-E-B Food Bank Assistance program already donates more than 26 million pounds to food banks throughout the state. San Antonio-based H-E-B operates more than 300 stores in Texas and Mexico and employs 72,000 workers.

As of mid 2006, H-E-B has operations in five Mexican states: Coahuila (4 stores), Guanajuato (1 store), Nuevo León (17 stores), San Luis Potosí (1 store), and Tamaulipas (5 stores). They have 15 stores in the Monterrey metropolitan area, and it was in this city where they started operations in Mexico in 1997. Mexico stores accounted for approximately 6.7% of the company's sales in fiscal year 2006. The company has annual sales of more than $15 billion.