South Congress H-E-B reopens after years of rebuild

AUSTIN, Texas - H-E-B has reopened its South Congress store at Oltorf. It is the company’s longest-standing Austin location.

More than 600 people lined up early Wednesday morning for the official reopening. Some people began lining up at 10 p.m. for a chance to be one of the first people in the store.

H-E-B opened in 1957 at this South Congress location.

In 1968, it underwent an expansion to better meet the needs of the community. But as the neighborhood continued to grow and evolve, the store couldn't keep up with the demand.

"This location has been here for about 75 years. And then we tore this one down because it had just gotten to a point where we really needed to upgrade the facility and then serve this customer for as long as we did. We knew it was time to offer them kind of the newest, best, brightest thing that we had, which is what you're going to see today," said Joey Uker, General Manager of the South Congress location.

Over the last two and a half years, the South Congress H-E-B has undergone a complete rebuild, and, at 145,000 square feet, it's nearly double the size of the original footprint.

"We're ready to unveil it to our south Congress community and welcome them to a new and big and better multi-level H-E-B that has all the best that H-E-B has to offer," Cathy Harm, H-E-B Senior Vice President Central Texas.

The new multi-level store includes a true Texas BBQ at ground level with indoor and outdoor dining, a second level with a large assortment of products, and three levels of above-ground parking.

The SoCo H-E-B has distinctive features such as H-E-B curbside and home delivery, which allows customers to shop online and pick up at the store or schedule delivery to their homes, full-service H-E-B pharmacy with a drive-thru, and a beer & wine department with the largest wine selection in the company.

"You're going to have pretty much all the variety you could ever imagine in the store," said Uker.

The retailer celebrated the opening on Tuesday to its community partners, with a private ribbon cutting, live music, and, of course, a true Texas BBQ dinner, before it opens to the public on Wednesday morning.

"I want the customer to come into a fun, vibrant store that represents South Congress the way that we hope we're honoring this area. It's such a cool area where you have so much diversity, so much energy. And it's just a fun area to be in that we hope people come in, and they're proud of the store," said Uker.

The H-E-B officially opened to the public on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 6 a.m.

The first several customers in line will receive an H-E-B gift bag.