Carting Off History

H-E-B building massive new store and barbecue restaurant in Hill Country hometown

The new store will open in late 2020.

Rendering courtesy of H-E-B

H-E-B is replacing its store in Kerrville — the Texas Hill Country town where the San Antonio-based grocery chain was born in 1905. Construction is already underway on the new 106,000-square-foot Main Street store and is scheduled to open in late 2020.

One of the new amenities at the new Kerrville store, which will be in the 300 block of Main Street, will be a True Texas BBQ restaurant, hailed as the best barbecue chain in Texas by Texas Monthly. The store will also add gas pumps and a car wash.

Other highlights include:

22 self-checkout registers
Sushi made each day at the store
Selection of global beers and wines
Cheese shop
Pharmacy with drive-thru service

In a nod to the company's roots, part of the design will incorporate a decorative façade that resembles the grocer’s first store, originally located in the 800 block of Main Street. It opened in 1905 as C.C. Butt Grocery Store. The H-E-B Curbside logo on the new store will feature a Model T, which pays homage to the early days of H-E-B grocery delivery.

“With an enhanced in-store experience and commitment to top-quality service and selection, this new store allows us to continue to serve the growing needs of our customers and provide the community with the best we have to offer,” Julie Bedingfield, public affairs manager at H-E-B, says in a release.

Kerrville's new H-E-B will take the place of the current 79,000-square-foot store located nearby at 300 W. Main St. That shop opened in 1984 and is scheduled to close once the replacement opens.

Although it’s not the site of the original store, a historical marker stands at the current Main Street property to commemorate H-E-B’s origins in Kerrville. The marker was dedicated in 2016.

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share the road

Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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