Community Impact
“We’re celebrating that Hutto is going to be answered,” said Leslie Sweet, Central Texas director of public affairs for H-E-B. “That’s going to be a fantastic day for all the folks that have been meeting with H-E-B for years petitioning for a store.”
The 121,000-square-foot store will be located near the Star Ranch subdivision at 5000 Gattis School Road—at the corner of Gattis School and SH 130—and is expected to employ approximately 350 people.
Store officials believe the location will appeal to neighboring communities as well as commuters passing through the area. No other stores will closed or be affected by the opening of the Hutto store, officials said.
The area is not within Hutto’s city limits but is within the extraterritorial jurisdiction, or land outside the city limits the city can annex at a later date. The City Council approved a limited-purpose annexation Feb. 4 for the area as part of the agreement, which extends some city services to the area but not all. The city will receive sales tax revenue generated from the store.
According to a statement from Assistant City Manager Micah Grau, city officials recently amended an agreement to allow H-E-B and TACK Development to perform road and infrastructure improvements. This amendment allows for the city’s portion of the sales tax revenue generated from store sales to be rebated at 60 percent or $9,309,270, whichever is less.
“It’s going to be so fantastic, not just for Hutto, but for the greater area,” Sweet said. “We did put in a Plus store because of SH 130, and we anticipate we’ll see quite a bit of commuters shopping the store. It’s intended to be a one-stop shop.”
H-E-B officials said they do not have an exact formula when deciding to move forward in building a store, but rather the company relies upon “people, in addition to due diligence,” to meet the growing demand for new stores.
“It’s a people-driven process, not data-driven. We don’t say, ‘We just need [the city]to hit one [population]number’—that’s not how H-E-B works,” Sweet said. “We use people that have great tenure with H-E-B, great experience, a great touch on the market.”
According to Sweet, the company must maintain a delicate balance between building new stores and renovating existing locations. She said the company network has more than 350 stores in need of updates each year.
“We’re very fortunate that we have more communities requesting to have an H-E-B than we have the capital to fund,” Sweet said. “It’s a wonderful problem, and it’s a frustrating problem for many of our cities outside of our H-E-B market area. We have communities that have been screaming for an H-E-B for years, if not decades.”
Mayor Debbie Holland said the city received a market analysis last year, and the study revealed the city had enough growth to support not one, but two major grocery stores.
“It’s our turn. We have had the opportunity to shop at four or five different H-E-Bs within a very short distance of Hutto. For H-E-B’s standpoint, they already had us as customers,” Holland said.
As part of the economic development agreement, TACK Development will build Muirfield Bend in phases. The developer will construct roadway improvements as a result of a traffic impact analysis and input from the city, county and the Texas Department of Transportation. The project includes signal improvements at FM 685 and SH 130, and improvements to the intersection of Gattis School and SH 130.
Holland said one of the many benefits in working with H-E-B is the prospect of additional retail.
“We will be able to collect the sales tax from that entire site being developed. If you go to any H-E-B, there’s always more than just an H-E-B because they buy enough land to have ancillary retail stores, so we will be able to develop that sales tax,” Holland said.
Sweet said this store is specific to Hutto and will not be like any other store because the company evaluates each community differently and designs each store from scratch.
“Yes, it will be a Plus store, and this will be an incredible food store to shop. We don’t carbon-copy stores, so each store is specifically designed for the community it serves,” Sweet said.
The store will include a large produce section with fresh foods, a fresh juice bar with hand-pressed juices, a fresh-cut fruit bar, hand-rolled sushi, a scratch bakery, wine and beer, seafood and variety meat market departments, and a deli with international cheeses.
“There will be a chef on hand for teaching and live cooking demonstrations, a drive-thru pharmacy and a boutique with hand-selected apparel unique to the area,” Sweet said.
She said the location will also feature a convenience store, car wash, gas station and a restaurant. She said a Plus store features household items such as toys, apparel, electronics and plants.
“That’s what I love about H-E-B—they want to build the best for each neighborhood, and this is a very different area; it’s not just Hutto—it’s Round Rock, Pflugerville and the traffic on SH 130,” Sweet said. “We want this store to please those tri-city-area residents, so that 15 years from now this store will continue to serve them well. We’re trying to look out for the growing area for now and in the future.”