09/07/2023

H-E-B Unveils Largest E-Comm Fulfillment Center

Location in Katy, Texas, reflects grocer’s omnichannel ambitions

Senior Editor

H-E-B is planning to staff its latest e-comm fulfillment center with 300 team members.

Not everything is bigger in Texas, but H-E-B’s newest e-commerce fulfillment center is its largest to date. The regional grocer, which is rapidly expanding in new markets throughout the state and widening its digital footprint, too, opened the site in the town of Katy, just northwest of Houston.

The 100,000-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center is twice the size of H-E-B’s other facilities and was designed with a variety of automated features, according to the company. It is also the retailer’s first stand-alone location.

[Read more: “H-E-B Gets Into Documentary-Making Business”]

The Katy warehouse and e-commerce operations center will support H-E-B curbside and home delivery orders across the metro Houston area. The grocer currently runs four large stores in that market.

“We’re excited to utilize this facility to support the Houston area, one of the largest markets for our company,” said Kedar Patel, group VP of e-commerce. “Across our business we are adopting innovative technologies that give our partners [employees] the tools they need to provide great service and a top-quality shopping experience for our customers.”

To mark the grand opening, the grocer donated $5,000 to The Ballard House, which provides temporary housing at no cost for individuals and their families who are hospitalized or receiving treatment for a serious medical condition.

H-E-B shared that it is actively hiring to staff up this new e-commerce fulfillment center, seeking to fill full-time and part-time positions. The company aims to employ more than 300 partners at the Katy facility.

While H-E-B has broken ground on several new stores in Texas over the past year and is readying others at different stages in construction, the chain is also investing in its back end. In June, a 55,000-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center opened in Plano, adjacent to an H-E-B Store and serving the growing Dallas-Fort Worth H-E-B customer base. In all, H-E-B now runs seven e-commerce fulfillment centers and shared that it is planning to add more to support its growth in the Lone Star State.

The largest privately held employer in Texas, San Antonio-based H-E-B has more than 420 stores and 145,000 employees in Texas and Mexico. The company is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.