AUSTIN, Texas — The longest-standing H-E-B supermarket in Austin will be torn down and rebuilt bigger than ever.
The South Austin store at 2400 S. Congress Ave. first opened in 1957 and has undergone dozens of renovations, increasing its footprint from the original 25,000 square feet to the present-day 69,000 square feet.
"You pretty much come at any hour ... and it's packed," shopper Kent Conlan told KVUE. "This needs to be a bigger facility. It just does. It's not as convenient to find parking."
Julian Rodriguez, who's worked at this H-E-B for 22 years, is excited for the change.
"How can you make them happy, you know, so they're not bumping into each other? Make it bigger," Rodriguez said. "Sometimes you have to let go of things, you know, for the new. New is always good."
The new store is set to open in 2022 with 100,000 square feet, including underground parking, murals from local artists and H-E-B’s first-ever beer garden.
“Our goal is to represent [neighbors’] needs and greatest wishes for their neighborhood grocery store, while keeping with the personality and vibrancy of the South Congress community,” said H-E-B senior vice president and general manager of Central Texas Jeff Thomas.
A temporary store at the adjacent Twin Oaks Shopping Center will serve customers through the two-year construction period.
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