Recently HEB opened a new grocery store at the corner of Fry Rd. and Grand Parkway. This grocery store provides a much needed additional location to serve the outlying subdivisions of Katy. The new HEB is called an HEB PLUS because it is about 3 times the size of their regular stores.
We tried this store out to pick up a few items Friday night. There is just a frenzy around this store right now with lots of people and cars as everyone checks it out for the first time. I plan to wait about a week before I try it again in hopes that some of the excitement will die down. Fortunately, the store seemed to have every employee at their stations so that there was someone to help wherever you turned. The kids were greeted with balloons when they entered, and there were more food samples than we could eat! There were no lines for checkout since almost every register was open.
One of the things that makes this location a Plus store is its "beefed up" meat department and gigantic produce section. We saw many fruits and vegetables that we had never encountered before, which made it a fun "field trip" for the kids.
Another part of the store that is unique is the "Cafe on the Run" counter at the front. This is similar to Central Market stores. They have all sorts of gourmet entrees and side dishes available to take home. They even offer "dinner in a bag." This contains an entree (looked delicious), salad, bread, vegetable, and sometimes dessert. The price was around $13. This might be more than you'd spend on a home cooked meal, but certainly less than many restaurant meals.
HEB also calls this a Plus store because it offers "one time deals" around the store. For example, they had a tv/dvd set up for a good price advertised in one area. In addition, the housewares, hardware, and beauty sections are much larger than a regular grocery store. I browsed their beauty and health sections, and was surprised to see that many of their prices were competitive with Target or Walmart.
I look forward to shopping here on a regular basis, especially after the crowds die down. They also have a gas station out front, much needed in this area!
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