HOUSTON – (By Michelle Leigh Smith) – The H-E-B grocery store located near Brays Bayou in southwest Houston has been permanently closed after flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The store, which had previously flooded during heavy rains on Memorial Day in 2015, will not be repaired or remodeled and instead will shut its doors for good.
Longtime customers were not surprised by the announcement, but many are disappointed. “Glad they finally officially announced what we already kind of knew,” said Susan Speert, a teacher at a nearby public school.
Opened in 1992 at the retail center on Chimney Rock and 5417 S. Braeswood, the location was an H-E-B Pantry store, a 19,000-square-foot format the grocery chain used at the time. The storm struck on Aug. 25, and after floodwaters receded H-E-B held a community meeting at the Godwin Community Center to share the closure news.
Invited to the meeting were representatives from local neighborhood organizations and community institutions, including the Greater Meyerland Super Neighborhood, the Westbury Super Neighborhood, St. Thomas Episcopal, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center (JCC), Jewish Family Services, and staff from Houston City Councilman Larry Green’s office.
Local leaders expressed regret at the loss. “I am personally sad to see this much-loved neighborhood store close,” said Becky Edmondson, president of the Westbury Civic Club. Longshoreman Randy Keen remembered the store’s smaller, community-focused character: “They kept it well-stocked and the staff was just incredible. I feel badly for them – some of them had already been relocated there when the Bellaire store closed. How many times can you relocate and still keep your sanity?”
The store also had close ties with the nearby Jewish Community Center. “We really miss our neighborhood H-E-B on Chimney Rock – we have a weekly lunch for our seniors at the JCC and H-E-B often brought dozens of roses for our seniors and food from the kosher section for senior luncheons,” said Michelle Groogan, spokesperson for the JCC.
Cyndy Garza Roberts, H-E-B Public Affairs, acknowledged the inconvenience to residents: “We regret any inconvenience this closure creates for residents. However, we remain committed to serving this community and are in active negotiations for another site in the area which we hope to announce in the very near future.”
Industry sources say H-E-B has been mentioned as a possible tenant for Meyerland Plaza, the 950,000-square-foot retail center at Beechnut and Loop 610. A store at Meyerland Plaza could address a gap in H-E-B’s southwest Houston coverage. Meyerland Plaza, managed by Fidelis Realty, hosts a 200,000-square-foot J.C. Penney along with multiple pad sites and big-box retailers; several stores there experienced flooding during Hurricane Harvey.
Currently, H-E-B’s nearest store to the southwest neighborhood is just north of West University Place on Buffalo Speedway. Beyond that, the closest H-E-B is near Highway 6 in Missouri City—more than 10 miles away. A new two-story H-E-B is under construction near Bissonnet and South Rice in Bellaire and is expected to open in about a year; it will be the company’s first two-story location.
In the meantime, neighborhood shoppers will need to find alternative grocery options while H-E-B explores new sites in the area. San Antonio–based H-E-B, which posts annual sales exceeding $23 billion, operates more than 380 stores across Texas and Mexico.