Ground breaks today on new H-E-B store

Marble Falls residents will welcome the next step towards a brand-new, bigger and better H-E-B store today, April 7, with a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m.

The ceremony will take place at the current store at 1503 Ranch to Market Road 1431 West. City officials and H-E-B leadership will be on hand to break ground and to give information about the new store design, its services and offerings and planned departments.

The new 111,000-square-foot store, which will be located next door and occupy the site of the former Bealls store as well, will offer new products, expanded departments, added services and low prices, H-E-B officials said, as the new store's footprint will be 35,000 square feet larger than the existing store.

The old store will continue operations while the new store is being built, H-E-B Marble Falls Unit Director David Crail said.

The growth of Marble Falls and the strong ties between the store and the community for the past 50 years are cited as reasons for the new construction.

H-E-B first opened its current store in 1990 and it sits on a 5.35-acre property. During the past 20 years, H-E-B has spent nearly $7 million to improve and enhance the store, but as more growth continues in the area, the company decided a new store would serve customers better than additional improvements. H-E-B is adding to the land lease for a total of 11.74 acres, and the new, larger store will be built to the west of the current store. Once the new store is completed, the existing store will be razed to make more parking for the new store.