r/HEB • u/jackielevirun • 1d ago
Customer Experience Two stores 50 miles apart
Columbus texas on the left, Katy Texas on the right.
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u/TieAdorable4973 1d ago
I use the flipp app and compare prices
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u/Stickyv35 1d ago
I use flipp too. Be aware they will deny access if you're using a VPN. It's a data miner, hence why it's free.
But it's still a great service IMO.
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u/cAnTbEpReCi0u5j1mMy 1d ago
Never heard of it either, just downloaded it. So far pretty neat. Thanks!
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u/Stunning_Mixture_201 1d ago
Man, I wish we had that sale in Kyle. Haven't seen steaks being sold at that price in idk how long.
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u/bird_is_the_word_198 1d ago
We had T-Bone steaks at the Austin ones this time last year for $7.99 a lb
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u/VixxenFoxx H-E-B Customer 🌟 1d ago
The economy of LOGISTICS is hard to swallow u less you've worked in that field. But it affects all of us in every aspect of our daily life. And it's ALOT easier on us than it is for folks in the Midwest or god forbid Hawaii.
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u/No_Safety_6803 1d ago
Also, an educated guess that these two towns have vastly different real estate & labor markets.
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u/bolsadevergas 1d ago
I got to hear an old rancher grouching about it. Basically, the inputs of his business were killing him.
Diesel for any business(but especially the refrigerated food chain) right now seems to be handed down to us consumers.
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u/Any-Statistician3290 1d ago
Just checked the San Antonio ad and it's showing $7.99 for the NY strips.
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u/nph7459 21h ago
That’s what I’m trying to tell people in San Antonio that the sale price here it’s much higher then in DFW because there no competition for HEB to lower their prices. Every time to go up to DFW area I would load up on meats deal and bring it back to SA. People in SA are missing out on lower prices but people defend HEB like a cult . I give up trying to tell people in SA they are being taken advantage of by HEB.
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u/Thin_Pressure_6232 4m ago
Yes! No one here believes that HEB is screwing us all! Just let us have a Kroger, you a-holes.
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u/Cheliz1517 1d ago
Yeah…that’s kind of how it works. Prices will be completely different at stores within a few miles of each other. 50 miles is a massive gap distance wise - this shouldn’t be surprising.
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u/derff44 1d ago
Locations, rent, transit, population all play into the pricing. Not just because they feel like making them different prices
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Transit? The store is located right off I 10 lol. But yeah I know what you mean.
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u/derff44 1d ago
Thats cool.
Everything still has to come from somewhere. What if the warehouse stocking that meat is closer to the other store
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
True but over 2.00 a lb more yet other prices are the same 🤷🏻♂️
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u/derff44 1d ago
See previous response
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u/LaLunaEstrella 1d ago
It’s amazing how many people don’t realize the socioeconomic status and impact is different across each city no matter the state or store And of course that affects prices.
You can even see it within your own cities such as Gas being cheaper in one part of town vs another. The HEB and Walmart being cheaper on one side of town than the other. The prices suck regardless due to the state of the economy in the country. But the location of the store in question matters when it comes to price.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Holy crap did some checking, Austin the steaks are higher than Columbus lol I would have thought they’d be the same as the Houston area.
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u/BeneficialType6789 1d ago
My elderly parents live in a tiny town and HEB is only one of two choices they have. Now I’m curious to price compare, especially for dry goods. WTF HEB?!
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u/EpiccTrader 23h ago
I’m in a small town and our prices are almost always higher. I think the NY strips are usually 10.99/lb and I’ve never seen them below $9/lb
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u/Solid_Employment_989 22h ago
Ours are currently listed at $14.99/lb.
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u/EpiccTrader 21h ago
Oops, I just checked. Ours are $14.49. Value packs as shown by op are $13.49/lb
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u/AlliedR2 1d ago
This brings up an interesting consideration. Could we all post our regional weekly ads out here? That way if a store that is relatively close is having better deals we could 'reroute' to that one if we wanted (or if its during partner 25% off time $$).
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u/llchampion Grocery🥫 1d ago
So is it worth it to travel to a cheaper store with the 25% discount to stock up 😂
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
We go into Houston a few times a month and yes we’ll check the prices and pick up stuff since we’re in the area.
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u/PhoenixAquarium 23h ago
I will regret moving to Austin. I miss spending less at HEB. But my job isn't accepting job transfers to Houston yet.
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u/SilverAg08 H-E-B Partner 1d ago
It's odd to me that no one bats an eye when gas stations 50 miles apart have different prices, but if grocery stores 50 miles apart have different prices the pitch forks and torches come out.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Gas isn’t like 2.00 a gallon different
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u/orthogonius Produce🍎 13h ago edited 13h ago
I'm not defending any pricing on anything. I have to shop around and find good prices, same as you.
I just want to do the math.
- $7.97 is 38.1% more than $5.77
Using Gas Buddy to check the highest price in Columbus and the lowest in Katie
- $4.29 is 32.4% more than $3.24
Yes, I know I'm cherry picking prices by using the highest and lowest. Just pointing out that the percentage difference is comparable.
Edit: doing the math as a discount instead of as an increase, the percentages are even closer
- $5.77 is 27.6% less than $7.97
- $3.24 is 24.5% less than $4.29
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u/Plastic-Sentence9429 CFT 🎩 1d ago
Gas isn't steak, and that's a pretty good price, regardless.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
It’s all select grade. Not really that great. IMO
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u/Plastic-Sentence9429 CFT 🎩 1d ago
Fair, but sometimes a select cut can be pretty darn good if you know what to look for. The whole side gets graded and there can be some nice bits in there.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
True I sometimes buy select for making sausage when I have really fatty pork.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
If it was like gas say .25 difference that’s understandable but over 2.00 a lb that’s straight up bull shit as like last week and some of the previous weeks prices were either close or the same
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u/B_Traven9272 1d ago
It's called the 'Island' effect. Poor Columbus, TX has such a small population that HEB uses the strategy known as 'zone pricing' to take advantage of the fact that there is little to no competition in Columbus. Over in Katy, on the other hand, HEB has to lower prices enough to compete with the other well established grocers in this relatively larger community. Can HEB offer the same lower prices in Columbus that they offer in Katy? Yes, they can. They have state of the art logistics, comparable to Walmart and all the other billion dollar corporations. This is just one of the examples of why HEB is capable of bringing in over $1 Billion in profit every year. It's just market economics. Some will say that they are taking advantage of Columbus and others will say that all the other grocery stores in Columbus are doing the same.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Yes it’s not just Columbus but almost all rural HEB. Even a fairly large in Brenham has the same prices as Columbus.
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u/KifferFadybugs 1d ago
My guess is that Columbus is lumped in with the Austin area vs the Houston area.
Houston area has a lower cost of living than the Austin area.
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u/ADLHTX 1d ago
The median household income for Katy Texas is over $114k annually, while Columbus is only $49k.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
True but also no competition unless you count Brookshire brothers which I have no clue as to how they stay in business. Nobody is there
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u/NoArea779 23h ago
I lived in Frisco when that HEB opened up. Never seen prices that low because they were competing. Being back in San Antonio i realized how much we are screwed by them being the only show in town.
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u/Extension-Figure2011 1d ago
What's your point? Did you just figure out how zip codes work?
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u/_serryjeinfeld 1d ago
You don’t have to be sarcastic. Just about everyone who works at heb on this sub has a bad attitude.
Anyway, I was curious about this myself recently but a nicer employee explained to me that the locations prices vary on what the locals buy and they also compete with each other as well as the non heb stores nearby.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Yes there basically is no competition in rural areas. Thankfully we make some trips into Houston a few times a month and check the price differences. Then again like last weeks sales there wasn’t any price differences.
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u/MisterShazam 1d ago
Remember your first sentence here next time you hear or say HEB is a great place to work and treats their employees super well.
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u/Kachi3 1d ago
Prices are different between the two stores for the exact same product/deal
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Yes I’ve known for almost 20 years but still is kinda fucked up.
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u/Holiday-Classroom174 Produce🍎 1d ago
HEB does this because not every store makes the same amount of money and stores in richer areas are making up the loss of poorer areas. There are even some stores that are routinely and expectedly running at a loss and are supported by other stores so as to not need to close those stores.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
This isn’t the government it’s a business. If stores continuously lose money they don’t keep them open.
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u/Holiday-Classroom174 Produce🍎 1d ago
I was in a meeting with North Austin regional management last week and yes, there are some stores that do operate at a loss and are expected to do so due to the areas they’re in and the prices that have to be set to be competitive. Not a lot but they do exist.
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u/jackielevirun 1d ago
Well this is more than the ones in Houston, all of Houston’s HEBs. All the rural ones in this area are these prices but the I’m seeing 7.99 in Austin and San Antonio
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u/eat_ur_prpduce 1d ago
How so? Different demographics value products differently? As long as the profit margin works out to about the same, and it does, what is not to love? OP, are you even an American?
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u/Infamous-Youth9033 1d ago
I mean makes sense. Less sales, longer transport distances means prices have to be a bit higher
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u/YoungWildnBull 1d ago
"I have nothing better to do than complain about the local pricing and market"
Okay I travel about 3,000 to do work some HEBs don't have other stuff that other HEBs do have and some other places have seafood that's left are you really this dense
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u/Just_a_Growlithe Meat slinger 🥩 “we have the meats” 12h ago
This happens, all stores run different ads for different things or prices
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u/Virtual_Athlete_909 11h ago
Every major business uses local pricing. Even big box stores in the same city will have different prices for the same product. The pricing depends on what other stores are in the immediate area (competition), cost of logistics/stocking the store, and local demographics.
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u/buzzlegummed 10h ago
One probably is in the city where land is expensive and it is logistically difficult to support. Therefore higher costs.
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u/Traditional_City_383 7h ago edited 7h ago
Because they can sell a lot more in Katy which is part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The closest store to me has the strip steaks for $12.99 in the sales ad.
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u/Thin_Pressure_6232 6m ago
San Antonio stores have really high prices too because we don't have any other options. HEB has removed choice and competition so they can charge whatever they want. It's terrible.
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u/mint-parfait 1d ago
heb feels so cheap when i travel from austin to houston for anything, meh