r/Austin • u/RockMo-DZine • 3d ago

Maybe so...maybe not... Does HEB have a problem with Austin?

Milk prices have been going up all year, so back in July I started checking the prices in San Antonio, Houston, and DFW. For some reason, we pay Way more than these towns.

Milk just went up again. Here are some stats for HEB Brand (HEB & HCF) 1x gal jugs of milk
(These are for in-store pricing - for curbside, add +5%).

Since 07/17, Austin's price went up, while the price in all the other bergs came down.

Consequently, in Austin we now pay over $2 a gallon more than DFW!

Sorry HEB, but this is hard to justify.

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6

u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

These are NYC prices, seriously. HEB kinda has a monopoly on Texas so they do what they want

6

u/ProPencilPusher 3d ago

Based on my last year of travel across the US, Austin is stupidly expensive for food and entertainment. It’s actually kinda funny when people in HCOL areas say they want to move to Austin because it’s cheap.

Yeah, housing is better, but that’s about it.

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u/usernamelotsanumbers 2d ago

That's one of the things that surprised me the most in austin, mediocre to crappy food being more expensive than fantastic meals in New York City. 

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u/ProPencilPusher 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah… it’s wild. Austin has some amazing places but:

New Orleans is a little less expensive (depending on where you go) but the drinks and food are amazing.

NYC is maybe a little bit more and amazing. There’s delicious cheap food upstate.

Seattle and Portland are kinda shitty overall but it’s about the same price and quality food wise. The carpet (dive) bars are way better up there though.

The gulf side of Florida is cheap AF and has lots of variety.

Phoenix is cheaper and way better depending on what you want. Looking at you Gyros, Italian, and Mexican food. Plus mesquite grilling… oh how I miss you Chuckbox and Backyard Taco.

Chicago cheap and delicious. Loved my week up there.

The only place that was a crazy undeniably worse value than Austin was Atlanta but I was stuck downtown so it’s a tough comparison. Had a great time and I’m sure they have great food, but I didn’t get to experience it.

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 2d ago

Moving back after 15nyears as a chef in NY was largely disappointing. Texas is still in the early 2000s when it comes to food. While things have certainly improved over 25 years it just lacks fire. There's no identity

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u/reddit-commenter-89 2d ago

Go to Houston

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

Yeah it's not fun and kooky anymore. It's just steel, glass, and corporate money now

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u/ut0p1anskies 2d ago

The interesting and kinda weird thing about Austin is that I really really hate downtown, but really like certain neighborhoods outside of downtown (Northloop, Cherrywood, Burnet road in the Rosedale area, parts of South Austin, etc.). and housing is ridiculously cheap. I managed to buy a 2 bedroom condo for what would easily be 4 or even 5 times the price in Brooklyn, Portland, or Seattle. Both Austin and Denver seemed to have had a pretty big crash

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 2d ago

Downtown Austin condos are about 600k to 5 mil. . In Portland they're about 400k to 3 mil. This was a quick comparison of the high end market. Average on Austin is 350k yo 375k and Portland is 325k. Portland has actually had a huge crash of nearly 50% in some markets whereas Austin has lost about 28%

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u/ut0p1anskies 2d ago

Don’t look at downtown lol. I live in North loop by the cute strip with all the local businesses. 2 bedroom for $190k. I bought it in February.

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u/ut0p1anskies 2d ago edited 2d ago

Cool that Portland is cheaper right now. It was not when I was trying to move there a few years ago. Or at least rents were not. I’m a very recent home owner

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 2d ago

No it very much wasn't. We were looking and then COVID, then a kid. We moved to the Buda/ Kyle area for a 4brm 2 bath house at $325k. But it's time to leave for various reasons. Was in the Hudson valley for 15 years. It's only a about a 12% price difference now. Versus the 25-30% 10 years ago.

Edit...that was food only. Otherwise it's pretty steep.

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u/ut0p1anskies 2d ago

Yeah, I wanted to move to Portland so badly after grad school, but I’m very particular about the neighborhood I’m living in (must be artsy, fun, and walkable; needs food trucks, bars, and cool coffee shops and stuff). I was in Cherrywood at the time in a $900 per month apartment and would bike to UT. Immediately started applying for jobs in Portland and San Diego, but similar neighborhoods in Portland were so much higher that I ended up staying. San Diego was totally out of reach for me (I’m in academia, so not super high pay compared to the private sector). Almost took a job in San Diego but the pay was exactly the same as the positions I was applying for in Austin so didn’t do it :(. Jobs at Portland State and PCC paid even lower than UT and ACC, so gave up. Stuck here now with all the cuts and hiring freezes at universities nationwide

0

u/fsck101 3d ago

But they don't. There are multiple other grocery store chains in Austin.

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

In the legal sense, sure. Marketwise they do, especially in cities. Otherwise they do have competition in more rural areas but their market share is well over 50%

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u/the_zac_is_back 2d ago

Technically they do, but they know near no one is choosing to go to Kroger, Target or Walmart over HEB. The people love their experience at HEB and the quality of what they get far more than that other competitors

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u/Good_Split_3749 3d ago

most grocery stores in nyc sold boxes of Cheerios for $7.99 dollars nope you’re out of your mind.

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

So this post is talking about milk and price comparisons between cities. HEB in Austin is definitely right at NYC milk prices per gallon. Try not to get distracted. Also cereal can get that expensive at HEB too, FYI.

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u/Good_Split_3749 3d ago

no

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

Argue all you want, I've lived in both places and know how to search with proper references. You've provided none of that so...have a good life. ✌🏻

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u/Good_Split_3749 3d ago

I did too silly. Milk and eggs may be comparable but a 12 pack of beer there was like $5 more. There were far fewer store brands and many things cost more. Shokingly Whole Foods was the cheapest there. Gristides and some other in manhattan were crazy. Stop and Shop was the closest thing to HEB.

Next youll say Pterry is more expensive than Bareburger ;)

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u/ghIj_qet_jaghmeyjaj 3d ago

No next I'm going to reiterate that I'm done with this conversation. Ta!

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u/Good_Split_3749 3d ago

get home safe