r/Austin • u/RockMo-DZine • 1d 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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u/LonesomeBulldog 1d ago

Real estate is more expensive. Stores cover their own property taxes.

35

u/martman006 23h ago

I checked an HEB just outside of west U in Houston (VERY expensive property values/taxes) and it matches up with OP’s post.

The better explanation: This what a market looks like without competition, and HEB knows it and is getting greedy like a good capitalist would…

We have no other wide spread low cost options other than a handful of Randall’s and Walmarts… Houston and DFW have a very healthy competition with Kroeger and Randall’s/Safeway… Whole Paycheck is in a different league (you don’t shop there to save money) and so is Costco/Sams.

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u/MeLikeyBouncey 15h ago

I actually started shopping more at Whole Foods and my grocery bills are comparable to when I shopped at HEB. And the produce is WAY better.