Photos: H-E-B to open its first two-story grocery store in Houston

Exterior of the new H-E-B store, Monday, June 25, 2018, in Bellaire. It's the first two-story H-E-B to open in the Houston area. Exterior of the new H-E-B store, Monday, June 25, 2018, in Bellaire. It's the first two-story H-E-B to open in the Houston area. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Photos: H-E-B to open its first two-story grocery store in Houston 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

H-E-B on Wednesday is set to open its first multilevel grocery store in Houston.

The San Antonio-based grocer redeveloped an older pantry store at Bissonnet and Rice into a double decker with 225 parking spots on the ground floor and a 78,000-square-foot store with more than 70 parking spots on the second floor. Shoppers use escalators and elevators to go between the floors.

The Bellaire store, 5106 Bissonnet, has sections for produce and meat, seafood and sushi, a bakery and tortilleria, a deli, cooking demonstrations, a pharmacy and an outdoor gardening area. The store, which features an interactive light art exhibit, will also offer curbside grocery pickup and prepared meals.

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H-E-B began building multilevel grocery stores in Mexico several years ago and is now bringing that concept to Houston. The two-story store model allows the grocer to build on smaller parcels in urban neighborhoods.

The Bellaire store is the second double-decker to open in Texas after San Antonio. H-E-B is building two-story stores in the Heights and Meyerland as well.