Big changes are ahead for H-E-B stores in South Austin next year. The company says it's investing $200 million to open three new stores. Meanwhile, three other locations are closing – two of them permanently.

The company, which is already Austin’s largest private employer, says the changes will create up to 1,000 new jobs.

The Openings

Oltorf And South Congress

H-E-B has been operating a grocery at 2400 South Congress since the 1950s. A temporary store will open across the intersection in the old Twin Oaks Shopping Center in February. H-E-B will then close the South Congress store on March 22, tear it down and build an entirely new multistory H-E-B on the property. The company says the new grocery will open in 2022.

H-E-B is offering free pickup and home delivery services for customers who live in the 78701 and 78704 ZIP Codes in March and April.

Slaughter And South Congress

Half a dozen years or so after the first sighting of a “future home of H-E-B” sign, construction of this H-E-B Plus! location is set to be complete soon. The store, wedged between South I-35 and Congress across Slaughter Lane from South Park Meadows, is scheduled to open March 27.

U.S. Highway 290 and F.M. 1826

This H-E-B has also been in the works for some time; construction is set to begin in January. The store, just west of the Y in Oak Hill, could open before the end of next year.

The Closures

U.S. Route 290 and Highway 71

Once the new H-E-B west of the Y in Oak Hill opens, the older store at 290 and 71 will close.

William Cannon and South First

H-E-B also plans to close its William Cannon and South First location. The grocery there is one of the smaller stores in Austin, it's not on land the company owns, and it's within a few miles of two other H-E-B's. It will close April 2. The store is offering employees positions at other stores.

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