In the bottom photo, a manager says goodbye to a store worker after they have collected the shopping carts in the parking lot. City officials say that they have been working to interest grocery store chains in opening a store there, but until today have had little success. They say that despite the fact that the store was a money maker for HEB, the corporate bosses claimed it would cost too much for them to effect repairs on the old structure to keep the store going.
Downtown residents without transportation could buy their groceries, pay their bills and cash their checks, and receive and/or send money from that central location.
The store served as an anchor for the downtown area, serving the senior high rise and the customers from Matamoros. Plasma donors caches their debit-card payments with a minimum $5 purchase and businesses often got change from the customer service windows. The store's closing will throw a damper on efforts to revitalize the city's inner core which has seen a resurgence of commerce and night spots attracting upper middle-class customers.
The centralized location - across from city hall and a U.S. Post Office caddy corner from City Plaza - - was a natural magnet for commercial traffic. It's hard to believe that this mainstay of the downtown economy has shut its doors. The true impact of this business on the commerce of the downtown area has yet to be felt. This is, in every sense of the word, the end of an era.)
18 comments:
Fake news! Truth is it was the worst HEB store in the Rio Grande Valley. HEB has so many newer, better-stocked stores elsewhere. This one was an embarrassment from another era. Why not ask Lopez Supermarket to move in there? Eh, Joey Lopez?
Juan, you can call the HEB Real Estate offices in San antonio and they will tell you they do not sell their properties to other grocery chains, any other business is OK, groceries NO. There was an old HEB Stores in Elsa texas for many years, land was sold to whataburger. Maybe whataburger might want to open up a location in downtown Brownsville, worth a try.
In keeping with tradition built a beer joint and name it "The Hole" sounds appropriate.
I passed by last night, and there were workers boarding up the front windows. Listening to the squeals of the drills screwing in anchors to secure the plywood to the frames, I couldn't help but think of the metaphoric nail in the coffin for the old Downtown.
That's exactly what this signals. Montoya is not kidding when he says this signals the end of an era for Downtown Brownsville. However, I have no doubt in my mind this is exactly what the mayor and other prominent downtown investors wanted.
Downtown is being turned into a spot for Brownsville's nouveau riche, the pezzonovante who want to see and be seen. Brownsville has always had these type of people. In high school, they were the fresas, the people who always wanted to look rich and important regardless of whether or not they were actually rich or important. Brownsville has always had an image problem. People always want to look good, even if they aren't good, and downtown is now the place to be. HEB didn't fit into the mold of what downtown is trying to be. Now that the grocery store is gone, maybe the common folk who went downtown to go to HEB will be gone too, opening the door for more highfalutin, fancy bars and pizza places to open up.
Maybe they can tear it down and build another trendy bicycle-bar-coffee-poetry-deli-art gallery-shop for all the fancy people to enjoy.
I'm all for downtown revitalization, but we're paying such a high price for it.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"
To the ignorant, entitled commentator at 7:57a.
I'm sure that the people who walked there from the surrounding area will disagree with your assessment. Now, that they have to take a bus to another store, an additional expense and obstacle will be added to their task of feeding their families.
They don't need a Gucci B, like you seem to.
Everything they needed could be found there. HEB did a great disservice to the City of Brownsville by closing that store, and, yes, someone will fill the need.
Moron!
Well boo-fucking-hoo! It will not be missed by 99.9% of Americans in Brownsville.
This store was a beacon - it served so many purposes for so many people. Ya wonder why the City didn't make some kind of financial offering to keep HEB here. The corporate headquarters (Kerrville, Texas) had no clue what importance this store had in Brownsville. Yet the Mayor could have communicated with them to explain its significance, offer one of their MANY tax incentives, maybe even helped to fix up the store - if only they had paid attention and given any consideration to the population its closing would affect. But Trey has his eyes only on the glam, wanting to turn Bville into an Austin 6th Street - no consideration to the many who depend on downtown to eat cheaply, buy groceries, cash checks, and socialize.
Trey is a malinche, betraying his supposed "roots" upon which he ran his "I am the common man" campaign. Instead he has turned his back on the common people and is on a "take no prisoners" campaign to make downtown a glorified Austin 6th Street. He is very vested in the "gentrification" of downtown, owning the big building on Fernandez Building at 1200 E. Adams - way before he was elected on false promises. He had a devious plan to make sure his investment was protected from "undesirables and the old HEB was in the way. He could have done something proactive but it was not in his self interest. Shame on you Mendez.
His name is JUAN wanna be white so we know who he serves...
The store probably closed its doors because it did not want to deal with the bullshit of the Historic Downtown Overlay requirements and the assholes who impose expensive and unrealistic standards for renovations withing the Historic Overlay area downtown. Some historic properties are in ruins today because of those requirements and the assholes who impose them. Only those with money or with some sort of relief from the city can afford to renovate downtown. Most of us don't go downtown anymore....no reason to.
@ October 21, 2019 at 11:00 AM:
The mayor didn't do anything because he didn't want the HEB there anymore. Again, it attracted the wrong type of people to the downtown area. I'm actually surprised he hasn't cracked down on the plasma donating centers. You just watch, those will be next on the list.
The mayor doesn't care one bit about the common folks in town. He only cares about his fancy pizza and wine crowd and turning downtown into an artsy trendy place for his rich pals to hang out. HEB doesn't fit into that equation.
October 21, 2019 at 7:57 AM
What an embarrassment it will be, they can't even keep their stores clean. Don't you have anything better to do C C Commissioner???
Trying to turn downtown into a wannabe 6th street. Our people dont have enough money to go to these places or at least the people that reside around downtown. What ever happen about going to the centro and chino's stores or going to HEB or the other mom & pop shops to find cheap stuff. Still remember when we had the Mcdonalds and burger king in the small building plaza Majestic. I used to live around the area, now its filled with wanna be hipster stores and plasma centers. I know the years pass and things change. But fuck, what our so called "leaders" trying to do with this area and the people that live around that. The closing of HEB is a dagger to everyones lives that dont have proper personal transportation. Trust me, my family and I used to go to that HEB, yes we had a vehicle to go to other more farther supermarkets, but why. We had the HEB 4 blocks away and we could just walk, and we enjoyed it. Shame on these people. Anyone knows that this place died when they closed the HEB. Watch its gonna be empty streets between the HEB and the International bridge.
11:52 a.m. The McAllen troll devoid of facts. Many sources within the city were livid HEB called the city to announce the closing of the store at the same time as their press conference. On two minutes notice what was the city to do? Compared with Sears who worked with the city and a developer, the city is already working with the new owners for when they take control of the Sears space in January. Facts matter, unless you are a useless troll.
Bobby WC
juan why didnt the city edc help HEB with funds to renovate? Isnt that what these edc funds are for to keep jobs in place?
Downtown bronsbil is dead.
There goes ol' Bobby "Shit-for-Brains" Wrightman "I use my mother's last name to sound more appealing to Hispanic people" Cervantes again making up stories as usual. He chides people for not posting facts yet he is the master of posting his shit articles with his imaginary sources and his tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theories.
I don't know which multiple personality of yours thinks I'm a "McAllen troll," but I'm not who you think I am, regardless of what your shit-filled brain thinks. I am a Brownsville native, born and raised. I know you think you're God's gift to the local blogosphere, but you're only as important as you think you are in the world you've cooked up in your imagination.
You talk your shit about facts, and you rail against the shit that Trump pulls, yet you do the exact same thing. Who are your "many sources within the city?" You always pull that shit. You always say you have all these sources, and people call you and tell you things, and people email you proof of this and that, and at the end of the day your ridiculous blog puts out absolutely nothing of any significance or importance.
It doesn't matter how many sources in the city were "livid." The proof is in the pudding. Downtown Brownsville is being turned into a playground for the rich. I get a lot of people on here are commenting the mayor is turning downtown into an Austin-esque Sixth Street, but those people have probably never been to Sixth Street in their life. He doesn't want to turn downtown into Sixth Street. Sixth Street is a non-stop party where people of all stripes are welcome. The mayor is turning downtown into a a fancy upscale wannabe place where 30 dollar pizzas and 100 dollar bottles of wine are the norm. That isn't what Brownsville is, no matter how many people like to think it is.
Again, people are so damn concerned about appearances and looking good. The damn streets are crumbling, companies are coming here and raping us without so much as a thank you or money on the nightstand, our education system is in shambles, and corruption and graft are orders of the day at every level of government. Losing that HEB hurts more people than it's going to help. I love Downtown Brownsville. I grew up around downtown. I spent my summers walking all throughout downtown. I love all the historical aspects of downtown. However, restoring a building's facade to its original appearance only to have a fancy bar or restaurant is not my idea of preserving anything.
There are your FACTS. Downtown is changing, and HEB leaving is a good indication of what direction the winds are blowing.
Go back to your blog and have arguments with your different personalities via the comments section of your blog like you always do. Put your tinfoil hat on and think all these people are messaging you when the only people leaving comments are the voices inside your head.
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