Q.When I was a child there were many, many grocery and food stores in San Marcos. Many are now closed. My husband and I were trying to remember some of them. Also — when did HEB come to town?
A. The library has a history file for grocery stores in San Marcos. It contains original grocery receipts, photographs, advertisements and newspaper articles about grocery stores from the late 19th century to now.
HEB opened its first store at S. Austin and Comal in San Marcos on Jan. 26, 1955. This store was the 64th HEB in Texas, and the opening celebrations included a con-cert from the Light Crust Dough Boy Band at the high school, presentations of 216 baskets of groceries to lucky visitors, free coffee, cake, favors and free rides for the children (the news article did not specify what the rides were on.) This launched HEB’s dominance in the grocery trade in San Marcos. Other larger department grocery stores included Safeway, Appletree, and Kroger’s.
