Accelerated Construction Yields Benefits for H-E-B

BALTIMORE — An ambitious plan to build a store in 100 days provided benefits beyond a speedy construction period, Bill Triplett, director of planning and design for H.E. Butt Grocery Co., said in a presentation at Food Marketing Institute’s Retail Store Development conference here Tuesday. Triplett’s remarks told of how the San Antonio-based retailer built a 93,000-square-foot H-E-B grocery store in Bryan, Texas, in 2004 in just over 15 weeks. In addition to beating the company’s opening forecast by more than two months, the 100-day build demonstrated the value in aligning design and construction teams at H-E-B along with contractors, developers, local officials and equipment suppliers, Triplett said. Lessons from the project helped cut down construction periods in other H-E-B store projects, while finding new ways to cut waste and save money through the use of materials such as pre-fabricated exterior and interior walls.

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