H-E-B IS SET TO PRESENT THIRD GREAT'S MEALS STORE

ROSEANNE HARPER

AUSTIN, Texas -- H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is scheduled to open its second Great's meals store in this city March 20.

The meals store is an integral part of a new 94,000-square-foot H-E-B superstore here, which is just a mile away from H-E-B's much-acclaimed, all-food Central Market here. The present 67,000-square-foot H-E-B store at the same location will close when the new one opens, company sources told SN.

The Great's meals operation in the new store will be the second in this city, and the third for the 245-unit, San Antonio-based chain. The first Great's made its debut in Schertz, Texas, a bedroom community outside San Antonio, last year.

The Great's concept features open-production cooking, a huge display of meals and meal components packaged in-store, and a high level of customer service. It targets the takeout, self-service customer.

The meals store has its own front entrance, but also can be entered from within the supermarket. A company source told SN that the third Great's will have a more open format, and that it will not be separated from the rest of the store to the extent the first two are.

A very diverse menu at Great's is divided into five different sections: American Heartland, Asian Pacific, South of the Border, Lone Star (Texas favorites such as barbecued brisket and ribs) and Mediterranean.

The location here, Hancock Center, is the site of Austin's first shopping mall, built in 1963. Officials at H-E-B's corporate offices could not be reached for comment.