It's pretty easy to see H-E-B's footprint in Austin. It's grocery stores -- many of which go well beyond selling traditional groceries -- are everywhere.
Now, the retail giant is building a new facility in East Austin where it plans to house its digital team -- along with team members from Favor, the on-demand delivery startup H-E-B acquired in February.
H-E-B announced Wednesday it will turn a recently renovated industrial warehouse at 2416 East Sixth St. into an 81,000-square-foot creative workspace. It will also be Favor's corporate headquarters, replacing the one the company opened in 2016. The new digs will be block or two from an H-E-B store on Calles St. and close to several breweries and restaurants on East Sixth.
The new tech center will be completed next spring, and the company plans to hire product managers, product designers and software engineers.
“This state-of-the-art space will be a hub for creativity and innovation as we continue to develop the ultimate digital experience for our customers,” Jag Bath, H-E-B chief digital officer and Favor CEO and president, said in a news release. “Bringing H-E-B and Favor closer together will allow us to promote collaboration between our two companies as we strengthen our commitment to building out H-E-B’s omnichannel services.”
H-E-B's new facility comes as grocery stores and retailers increasingly compete to bring tech-oriented solutions to consumers -- often driven by innovations launched by ecommerce giant Amazon.
H-E-B, for example, now has more than 145 locations in Texas that offer delivery and curbside service. The company plans to increase that to 165 stores by the end of the year.
