Central Market (Texas)
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Central Market is a gourmet grocery store chain owned by San Antonio, Texas-based H.E. Butt Grocery Company. It specializes in high-quality, hard-to-find gourmet foods. Most locations also have a full-service kitchen, offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and offer catering services. Each store is more than 75,000 square feet. As of December 2007 they have eight locations, all of which are in Texas. There are plans to open stores outside of Texas, although a date has not yet been confirmed. Stores opened outside of Texas will be similar in size to the newest store in Southlake, featuring less square footage. Central Market was named "Outstanding Specialty Food Retailer" by Specialty Food Magazine and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade.[1]
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[edit] History
The original store opened in 1994 on North Lamar in Austin, Texas, two years after its current competitor Whole Foods went public. A cult-like following began immediately after the store opened. Many Texas foodies were attracted to the store's offerings and were willing to travel from other cities just to shop in the store. Beyond supplying hard-to-find products, Central Market's highly trained staff are knowledgeable about all things epicurean.
It was not long before H.E. Butt Grocery Company expanded the chain to the San Antonio area (the store is located in Alamo Heights), Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston. The chain's second store opened in 1997 in a converted H-E-B on Broadway in the San Antonio area (in the Alamo Heights city limits). Two years later, a third store was opened on South Lamar in Austin. Fort Worth and Houston were introduced to the chain for the first time in 2001, with stores on West Freeway and Westheimer, respectively. Central Market's sixth and seventh stores opened in 2002 in Dallas and Plano on East Lovers Lane and Coit, respectively. Continuing its Dallas-area expansion, an eighth store opened at The Shops of Southlake in Southlake on December 6, 2006.
According to a 2000 article in the Houston Business Journal[2]... "The two Central Market stores in Austin have become a tourist attraction of sorts, drawing in more than 1.5 million visitors a year, second only to the state Capitol in terms of Austin tourist attractions."
[edit] Central Market specialties
Central Market is known for its Café on the Run, which includes several featured areas intended to give customers the most extensive selection of options for fresh, convenient meals. The chain also carries a line of exclusive organic products called Central Market Organics. The product line includes organic or all-natural items ranging from commodities such as milk and eggs to pasta sauce and cookie dough.
[edit] Live music
As appropriate for a store that first began in Austin, the self-styled Live Music Capital of the World, most Central Market locations feature a patio with live music on several nights each week.
[edit] References
- ^ Central Market wins national honor, San Antonio Express-News, June 11, 2007.
- ^ H-E-B closing door on pantry concept Houston Business Journal, July 28, 2000
