Sometimes when H-E-B does something awesome, we just want to wear it on a shirt. Making fresh pizza, tamales, and sushi in stores? Partnering with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation? People who get that feeling can now act on it with a pilgrimage to the grocery chain's Kerrville store.
This small city, the birthplace of H-E-B, was chosen to launch the company's new line of H-E-B-branded merchandise, in celebration of its 117th anniversary. The merch will roll out to other Texas stores in 2023, but for now, there’s only one place to get sneakers that say, “Follow me to H-E-B.”
The new H-E-B Brand Shop, located inside the Kerrville store on Main Street, has themed merchandise from the traditional (T-shirts, socks, stickers, and mugs) to the nearly inexplicable (baby clothes, tortilla-disguised beer koozies, and badge holders).
Koozies and other stocking-stuffer-type merch from the H-E-B Brand Store. Photo courtesy of H-E-B
Some of these are just delightfully simple expressions of love for H-E-B and, by extension, being Texan; some are cute gag gifts for friends who sing the grocery store’s praises; still others are just convenient options to have on the way to, say, a last-minute beach trip when someone needs a shirt with better coverage and an insulated cup.
The history angle comes in for a few products, like a shirt featuring an old storefront and a koozie with cowboy boots and the number 1905, but most of the items look modern and quippy, if not entirely straightforward. One shirt says “Risk it for the brisket queso,” which is a lot more normal to wear than “I [heart] H-E-B Meal Simple Tex-Mex Brisket Queso Dip.”
Super fans snag T-shirts at the new H-E-B Brand Shop.Photo courtesy of H-E-B
“At H-E-B, we’re always looking for ways to offer our loyal customers exclusive, quality products, and with H-E-B Brand Shop we’re excited to give our superfans opportunities to celebrate and show off their passion for all things H-E-B,” said an H-E-B Group department vice president Sabina Israelian-Garcia in a press release.
Shoppers anywhere can view the nearly 60 branded items from the mobile app, as long as they select a store where H-E-B Brand Shop has rolled out.
