MANSFIELD (1080 KRLD) - For the people of Mansfield, the long wait for an H-E-B store will soon be over.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the city's new H-E-B store took place Friday morning, and construction will begin in earnest Monday.
"There's a cult following of H-E-B," says Mansfield Mayor Michael Evans, "and it's going to be good for us here locally, as well as for us regionally."
The store is going up at the southeast corner of U.S. 287 and Broad St. on a parcel of land that the San Antonio-based company has owned since 2016.
With the new store comes new jobs for the area -- and a lot of them.
"We have about 700 to 750 partners in each of these stores," says Mabrie Jackson, H-E-B senior director of public affairs. "We want to make sure that our community is staffed by those who live in the community, so they know their neighbors, they know when they're coming to shop, they know them by name, and it makes for a more family atmosphere."
Mayor Evans says having an H-E-B will boost Mansfield's economy.
"It's just going to help out our tax base," says Mayor Evans, "and anything we can do to lower the burden on our citizens is outstanding."
The new H-E-B store will include some unique features.
"Our North Texas stores, they include our True Texas Barbecue, which was ranked for many years as the number-one barbecue chain in Texas," says Jackson. "We also have a new department called Home by H-E-B -- it's a department with high-end furnishings."
Mayor Evans says H-E-B will be a great fit for the city and the region.
"H-E-B is going to fit in just nicely with our other partners in the grocery business," Evans says, "and I do believe that it's going to continue to raise the standard and quality of the produce and other items that will be sold in the grocery stores."
This will actually be the second H-E-B to go up in Tarrant County; construction on the store in the Alliance area of far north Fort Worth started last November.
The Mansfield store is slated to open either in late spring or early summer of 2024.
Mayor Evans can't wait.
"Get your money and get your shopping carts ready, because H-E-B is coming to town."
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