A funny thing happened while Dallas shoppers were waiting for H-E-B to finally open a store in the city proper. Almost everyone else, from discounters to specialty stores and big-box stores, to traditional supermarkets, has been opening stores at a pace like almost nowhere else in the country.
The most recent announcement came from BJ’s Wholesale Club, a membership big-box store mostly located on the East Coast, which said it would build a couple of more stores in the Dallas area, with the first opening next month. Even Kroger and Tom Thumb parent Albertson’s, both of which are cutting costs in the wake of their failed 2025 merger (which has included store closings), are expanding in the Dallas area.
And this just isn’t out in the far suburbs on plowed-over cotton fields, where the growth has traditionally taken place. There are even infill stores, the real estate term for those built in existing neighborhoods in the heart of Dallas, which hasn’t been all that common around here…