H-E-B rivals like Costco and Kroger are taking over Texas with expansions all the way up and down I-35.
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When you think of Texas, H-E-B comes to mind. However, a few grocery giants are encroaching on the Lone Star State with major expansions into booming suburbs and cities. Here’s where new stores are popping up across Texas.
H-E-B rival Aldi debuts $1.75M store in Cedar Park
German-based discount grocer Aldi already has more than 100 stores in Texas and thousands across the country. However, a new $1.75 million, 3,606-square-foot store opened in the Austin-area suburb of Cedar Park in April as part of the chain’s expansion plan. In fact, the new Aldi is just across E. Whitestone Boulevard from a rival H-E-B store, and only three miles from another H-E-B on E. Whitestone Boulevard. Costco, Target and Walmart also populate the area, making it one of those highway intersections where you’d pretty much be able to find anything.
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In addition, Aldi has other Central Texas locations in Pflugerville, Georgetown, Temple, Killeen and Waco.
$12.2M Walmart slated for rapidly-growing Austin suburb
A massive national retailer is coming to Jarrell, a suburb 42 miles north of the Capital City. Walmart filed for the $12.2 million store on May 1 after Jarrell City Council approved a land annexation in October 2025. It marks the town’s first national grocery retailer within city limits, and Walmart officials told Jarrell city leaders it’s expected to be a $70 million investment in the town and to employ more than 300 people.
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Based on early timelines, construction is set to begin in September and wrap up by a tentative August 2027 end date. The project includes an adjacent fueling station. While this is the first major grocer in the town, Jarrell already has a Brookshire Brothers location, a regional, employee-owned chain.
H-E-B rival Sprouts debuts in New Braunfels, Kyle and Waco
New locations of this organic chain are “sprouting” up across Central Texas in cities already occupied by H-E-B. Sprouts opened in New Braunfels in January at the Town Center at Creekside, a location that had been in the works since plans first materialized in 2024. But that’s not the end of its expansion — another opened in Kyle in October 2025, and one is headed to Waco, with construction set to be completed before the end of the year.
The upcoming location in the city, known for HGTV’s Fixer Upper and Baylor University, will be 25,000 square feet and situated on Jack Kultgen Expressway off I-35, sandwiched between a Walmart and an existing H-E-B Plus! It’s sure to be a popular stop for college students looking for a healthier fix, though they’ve been itching for a Trader Joe’s for years.
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Costco sets sights on New Braunfels, Liberty Hill and Forney in 2026
Noticing a trend? Growth in New Braunfels is bringing more grocery giants to the area, unsurprisingly. Costco is yet another chain headed to the city, with a $37 million store set to open on May 15. The nearly 158,000-square-foot warehouse for bulk shoppers first started rumbling in 2024, with real filings coming through in January 2025. After breaking ground that September, the store neared completion earlier this year, with nearly $8 million in tax incentives approved by the New Braunfels City Council.
Meanwhile, in March, Central Texans lined up for three hours to be among the first to enter a new Costco in Liberty Hill. Also that month, yet another location threw its doors wide in the North Texas suburb of Forney, just east of Dallas, where a new H-E-B opened in February.
Kroger plans another store in North Texas as H-E-B expands
Also in North Texas, Kroger is expanding at the same time as H-E-B. There are already more than 200 Krogers across more than 80 cities in Texas, but another came to Fort Worth back in early November 2025. Meanwhile, H-E-B opened its first in Cowtown in 2024 and announced a second in October 2025, a 127,754-square-foot store with an $18 million price tag, which is expected to be completed this December.
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Despite the rivalry, it hasn’t been the smoothest road for Kroger. Throughout summer 2025, stores in Garland and McKinney shuttered, according to the Dallas Morning News. Roughly 60 stores were set to close in the following months, the chain announced; however, Kroger CEO Ron Sargent also said they were on track to complete 30 major projects that year.
And the expansion continues. Three more are getting started in Texas in 2026, according to Chron.com, including the North Texas cities of Fate and McKinney. The third location has yet to be announced, the publication states.