H-E-B Pours $15.6M Into West Side Las Palmas Store After Years of Complaints

H-E-B has broken ground on a $15.6 million renovation of its Las Palmas store on Castroville Road, a project roughly triple what the grocer typically spends on a store remodel. The store will stay open throughout construction, which H-E-B expects to wrap by late 2027.

The scope of the investment stands out even by H-E-B's standards. According to WOAI, the project includes a redesigned interior layout, an expanded shopping area, new display cases and refrigeration across several departments, and updated administrative areas, employee breakrooms and customer restrooms. As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, H-E-B's average store remodel runs about $5 million, making the Las Palmas budget an unusually large commitment for a single location.

The building itself carries decades of West Side history. It opened in 1957 as a suburban department store for Joske's inside the Las Palmas Shopping Center, which debuted in 1956 as one of San Antonio's pioneering suburban retail hubs, per the Express-News. H-E-B converted the structure into a grocery store in 1982, and the exterior — including its palm trees and distinctive cylinder tower — has remained largely unchanged for more than four decades, according to MySA.

What Shoppers Will See Change

Per WOAI, the produce and floral departments will move to the front of the store, and the Meal Simple department will offer more grab-and-go options. A new Sushiya area will bring sushi, Asian grill items, and rice and noodle bowls to the store for the first time. The pharmacy will be expanded to accommodate more customers and will include two drive-thru lanes.

Curbside pickup is also getting an overhaul. The staging area will move closer to dedicated pickup parking spaces, a change WOAI reports is expected to open additional pickup time slots, reduce customer wait times, and help employees deliver groceries more quickly. The storefront itself will be refreshed with new entryways designed to complement the building's original architectural style, H-E-B said, according to WOAI.

“The investment reflects a commitment to create a welcoming store built with customers and community at heart,” Josh Sims said, per the station's report. Sims also said H-E-B will bring Las Palmas “a fresh look and updated shopping experience,” and H-E-B stated the investment reflects its continued commitment to the Las Palmas community, the same account notes.

Years of Community Pressure Preceded the Overhaul

The renovation follows years of local frustration. In 2023, residents in the surrounding Westwood Square neighborhood publicly raised concerns about expired produce, empty shelves and outdated infrastructure at the store, prompting coverage and community advocacy, according to KSAT, whose “Know My Neighborhood” series highlighted residents checking food dates and calling for equal store standards citywide.

Before launching the full-scale overhaul, H-E-B had already made smaller upgrades at the site. The grocer completed a $3.4 million interior remodel and resurfaced the parking lot in 2023, per the Express-News, and the recent parking lot work was aimed at improving traffic flow for both regular customers and curbside users, WOAI reports. A state regulatory permit filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in June 2025 initially registered the project's construction start date for January 2026, KSAT reported.

Part of a Broader Bexar County Expansion

The Las Palmas project fits into a wider pattern of investment for the San Antonio-based grocer, which operates more than 440 stores across Texas and Mexico, including over 50 in Bexar County and adjacent communities, according to the Express-News. H-E-B remains one of the nation's largest privately owned companies.

Even as it modernizes older urban stores like Las Palmas, H-E-B has been building large new suburban prototypes elsewhere in the city. In July, the company began construction on a new 125,000-square-foot store near Converse at I-10 and 1604 East, slated to open in late 2026 with more than 400 employees and its own True Texas BBQ restaurant, according to The Shelby Report. Earlier this year, H-E-B also opened a nearly 127,000-square-foot flagship store near UTSA's main campus on the Far West Side, creating more than 425 jobs, per the Express-News.

The renovation also lands amid other reinvestment along the same Castroville Road corridor. In 2024, Hoodline reported on funding secured for the nearby Las Palmas Branch Library, which received $385,000 in renovation funds, including a $250,000 grant from the H-E-B Foundation for a new 2,000-square-foot community space, as part of the library's broader $6.4 million transformation.

H-E-B said it expects to share additional project updates as construction continues, according to WOAI. For now, the Las Palmas store remains open to shoppers while the multi-year renovation unfolds around them.