By George Anderson
H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is celebrating its first 100 years in business and making plans to be sure the company will be around for another hundred.
The San Antonio, Tex.-based supermarket chain has begun implementing a new strategy in recent years rolling out its larger H-E-B Plus store concept with added emphasis on non-foods, expanding its presence in Mexico and building its private label.
To focus the organization on its path to future growth, H.E. Butt brought in Craig Boyan from the Monitor Group in Boston to serve as the grocer's first chief strategic officer. The Monitor Group, reports the San Antonio Express-News, helped H.E. Butt develop the H-E-B Plus concept.
The chairman of H.E. Butt, Charles C. Butt, said that the company's growth required that it bring in someone with Mr. Boyan's talents and experience to help him and chief operating officer Bob Loeffler meet the organization's needs.
"For a company our size, we do have complexity with our sizable food manufacturing activity, our private brands, our Mexico activity, real estate, the needs in our stores, and Central Market is another aspect," he told the Express-News.
Moderator's Comment: What is your assessment of H.E. Butt's strategy for growth?
The grocer has clearly come to the conclusion that bigger is better when going up against the likes of Wal-Mart's Supercenters, which explains the company's emphasis on the H-E-B Plus format.
Interestingly, it appears as though the retailer is backing off some from its Central Market concept, preferring to bring products sold in that format into its traditional H-E-B and new H-E-B Plus stores instead. - George Anderson - Moderator