H-E-B’s Joe V Smart Shop opens first North Texas store in southern Dallas

Cars turned into a flooded parking lot at H-E-B’s first Joe V’s Smart Shop in North Texas this morning, where a local high school band performed to commemorate the store’s grand opening.

“Five,” the crowd chanted in anticipation for the doors to open. “Four, three, two, one!”

Customers streamed into the store from a line that spanned down the location’s side and into a walkway at the Wheatland Village shopping center.

The opening of Joe V’s in southern Dallas marks the first entry into the D-FW market for H-E-B’s low-cost brand, less than two years after the San Antonio-based grocer entered North Texas and sought to conquer the last remaining major metropolitan market in the state where it doesn’t have a foothold. The chain is advertised as offering a “price-conscious shopping experience” and has existing locations in the Houston area. H-E-B continues to add stores in Dallas-Fort Worth, and Joe V’s will be one of its brand varieties.

Michelle Harris, 65, had been curious about the store.

“I wanted something different, and I wanted something that was affordable,” the DeSoto resident said.

For Veronica Ochoa, 39, the store brought a change of pace.

“We don’t have an H-E-B, and it’s a sister company,” said Ochoa, who lives five minutes away from the location.

And for Graciela Rubil, the store made H-E-B a little more accessible.

“I traveled to Waxahachie to go to H-E-B,” Rubil said. “So now I’m happy that Joe V’s is here.”

Roxanne Orsak, H-E-B’s chief operating officer, said the location in southern Dallas was “ideal” as the company mapped out new locations in D-FW. Most of H-E-B’s flagship store locations are — and will be — in North Dallas.

Southern Dallas has struggled in the past with food insecurity and a lack of affordable food options. The Joe V’s Smart Shop does not sit in a USDA food desert, but it is close to areas that have been defined as food deserts in the past. Other grocery stores near the Joe V’s include a WinCo foods on S. Cockrell Hill Road and the members-only Sam’s Club and Costco.

The new 55,000-square-foot location is about half the size of the typical H-E-B, and customers bag items themselves. The brand also buys produce by the truckload, which is meant to help keep prices down. Milk retails at $2.57 a gallon, watermelons retail at $1.97 each and bananas retail at three pounds for $1. Customers can also get a “Bundle Box” meant to fulfill five nights of meals for $20.

Items will be replenished regularly, Orsak said.

“There’s constantly, seven days, trucks coming,” she said. “In fact, some days we’ll get two produce loads because we’re selling so much produce.”

Much of the produce also caters to the significant Latino population in southern Dallas — nearby, the City of Duncanville was 42.1% Hispanic per last year’s Census estimates. Eight fresh-baked bolillos, a type of Mexican dinner roll, retail for $1, and the store is stocked with Latino produce along with tortillas and beans.

The store employs about 250 people, according to Justin Tippett, chief operating officer of Joe V’s Smart Shop.

“Eighty-five to 90% of the partners were hired and live in the surrounding community,” the H-E-B veteran added.

H-E-B is slated to open one of its flagship stores in Mansfield on June 26 and will break ground on a new location in Rockwall the same week. Work has also started on another Joe V’s Smart Shop on South Buckner Boulevard in Dallas, which is expected to open early next year, per a news release.

The newly-opened Joe V’s storefront sits at 4101 W. Wheatland Road in Dallas.

X: @umaxbhat

Looking for more retail coverage? Click here to read all retail news and updates. Click here to subscribe to D-FW Retail and more newsletters from The Dallas Morning News.