Bastrop HEB Closing Highlights Hunger Issue (TX grocery store)

The local HEB (grocery store) in Bastrop is back in business after spending the better part of a week cleaning up after a fire. In that time it revealed how few resources there are in rural areas for people looking for healthy groceries... "I mean you're going to have to drive 20 miles to another HEB."

My grandpa would step out the back porch and shoot a wild turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. I hated the smell of damp steamy feathers being plucked but it sure did smell good the next day in the roasting pan.

We also raised cattle so we always had a freezer full of beef. I was grown and my own, and nervous, when I first had to buy beef at the store.

Oh my, milk fresh from the cow with all the cream. Heaven.

Driving in this morning, I took the back road to scout out the easiest access to prickly pear fruit. It’s jelly making time. Put a bow on the jars and no need for Christmas shopping.

Excellent managers my foot. Ours constantly has empty shelves that look like something from third world countries. My grocery list is nothing beyond the bare basics and never gets filled more than halfway each shopping trip. It’s rare that another customer doesn’t ask if you really need 2 milks or 2 breads and can they have one because there are no more. The meat section only has 3-6 of cuts and only 3-4 packages of each so people just grab what’s there no matter the price. I have posted here many times about having to do what amounts to on the down low deals with “the meat guy” by the back door just to get whatever it was that was advertised. Then when I get to the check out, the cashiers and baggers look perplexed because they didn’t know they stocked that product. Most everything in the weekly ads aren’t ordered or the old excuse of “the truck didn’t come” is used. Or, real doozies like, “Yes ma’am, we’re getting four of the advertised tortillas on this afternoon’s truck... no, ma’am, not four cases but four packages.” Forget about national coupons because those products immediately get pulled off the shelves. Even HEB or Hill Country Fair brands are not on the shelves most of the time. I haven’t seen store brand pork ‘n beans in over 2 years. If cauliflower is on sale, it’s guaranteed there won’t be any that week and it’s probably for the best because it would be the reject produce from other stores.

HEB is a behemoth. They drive all competitors out of business, especially the Mom and Pop stores.

Enough about "mom and pops" stores already. Nobody wants to go back to them. The big chains are able to supply a diverse amount of goods at reasonable prices through their efficiencies and economy of scale.

People like to think "mom and pop" shops are Norman Rockwell. Like what they see on the Walton's TV show. Well it was never like that. When people used to rely on these stores, they had a crappy selection to choose from and paid a higher price.

Service wasn't all that great either. Chances were, you'd walk into one of those stores and the owner's 15-year-old kid would be out in the back reading comic books. The father would be in the aisles, stacking cans of tomato paste or something. The mother would be at the register doing a crossword puzzle and scowling at you the whole time.

If you needed something that you couldn't find, you'd get a laconic shrug of the shoulders and an "Ain't got that, gonna hafta special order it, I can have it here week from Thursday but you gonna hafta pay extra and all."

Good riddance all you mom and pops.

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