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Central Market (Texas)
Encyclopedia
Gourmet
Gourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses...
grocery store chain owned by San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
-based H-E-B Grocery Company
H-E-B
HEB Grocery Company, LP is a privately held San Antonio, Texas-based supermarket chain with more than 315 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an upscale organic and fine foods retailer.H-E-B ranked No...
. It specializes in high-quality, hard-to-find gourmet foods. Most locations also have a full-service kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
, offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and offer catering
Catering
Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...
services. Each store is more than 75000 square feet (6,967.7 m²). In December 2007, it had eight locations, all in Texas. The newest store in Southlake
Southlake, Texas
Southlake is a city in northeast Tarrant and southeast Denton counties, Texas. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 26,575. A suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas, Southlake is known for exemplary public schools, Southlake Town Square, and Carroll High School's 7-time state champion football...
features less square footage. Central Market was named "Outstanding Specialty Food Retailer" by Specialty Food Magazine and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade.
History
The original store opened in 1994 in the Central Park Shopping Center on North Lamar in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, two years after its competitor Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...
went public. A popular following began immediately after the store opened. Many Texas foodie
Foodie
Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr, who used it in the title of their 1984 book The Official Foodie Handbook.- Distinguished from gourmet :...
s were attracted to the store's offerings and were willing to travel from other cities just to shop in the store. Beyond supplying hard-to-find products, Central Market's highly trained staff are knowledgeable about all things epicurean.
It was not long before H-E-B Grocery Company expanded the chain to the San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
area (the store is located in Alamo Heights
Alamo Heights, Texas
Alamo Heights is an incorporated town that is completely surrounded by the City of San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census, this town's population was just 7,319, and 7,477 by 2009. However, its location as an enclave in San Antonio causes it to be a part of the...
), Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The chain's second store opened in 1997 in a converted H-E-B on Broadway in the San Antonio area (in the Alamo Heights
Alamo Heights, Texas
Alamo Heights is an incorporated town that is completely surrounded by the City of San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census, this town's population was just 7,319, and 7,477 by 2009. However, its location as an enclave in San Antonio causes it to be a part of the...
city limits). Two years later, a third store was opened on South Lamar in Austin. Fort Worth and Houston were introduced to the chain for the first time in 2001, with stores on West Freeway and Westheimer, respectively. Central Market's sixth and seventh stores opened in 2002 on East Lovers Lane in Dallas and Coit Road in Plano
Plano, Texas
Plano is a city in the state of Texas, located mostly within Collin County. The city's population was 259,841 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Texas and the 71st most populous city in the United States. Plano is located within the metropolitan area commonly referred to as...
. Continuing its Dallas-area expansion, an eighth store opened at The Shops of Southlake in Southlake
Southlake, Texas
Southlake is a city in northeast Tarrant and southeast Denton counties, Texas. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 26,575. A suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas, Southlake is known for exemplary public schools, Southlake Town Square, and Carroll High School's 7-time state champion football...
on December 6, 2006.
According to a 2000 article in the Houston Business Journal, "The two Central Market stores in Austin have become a tourist attraction of sorts, drawing in more than 1.5 million visitors a year, second only to the state Capitol
Texas State Capitol
The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...
in terms of Austin tourist attractions."
Central Market specialties
Central Market is known for its Café on the Run, which includes several featured areas intended to give customers the most extensive selection of options for fresh, convenient meals. The chain also carries a line of exclusive organicOrganic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
products called Central Market Organics. The product line includes organic or all-natural items ranging from commodities such as milk and eggs to pasta sauce and cookie dough.
Central Market deliberately limits floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products, and chef-prepared items. The produce section stocks items such as crabapples, meyer lemons, sweet limes, and pink lemons that are hard to find at other stores. The limited space for packaged products is devoted primarily to items that cannot be found at other supermarkets. Other aisles follow the same pattern with an emphasis on local, imported, organic, and gourmet brands rather than standard supermarket products. Central Market also offers a a wide variety of sushi which is made in house by sushi chefs. The company that provides the sushi is called Sushi Avenue Inc. based out of Eagan,Mn.
Live music
Similar stores
Town and Country Markets operates three stores under the Central Market name in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. Town and Country Markets opened its first Central Market in Poulsbo, WashingtonPoulsbo, Washington
Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the fourth largest city in Kitsap County and one of the main suburbs of Seattle in the Kitsap area. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census....
, in 1995, a year after H-E-B opened its first Central Market in Austin. Town and Country also operates stores under the Town and Country Markets name in Seattle and on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In 2000, it remodelled its Shoreline Thriftway into another Central Market, and in 2004, it opened a third Central Market store in Mill Creek. The chain plans to open a fourth Central Market store in Issaquah but the projected opening has been pushed back from 2010 to 2011 due to economic conditions.
The Town and Country Central Market stores follow a similar concept to the H-E-B Central Market stores but are slightly smaller. From the outside, their architecture resembles the H-E-B Central Markets, including a faux silo. On the inside, the layout is very similar, with many of the features found in H-E-B Central Markets including expanded produce, meat and seafood departments. The selection of packaged products is much more conventional than that found at H-E-B Central Markets, featuring mostly standard supermarket products with some gourmet items mixed in. The Town and Country stores do not offer cooking classes.