Central Market
An upscale Texas grocery chain owned by H-E-B, offering specialty and gourmet foods, artisan cheeses, wine and in-store cooking classes across ten locations.
Central Market is an upscale American grocery chain owned by H-E-B, the Texas-based retailer. Founded in Austin in 1994, the company has grown to ten locations across Texas. It sells high-quality, specialty and gourmet food products aimed at food enthusiasts, with departments that go well beyond those of a conventional supermarket.
The range is broad. Stores carry hundreds of artisan cheeses and thousands of wines, alongside acres of fresh produce sourced from around the world, plus curated gourmet and specialty items. Cooking classes are offered in-store as part of the shopping experience. Staff are organised into departments and are expected to be experts in their area, a point the company treats as central to how it serves customers.
Central Market states that its founding principles are a dedication to quality and service and a passion for food, and that it values food as a way to unite families, preserve cultures and create traditions. The company is active in community investment, supporting education and literacy, hunger relief, health initiatives, social services, environmental programmes, diversity efforts and disaster relief. It operates as part of H-E-B.