Ruben Espronceda, left, chairman of The S.O.S Group, signs up residents who want the H-E-B at 2701 S. Presa St. to remain open. The S.O.S. Group organized a town hall meeting at Roosevelt Community Center on June 10. Photo by Noi Mahoney

Henry Deleon said he has lived near South Presa Street all his life. He’s old enough to remember the grand opening of the H-E-B at 2701 S. Presa St. in 1950.  

“I’ll never forget it, it was a beautiful event,” said Deleon, 70. “The first heartbreak of my life was when the house I grew up in was taken by the city so (State Highway) 281 could be built. Now, they want to close my H-E-B. I’m 70. I don’t know how much longer I’ll survive. I will do everything I can to save my store.”

Deleon and around 300 other residents gathered at Roosevelt Community Center on June 10, fighting to keep the H-E-B from closing permanently on July 31. The S.O.S. Group (Save Our Store) and several neighborhood associations organized the meeting to get public input about the future of H-E-B store No. 6 at 2701 S. Presa St.

San Antonio-based H-E-B supermarkets announced it would be shutting down the South Presa Street store by July 31. The closure is in advance of opening its new H-E-B Plus! at the old McCreless Mall two miles away. The new 142,000-square-foot McCreless Market will open Aug 1.

But many local residents are senior citizens who say they walk to the South Presa Street H-E-B. Other neighbors insist the McCreless H-E-B is too far away.

“I don’t need that H-E-B Plus!, I don’t need all that fancy stuff they sell there,” said Gregoria Cortez. “I have been going to the H-E-B (on South Presa Street) for 39 years. I know where everything is."

Officials at H-E-B said they will keep to the announced schedule, and H-E-B store No. 6 will still close July 31.  “There is no change in plans,” said H-E-B spokeswoman Lacy Moy.

Moy noted that H-E-B has partnered with VIA Metropolitan Transit to provide free shuttle service to McCreless Market. The free shuttle would be for residents within a one-mile radius of the South Presa Street location

Moy said H-E-B will provide a VIA bus pickup at H-E-B store No. 6 starting July 31, as well as another location nearby.

“VIA bus line No. 34 down St. Mary’s Street is a straight route, and VIA bus line No. 36 would have one transfer,” Moy said.

Moy also said once H-E-B does not plan to abandon the building.  “We own it and will retain it as administrative offices,” she said. “We wouldn’t leave it behind as a potential site for crime.”

Ruben Espronceda, chairman of the S.O.S. Group, told the 300 people  attending the Roosevelt Community Center rally that the fight is not over.

“H-E-B wants to close the store, I say ‘not yet’,” Espronceda said. “That’s why we are here tonight.”

The S.O.S Group has organized a letter-writing campaign to H-E-B founder Charles E. Butt that has garnered 800 submissions, Espronceda said.

“We’ll hand-deliver those letters to H-E-B headquarters (646 S. Main Ave.),” Espronceda said. “If H-E-B still doesn’t want to talk, there are other things we are planning.”

He added the group has discussed staging protests in front of H-E-B corporate headquarters, and possibly calling for a boycott of H-E-B stores.

City District 3 Councilwoman Jennifer V. Ramos and District 5 Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan attended the residents’ meeting.

“We are here to support the community, (and agree) that store is vital to the community,” Galvan said. “We think this H-E-B can survive, because it has survived for so long.”

Galvan said she would propose a resolution at City Council requesting the companyt explore ways to keep H-E-B store No. 6 open.

Neighborhood associations attending the meeting included Roosevelt Avenue, King William, Highland Hills, Lavaca, The Fields of the Missions/ Labores de las Misiones and the Downtown Residents Association.