H-E-B opens first Joe V's Smart Shop in South Dallas "food desert"

NORTH TEXAS – South Dallas is getting a brand new – much needed – grocery store.

Joe V's Smart Shop, part of the H-E-B family of stores, is located at Highway 67 and Wheatland Road. It's the first of its kind H-E-B store in North Texas.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday drew local city and business leaders to celebrate under shower of confetti.

To understand the excitement around the opening of the store, you have to understand what it once was.

A building that's sat vacant in a strip mall of small shops, it's at the edge of an area that the US Department of Agriculture has deemed a food desert, where access to grocery stores is limited and more than 10% of households don't have a care to be able to easily drive to one.

"I'll be right here at 7:30 in the morning!" said Joyce Marie Barnes, who lives nearby. "It's convenient for all of us that live in the area. We don't have to go way across town."

Joe V's Smart Shop is H-E-B's bargain brand of stores, where the company says you'll find it's absolute lowest prices. That's not just attractive for the local community, it says.

"We can pull customers in from as many as 20 miles to come shop here because our prices," said H-E-B Chief Operating Officer, Roxanne Orsak.

At the salon next door, barber Charles Battle is excited.

"It's gonna bust from the seams. I have a feeling it's going to be very busy," he said.

He's hoping that success will lift up the entire community.

"A lot of the businesses are excited 'cause they think it's gonna bring them business as well," he said.

And, he knows, where he'll be getting groceries from now on.

"I can leave here and go shopping," he said.

The store officially opens to the public at 7am this Wednesday.

A second location is expected next year near Buckner Boulevard and Samuell Street.