Hispanic Grocery: Customizing the Merchandise Assortment to the Neighborhood

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!  In our previous Cinco de Mayo analysis in The Anchor, we took a deep dive into Hispanic grocery stores such as Vallarta Supermarkets, Northgate Gonzalez, and others who are bringing specialty departments like tortilleria or cremeria to an increasingly diverse American population. Now let’s turn our eyes to Houston, where Kroger has recently revamped a store to cater to its area’s majority Hispanic population. While this neighborhood concept store has many features of a traditional Kroger, like a Starbucks or pharmacy, it is also leaning towards amenities for a bicultural population, such as Spanish-English signage, an increase in Hispanic products, as well as conveniences like ceviche, 17 varieties of fresh-cut queso, house-made tortillas, and pre-seasoned meats. The bar de jugos features fresh squeezed juices, as well as cut fruits that can be seasoned with chamoy and tajin. H-E-B has an existing Hispanic concept store called Mi Tienda, one of which is not too far from this recent Kroger revamp.  Also in the mix is La Michoacana, the largest Hispanic grocery chain in Texas.

Examining three locations in Houston, we see that the Kroger at S Sam Houston Parkway already has an existing trade area that is majority Hispanic. Mi Tienda has the highest proportion of Hispanics in the trade area, at nearly 80%.

In comparing year-over-year variance, both Mi Tienda and La Michoacana have seen growth most months over the past 12 months.  The Kroger location has seen mild dips, although Aug 2023 was up +2.3% over last year.  With the new strategy and offerings that launched in September, we’ll see if traffic continues to increase.

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