H-E-B's Central Texas expansion is continuing, as the grocery chain has started work on a new 121,000-square-foot store in Georgetown.

The new store — at 1010 W. University Ave. in the Wolf Lakes Village neighborhood — will replace a 67,000-square-foot store at 1100 South Interstate 35 that opened 33 years ago.

The I-35 store will remain operational until the new location opens, the company said. H-E-B opened its first Georgetown store at 600 W. University in 1966. The 21,000-square-foot store remained in operation until 1989.

H-E-B currently operates two stores in Georgetown. The new store is expected to open in spring 2023.

“We are thrilled to bring a new H-E-B store to Georgetown, a growing community we’ve proudly been a part of for more than 55 years,” said Cathy Harm, H-E-B group vice president for Central Texas. “We look forward to serving this community with a larger store that offers a wide assortment of products and services."

More: H-E-B building store on former site of Nutty Brown Amphitheatre in Southwest Austin

Wolf Lakes Village is a 164-acre mixed-use project that broke ground last year. According to developers, the project is inspired by European design and will have multi-family homes and town-homes, retail, restaurants, hotels and corporate offices.

H-E-B said its new store will emulate the feel of a European village to fit into the fabric of the surrounding Wolf Lakes community. The store will feature a two-story True Texas BBQ restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. It will also include curbside and home delivery, a pharmacy with a two-lane drive-thru, a bakery and tortilleria and a gas station and car wash.

All H-E-B employees will be given the opportunity to transfer to the new location once it is complete, the company said. H-E-B plans to hire another 100 workers to staff the new store, bringing employment to more than 450 people.

Rapid growth in Austin area

San Antonio-based H-E-B has operated in Austin for more than 80 years and has long been the region's dominant grocer. Industry analysts estimate the company controls about 60% of the grocery market in Austin, a rarity in U.S. cities, where Walmart usually dominates sales.

H-E-B also building a 103,000-square-foot store at the former site of the Nutty Brown Amphitheater in Southwest Austin.

The grocery chain purchased the Nutty Brown property at Country Road 163 and Highway 290 in 2005. The store is scheduled to open in spring 2023.

Earlier this year, the company began the demolition and rebuilding of the H-E-B store at South Congress Avenue and Oltorf Street. The store at 2400 S. Congress Ave. opened in 1957 at 25,000 square feet.

H-E-B has opened a temporary store at the adjacent Twin Oaks shopping center during construction. The grocer has estimated that the new three-level, 145,000-square-foot store will take two years to complete.

H-E-B also has a store under construction on Lake Austin that is replacing a former Randalls location. The Lake Austin H-E-B will include a coffee shop, a pharmacy and a True Texas BBQ.

The grocer in 2020 opened a store at Slaughter Lane and South Congress Avenue, and it also has opened stores in the Oak Hill neighborhood and in Leander.

More: Grocery giant Kroger breaks into Austin market with e-commerce delivery service

H-E-B's Central Texas growth comes as Kroger Co., which doesn't have any stores in Austin, announced it will break into the local market with a new e-commerce delivery service.

Kroger, which is the country's largest grocery retailer, said it will build a 70,000-square-foot facility in Northeast Austin that will start operations this year. The site is expected to employ about 160 people, Kroger said.

H-E-B has invested heavily in the grocery delivery space after buying Austin-based delivery service Favor in 2018. Today, Favor has a network of tens of thousands of runners delivering restaurant meals, groceries and other purchases around the clock.

Austin-based Whole Foods Market also offers delivery services through its parent company Amazon.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: H-E-B starts work on new store as Austin-area expansion revs up