Question: How did the iconic Texas grocery chain H-E-B get its name?
Answer: It’s named after Howard Edward Butt, who began managing his mother’s Kerrville grocery delivery service in 1911 at the age of sixteen. After serving in the Navy during World War I, he returned to Kerrville to manage the grocery business, which he unsuccessfully tried to expand. In 1926, he opened a store in Del Rio and later established a presence in the Rio Grande Valley, where he branded his stores as H. E. Butt Grocery Company. He changed the name to H-E-B in 1946. By 1960, H-E-B was the leading food retailer in South and Central Texas.
