<p> H-E-B’s so-called seventy-year old “store of tomorrow” is receiving a 21st century makeover. The supermarket, which first opened in 1945, is being torn down to make way for the latest grocery innovations fit for the future, including two levels of retail space and three times the space for merchandise.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/hl_heb_feb_5_2014_body01.jpg" alt="Images 020514" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">(Store images courtesy of Texas Public Radio/H-E-B)<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> The new store will be equipped with escalators to transport customers and their shopping carts up and down each floor and to a parking area below, according to Texas Public Radio. “Escalators in grocery stores are becoming more prevalent in more urban areas,” said Dya Campos, H-E-B spokeswoman. “It’s something that we’ve researched extensively and use in a couple of stores in our Northern Mexico operations. But for the first time, we will bring this concept and this design to Texas and more specifically to San Antonio.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Although the company anticipates moving ahead with its plans to close down the old building to make way for its new upgrades, Sue Ann Pemberton, president of the San Antonio Conservation Society, says that the city must first review any building over 50 years old to decide if it should be protected. Granted, the building still retains a sense of its 1945 identity with its curved storefront and a tall pylon marquee, but it has since then received various modifications.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/hl_heb_feb_5_2014_body00.jpg" alt="Images 020514" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Currently, the retailer is planning to close the store in May and open again by this time next year.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://tpr.org/post/oldest-operating-h-e-b-coming-down-larger-modern-supermarket#.UvEgKu-IIXE.twitter" target="_new"> Texas Public Radio </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
