Central Market is an American

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

grocery store chain owned by H-E-B Grocery Company, based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Most locations also have a full-service

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

, offer cooking and wine classes in their

culinary school A cooking school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of cooking and food preparation. There are many different types of cooking schools around the world, some devoted to training professional chefs, others aimed at amat ...

, and offer

catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

services. The chain has ten locations, all in Texas. Central Market was named "Outstanding Specialty Food Retailer" by ''Specialty Food Magazine'' and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade."Central Market wins national honor"
, ''San Antonio Express-News'', June 11, 2007.

History

The original store opened in 1994 in the Central Park Shopping Center on North Lamar Boulevard in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. It was not long before H-E-B Grocery Company expanded the chain to

Alamo Heights Alamo Heights is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States, that is surrounded by the city of San Antonio. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Alamo Heights was 7,357. It is part of the Greater San Antonio metropolitan area. ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The chain's second store opened in 1997 in a converted H-E-B on Broadway in the

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

area (in the

city limits). Two years later, a third store was opened on South Lamar in Austin. Fort Worth and Houston were introduced to the chain for the first time in 2001, with stores on West Freeway and Westheimer, respectively; the latter was on the former site of Fox owned-and-operated television station KRIV. Central Market's sixth and seventh stores opened in 2002 on East Lovers Lane in Dallas and Coit Road in Plano. Continuing its Dallas/Fort Worth area expansion, an eighth store opened at The Shops of Southlake in Southlake on December 6, 2006, and another store opened at Preston Road and Royal Lane in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas on February 15, 2012. Their latest store opened on September 5, 2018, Dallas, Texas' 3rd store, located at Midway Road and Northwest Highway.

Central Market specialties

Central Market is known for its ''Café on the Run''. The chain also carries a line of exclusive organic products called ''Central Market Organics''. The product line includes organic or all-natural items ranging from commodities such as milk and eggs to pasta sauce and cookie dough. Central Market deliberately limits floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products, and chef-prepared items. The produce section stocks items such as crab-apples, Meyer lemons, sweet limes, and pink lemons that are hard to find at other stores. The limited space for packaged products is devoted primarily to items that cannot be found at other supermarkets. Other aisles follow the same pattern with an emphasis on local, imported, organic, and gourmet brands rather than standard supermarket products. Central Market also offers a wide variety of sushi which is made in house by sushi chefs. The company that provides the sushi is called Yummi Sushi based out of Farmers Branch, Texas.

Live music

As appropriate for a store that first began in Austin, the self-styled "Live Music Capital of the World", most Central Market locations feature a patio with live music on several nights each week.

References

External links

Official site
{{Supermarkets of the United States Retail companies established in 1994 Companies based in San Antonio Organic food retail organizations Privately held companies based in Texas Supermarkets of the United States 1994 establishments in Texas Supermarkets based in Texas