Property owned by HEB and In-N-Out Burger will not be building their establishments in South and West Lubbock anytime soon, according to the companies.
A representative from In-N-Out said while they do own property in Lubbock, they are “still in the very early stages of our development plans in West Texas.”
Meanwhile, HEB currently has no plans to build on their $2.3 million property, they said.
“They want a presence in the market. They want you to come in so they will buy up three, four locations whatever that presence is for them and whatever that demographic will hold and they will wait and then they will build it all up,” said David Powell a commercial real estate broker for The Powell Team.
It is possible In-N-Out is looking for other locations across West Texas and will build them all at once, according to Powell.
When developing a chain, it’s more economically feasible for a company to have multiple restaurants in an area so they can hire a general manager for the region and be worth the trip for distributors, said Powell.
However, the building anticipation could also help business, said Powell.
“So when it does come, it actually will be like ‘oh man, they are here, let’s go.’ So they are waiting on it and they are going to hit it hard. People wanting to try it out,” said Powell.
Customers are waiting patiently for the arrival of these famous chains.
“I’ve always shopped there (HEB) when we go toward the Abilene area. They got some good products and I’m excited about going there and seeing what it brings to Lubbock,” said David Flores, a local.
“I’m excited hoping that it will happen and annoyed because I don’t really know muh else about it,” said Mercedes Arriaga.