DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and friend, this one starts with sixty dollars and ends with the whole state of Texas. Now, in 1904, Charles C. Butt packed up his wife Florence — she was a Thornton before she married — and their children, and they made the move from Memphis, Tennessee, all the way down to San Antonio.
But San Antonio didn't hold them long. The very next year, the family landed in Kerrville, and that's where Florence Butt did something that deserves to be said slowly. She took sixty dollars — sixty dollars — and on November 26, 1905, she opened the C.
C. Butt Grocery Store right there on Main Street. The store on the first floor, the family living right above it.
You couldn't get much closer to your work than that. Now the Butts had a youngest son. Howard E.
Butt. And this boy didn't wait around to find his calling. He started delivering groceries in a baby carriage.
Then a little red wagon. Then horse and buggy. While all that was going on, he was also finishing school — and not just scraping by, mind you.
Howard E. Butt graduated as valedictorian of Tivy High School in 1914. Valedictorian.
The boy who hauled groceries in a baby carriage stood at the top of his class. He went off and served in World War I, and when he came back, he took over store operations and brought something with him — a vision. In 1921, he threw out the old credit-and-delivery method that every other grocer was leaning on, and he put in a cash-and-carry system instead.
Bold move. The hill country didn't warm to expansion right away — early attempts to add stores out there failed — but Howard didn't quit. He pushed south, into the Rio Grande Valley, under the name H.
E. Butt Grocery Company. Headquarters moved to Harlingen.
Then on to Corpus Christi. In 1936, the company reached out and acquired the Harlingen canning company, so they could offer what the marker calls — and I love this — Texas-grown, Texas-packed goods. Then through the 1930s and 1940s, H-E-B planted flags in the bigger cities: Corpus Christi, Austin, San Antonio.
Howard E. Butt, Sr., carried a personal credo through all of it. Five words: he profits most who serves best.
And he meant it. Following his mother Florence's example, Howard and his wife Mary Elizabeth — she was a Holdsworth before she married — involved themselves in philanthropic giving and charitable activities all across the state of Texas. The company's headquarters have been in San Antonio since 1985.
Today, H-E-B stands as one of the largest privately held companies in the entire United States, and the largest private employer in Texas. Sixty dollars. A baby carriage.
And a woman named Florence who saw something nobody else could see yet. Not a bad trade.
What the marker says
Charles C. Butt, his wife, Florence (Thornton), and their children moved to San Antonio from Memphis, Tennessee, in 1904. The following year they moved to Kerrville, where Florence invested $60 to open the C. C. Butt Grocery Store on November 26, 1905. Located on Main Street, the store was on the first floor of the building and the family lived above. The youngest son, Howard E. Butt, started in the family business delivering groceries in a baby carriage, then a little red wagon, and later by horse and buggy. He managed the store while finishing school, graduating as valedictorian of Tivy High School in 1914. Taking over store operations after serving in World War I, Howard E. Butt’s vision for the company resulted in widespread growth. In 1921, he implemented a cash-and-carry system rather than the traditional credit and delivery method. Early attempts to add stores in the hill country failed, but the business successfully added locations in the Rio Grande Valley under the name H. E. Butt Grocery Company, moving headquarters to Harlingen and later Corpus Christi. In 1936, the company acquired the Harlingen canning company to provide “Texas-grown, Texas-packed goods.” In the 1930s and 1940s, H-E-B opened stores in the larger cities of Corpus Christi, Austin, and San Antonio. Howard E. Butt, Sr., had a personal credo, “he profits most who serves best,” and following his mother’s example, he and his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Holdsworth) Butt, involved themselves in philanthropic giving and charitable activities across the state of Texas. Headquartered in San Antonio since 1985, H-E-B is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States and the largest private employer in Texas.