We all know San Antonio is a town on the make with some of the fastest-growing businesses around. Here are just a few regionally and nationally acclaimed companies born right here in the Alamo City.
H-E-B
- The original H-E-B was started just outside of San Antonio by Florence Butt in 1905 with a $60 investment.
- Her son, Howard E. Butt, took over management in 1919.
- Today there are 340 H-E-B stores in the United States, all in Texas.
- The company saw a $46.5 billion revenue in 2024.
USAA
- The financial institution serves all 50 states and was founded in 1922 by 25 Army officers in San Antonio.
- They launched an innovative membership-owned structure focused on serving the military community.
- The company serves 14 million members + saw $48.6 billion in revenue in 2024.
Valero Energy Corporation
- Valero set up headquarters in San Antonio in 1980, commissioning its first full-scale refinery in 1984 in the Corpus Christi area.
- Today, the company is the single largest independent refiner in the world.
- It has 15 refineries, a throughput capacity of ~3.2 million barrels per day, and a reported 2024 revenue of $129.88 billion.
Church’s Chicken
- In 1952, George W. Church, Sr. opened the first “Church’s Fried Chicken To Go” at 111 S. Alamo St.
- The first Texas-based company to expand across the country, it operated 44 restaurants by 1968.
- Today, Church’s Chicken operates in 27 countries.
Taco Cabana
- This Tex-Mex icon was founded in San Antonio in 1978 by Felix Stehling, with the original location converted from a former Dairy Queen.
- The company went public in 1992.
- Today, there are 144 Taco Cabana restaurants in Texas.
- The company was sold to Yadav Enterprises affiliate in 2021, so it’s privately owned today — but its last reported revenue for 2022 was $268.4 million.
Even the companies are bigger in Texas.
