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Austin-area grocery stores see hundreds line up around the block

Lines at the Seaholm Trader Joe's filed past nearby buildings.
People are flocking by the hundreds to newly-opened grocery stores around the city after stores limited their hours due to the winter storm.
H-E-B, which adjusted its hours noon-5 p.m. on Tuesday, among other grocery stores saw lines out the doors at most locations. On its website, H-E-B said store hours are subject to change at any time.
Check out the line at HEB Hancock Center, kinda crazy if you ask me #HEB#AustinTXpic.twitter.com/Mas8LSy1J8
— 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐘 💫 (@angelfknray) February 16, 2021
People are lining up in the below-freezing temperatures to stock up on food, firewood and other goods with Austin Energy reporting residents may well be without power through Tuesday night, or later.
Hundreds of people in line at the grocery store right now in south Austin @HEBpic.twitter.com/0fnDAfnfDS
— Alex Pritchett (@alexpritchett) February 16, 2021
Later into the day, lines and waits became significantly shorter. At Central Market on 4001 N. Lamar Blvd., around 3 p.m. there were 105 people in line and wait times to get in the store were down to just 15-20 minutes.
Chris Turner and Natasha Szuja had been without power for several hours when they decided to walk to the store to avoid driving on slippery roads. They only waited in line for 15 minutes. The pair said they used up all their food the day before since they hadn't been able to prepare for the outage.
"We're a little chilly—we weren't planning on losing power," Szuja said. "We're just a little nervous about how much longer this is going to go on."
However, those who got to grocery stores later after opening are likely to get a much worse selection of goods with shelves emptying quickly, harkening back to almost a year ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Waited an hour in line to get into the grocery store and this lovely sight greeted me...no fruit or vegetables at all. They did have beer, some meat, cheese and cookies, so it's all good. pic.twitter.com/S1L4jNsN1H
— JD Speer (@jdspeer) February 16, 2021
Most grocery stores have not set their hours for the week due to uncertain weather. Updates on H-E-B store hours can be found here.
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Popular
(Tesla)
Giga Texas, the massive Tesla factory in southeast Travis County is getting even bigger.
The company filed with the city of Austin this week to expand its headquarters with a new 500,000-square-foot building. The permit application notes “GA 2 and 3 expansion,” which indicates the company will make two general assembly lines in the building.
More details about the plans for the building are unclear. The gigafactory has been focused on Model Y production since it opened in April, but the company is also aiming for Cybertruck production to kick off in mid-2023.
While there is room for expansion on the 3.3 square miles of land Tesla has, this move comes after CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the state of the economy and its impact on Tesla.
In a May interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Musk said the gigafactories in Berlin and Austin are “gigantic money furnaces” and said Giga Texas had manufactured only a small number of cars.
And in June, Musk sent a company wide email saying Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10%, then later tweeted salaried headcount should be fairly flat.
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(Dullnig Ranch Sales)
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Got dreams of becoming a real Texas rancher? 7814 Brown Cemetery Rd. is the perfect place to start with 40 rolling acres of land and its very own swimming hole. Just east of Austin in Manor, the modest-on-the-outside home clocks at 4,412 square feet with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, but there are an additional two living structures on the property. The horseshoe-shaped pond sits in the heart of the property and comes equipped with a water slide, diving board and a fishing dock.