scott mcclellandPRESIDENT H-E-B HOUSTON

If I didn’t recognize Scott McClelland as the President of H-E-B from the TV commercials, he could easily be mistaken for just about any H-E-B team member. He’s dressed the same as everyone throughout the store and proudly displaying his name tag showcasing his 21 years of employment with the company.  But McClelland is in fact the President of H-E-B’s Houston Division and his leadership and influence becomes apparent the moment he begins speaking. Scott joined H-E-B in 1990 as Vice President of Operations. After transferring to corporate headquarters in San Antonio in 1991, Scott held several leadership positions for the company including Vice President of General Merchandise and Group Vice President, Drug Store. In 1995 he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Marketing followed by being named Chief Marketing Officer in 2000. Scott’s responsibilities expanded to include Central Market in 2001, and in 2003 he moved to Houston and was named President of the division. He’s an active member of the community as a board member of the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Food Bank and Memorial Hermann Hospital Systems. He also spearheaded Houston’s Super Bowl of Caring Food Drive, which is now the largest in the state and annually collects 3 million pounds of food for Houston’s hungry.

Where were you raised?
I was raised in Southern California. My dad was in the laundry business in Watts. I grew up pressing pants. I went to USC as well.

How did you get into the grocery business?
I worked for Frito-Lay for 10 years and during that time I’d moved 8 times. I found myself in Toronto and the next move was either to Istanbul or Delhi. A friend introduced me to Charles Butt, HEB’s founder, and I got a position in Operations.

What are some of the changes you’ve seen in the grocery business? 
For one its competition – which is good because it forces you to get better. There’s also a life cycle for ideas so there will always be change. It used to be Chinese food in grocery stores, now Sushi has become big. In fact, we sell more sushi in our stores then we do bananas or diapers.

What’s the biggest challenge you face?
Number one is ensuring that we properly train the new staff for the seven new stores that we’re opening before the end of the year and the five more we will open next year. They’re essential to our success. Additionally, we need to make sure that the existing stores from which we’ve recruited these people remain at the highest level of service.

How did you decide to appear in the H-E-B commercials?
We determined that there wasn’t a true “hometown” grocer. That’s what H-E-B really is, a hometown grocer. Sending that message to the community is important. Plus, I’m a bit of a ham and enjoy it immensely.
What do you hear most often from people who recognize you from TV?
The first thing is, “When are you going to put a store closer to me?” After that, I really get a lot of stories about experiences with H-E-B employees, which I love hearing about, and then I often get asked where to find things in the store.

What’s your management style?
Not sure it’s a style but we use a term called “No JIMS,”  No Jerks in Management. We care more about the hourly employees than Senior Management. They’re the ones on the front lines, interacting with the customers. We want our people to truly like what they do and care about what they do and how they do it.

 How do you approach the competition?
We differentiate ourselves. For instance, there’s talk about competing on price with places like Costco or Wal-Mart; well, we specifically carry different items and a wider variety of items in our stores. Wal-Mart can’t be underpriced if they don’t carry it! This way, we can match their pricing on the items that we do both carry.
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken?
Our Kitchen Connection program. We’ve had to employ full-time chefs, build complete kitchens in our stores, and it’s a big risk, but one that I’m proud of. We use this program to talk to and teach people about new foods, products and ingredients. Curry is a great example. Many people just think they don’t like curry, but in fact haven’t actually tried it. We used curry in this program and ended up selling more curry in one week than we did the entire year before.

What’s in your grocery cart?
A lot of organic vegetables. Things like shaved brussels sprouts. Salads are such a concoction today, it’s no longer lettuce, tomato, dressing, so I’m always adding new items to salads, various proteins, curry sauces.

Greg Scheinman is an Associate at Insgroup Inc., the 4th largest independent insurance agency in Houston. Greg also plays host to some of Houston’s most influential CEOs, entrepreneurs and risk-takers on his PBS television talk show, Profile with Greg Scheinman, which airs Thursdays at 10:30pm on Houston PBS Ch.8 (gscheinman@insgroup.net). 

Photography by Gabriella Nissen

neil bremmer &  lee neathery
co-owners bike barn

Eight years ago close friends Neil Bremmer and Lee Neathery did what many of us only hope to do: they quit their jobs in corporate America and made their love of cycling their full-time business by acquiring Bike Barn. Since that time the two have proved that they have a winning combination of business experience and passion for cycling. They have grown the business to six locations including the beautiful new West University location on Weslayan, started a weekend ride program, been vocal advocates for all things biking and supported many organizations and events throughout Houston. PROFILE with Greg Scheinman sat down with the compelling duo at their Heights warehouse to learn more about their business and the evolution of the Bike Barn brand. Here are some excerpts from what turned into a lengthy and enjoyable conversation.

How did the opportunity to purchase Bike Barn first come up?
Lee:  I found about it from a friend. It seemed so attractive to me. Bike Barn has been around for 30 years. I told Neil about it; at the time we both had our careers at big companies but felt it was a good opportunity and that we could grow it. At first we just went into the stores, kind of undercover and shopped, talked to employees, looked around and had a great experience. Neil: We did what so many entrepreneurs do and put everything we had into this; friends, family helped and we were fortunate to get the company.

It’s one thing to have a passion for cycling, it’s another to run a bike store. What made you believe that you could do it and combine the two?

Neil:  While we were green to the bike business, we had significant business experience. I was a VP of Marketing and Lee was a Chief Investment Officer and operations specialist so we complement each other well. Every business has its own unspoken culture and rules that you don’t really know until you get inside and learn, but we’ve adapted and been fortunate to have great people and grow. We always treat it as a business first and passion second, but, yes, we’ve been creative about combining the two. We set up monthly rides that are a great way to be out there with others who enjoy cycling or are just getting into cycling and spend time with our customers.

Bike Barn is very active in the community; tell me about some of the events and organizations that you’re involved with.

Lee:  We’re involved with 50-75 different rides & events each year. Of course there’s the MS 150, which ironically none of our employees can ride in because we’re too busy working. The Tour de Pink for Breast Cancer, Bike around the Bay, Tour Du Rouge and others. I think our biggest legacy to date, if we just fell off the planet tomorrow, is that there are more than a dozen teams that we’re involved with at all levels, beginners and experts, and just bringing more people into the healthy, fit lifestyle is something we’re very proud of.
You’ve really done a tremendous job of building the Bike Barn brand. How have you made the Bike Barn name really stand for something?

Neil:  We tell our employees that it’s not whether everyone who walks thru our door buys a bike from us; it’s what they think of us when they leave that really counts. We want people to think that we’re the best, most knowledgeable and passionate about cycling.  What we care about is people getting on bikes and riding. Once you’re out and riding, you’ll become a customer. We also do this without being intimidating. We enjoy sharing and talking about bikes. Our employees are well trained and as passionate as we are and because of that the customer experience is positive and they tell their friends.

You’ve implemented some new programs that benefit both customers and employees. Can you describe a few?

Lee:  We’ve expanded our rental program for one, and that’s been very successful. It includes not just bikes but the tri market as well, like wetsuits. Our kids’ trade-up program is something we’re proud of as you can trade in your kid’s bike and receive credit towards a new bike as your child grows. We donate those used kids bikes to charity as well.  Neil:  We have an employee demo program where we give each employee a new bike to demo each year. They get to try and learn about a new bike, and they’re also encouraged to ride to work as we have a pay-to-ride program where they get money for each mile they log commuting to work.  Lee: Also our custom fit studio is a place where you can get properly fitted for your bike.
What’s next for you and Bike Barn?Lee:  We’re going to continue to grow the business. It’s growth that you work for, not explosive but consistent.Neil:  Houston is really beginning to see the value in connectivity trails so we’re working with Bike Houston to get the money allocated for more trails and the use of utility paths for cyclists. At the end of the day it’s about more people enjoying cycling.