Residents of Fairfield and the surrounding area no longer have to drive down Hwy. 290 to find a grocery store since the 109,000-square-foot H-E-B Fairfield Market opens Nov. 14 at Mason Road and Hwy. 290.

"I'm sure many of you have lived here since Fairfield was the only thing here," said Cyndy Garza-Roberts, director of public affairs for H-E-B, during a sneak peek tour Nov. 13. "We received numerous calls because there was a big sign saying 'H-E-B Coming Soon.' We're here now, and we're thrilled to be here."

The Northwest Houston corridor has been good to H-E-B, said Richard Castillo, vice president of operations, as another Cy-Fair store opened last month at the corner of Jones and West roads.

"We're really excited to take that sign down and have this store to help relieve the Barker Cypress store," he said. "I know some of you all have trouble finding parking spaces there on the weekends."

The Fairfield Market store will have 742 parking spaces, Castillo said.

"Fairfield deserves a grocery store of this nature," said David Hamilton, the store's unit director. "The Barker Cypress store has served that area well, but it's time to serve this area, too. There's a lot of growth around here."

Although the store is located in Cypress, Hamilton said he expects customers could come from areas as far out as Brenham.

The new store has full-service meat, seafood and deli departments, a bakery, sushi bar, cheese shop, floral department, pharmacy and gas station. The meat market features Kobe, prime, organic and natural beef, along with veal, lamb and bison meat, while the deli offers Boar's Head premium meats, cheeses and rotisserie chickens. The seafood department offers wild and local fish, live lobster and fresh shrimp.

Additionally, from Nov. 14–18, interested shoppers can sign up for a raffle in which an 18-pound lobster will be given away. The lobster can feed four to 10 people and is valued at $750. The second and third place winners will receive $500 and $250 in gift cards, respectively.

Fairfield Market also has a Caf on the Run section with prepared foods and a seating area, a seasonal aisle and a beauty section, which offers a variety of makeup, hair care products, nail polish, straightening irons and perfume. The store will also host events such as cooking classes, floral art classes and wine classes.

The new store will be open daily from 6 a.m.–11 p.m.