Limited-edition H-E-B metal tee-shirts sell out within minutes, proceeds benefitting HAAM

AUSTIN (KXAN) — America’s favorite grocery store has gone hardcore, and for a good cause.

H-E-B brought a concept for a metal-inspired T-shirt design to life Friday, and it sold out in minutes.

The design for the shirts went viral on social media over the summer. Graphic designer Connor Dwyer came up with the concept, as part of a series of videos he made in which he designed metal tees for different grocery stores, until one of the stores agreed to a real collaboration.

And what better store to take Dwyer up on the offer than the top U.S. grocer H-E-B. The Texas-based grocer is headquartered in San Antonio, a city that was once considered the “Heavy Metal Capital of the World.”

Dwyer first posted the conceptual designs on TikTok on July 27. The metal-inspired shirts featured the star of Texas and the H-E-B logo, as well as one of the store’s mottos, “here everyone belongs.”

H-E-B commented on that video on July 30, saying, “We’re OBSESSED.” On October 8, Dwyer announced that H-E-B had reached out about collaborating on the tees.

Then, earlier this week, he posted another video announcing the official, limited-edition merch drop.

Only 1,000 shirts were available. Priced at $35 each, 100% of the proceeds are going to Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM).

The shirts sold out within minutes of the sale going live on Friday morning.

Dwyer said H-E-B brought him to Texas from Tennessee and showed him around the store at South Congress and Oltorf Street in Austin, where he took notes for design inspiration.

Dwyer worked with H-E-B reps on the official design, which he said took elements from his previous design and added more Easter eggs unique to H-E-B.

Cultural significance of metal in Texas

While the shirt is objectively cool, it also has cultural significance.

Heavy metal has strong ties to Texas. According to Texas State University’s Journal of Texas Music History, for much of the 1970s and 1980s, San Antonio earned a reputation as the “Heavy Metal Capital of the World.” 

San Antonio and other Texas cities, such as Austin, Houston, and the DFW area, still boast robust metal, punk, and hardcore scenes.

Arlington is home to the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame Museum, and if you stand somewhere in Austin’s Red River Cultural District and throw a rock in any direction, you’re likely to hit a music venue (like Mohawk, the 13th Floor, Empire, or Elysium) that hosts metal, metal-adjacent, or rock shows regularly.