Charles C. Butt, his wife Florence (Thornton), and their children moved from Memphis, Tennessee, to San Antonio in 1904 and then to Kerrville the next year, where Florence invested $60 to open the C. C. Butt Grocery Store on November 26, 1905, with the store on the first floor of a Main Street building and the family living above. Their youngest son, Howard E. Butt, began in the family business by delivering groceries first in a baby carriage, then in a little red wagon, and later by horse and buggy, and he managed the store while finishing school, graduating as valedictorian of Tivy High School in 1914. After serving in World War I, Howard E. Butt took over store operations, and his vision led to broad growth. In 1921, he adopted a cash-and-carry system instead of the traditional credit-and-delivery method. Early efforts to expand in the Hill Country failed, but the business successfully added locations in the Rio Grande Valley as the H. E. Butt Grocery Company, moving its headquarters to Harlingen and later Corpus Christi. In 1936, the company acquired the Harlingen Canning Company to provide “Texas-grown, Texas-packed goods.” During the 1930s and 1940s, H-E-B opened stores in the larger cities of Corpus Christi, Austin, and San Antonio. Howard E. Butt, Sr., followed a personal credo, “he profits most who serves best,” and, following his mother’s example, he and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Holdsworth) Butt took part in philanthropic giving and charitable activities across Texas. Headquartered in San Antonio since 1985, H-E-B became one of the largest privately held companies in the United States and the largest private employer in Texas.