Hometown Glory

The top stores in America have a Texas bent: Lone Star State's prominent on 100 best list

The National Retail Federation's publication Stores Magazine has revealed the Top 100 Retailers of 2013 and Texas makes a strong showing. Eleven Lone Star State companies make the list, which was determined by 2012 sales, with one local business holding down a spot in the Top 25.

H-E-B, headquarters in San Antonio (No. 23) - The grocery store reported $18.2 billion sales last year, up 8.2 percent from 2011. H-E-B has more than 350 stores in Texas and Mexico and more than 80,000 employees. With 17,000 employees in the Houston-area alone, it's one of the largest private employers in the region. Who knows what kind of numbers 2013 will bring after the introduction of Whataburger's bottled "fancy" condiments and fry-flavored potato chips?

J.C. Penney, Plano HQ (No. 29) - The department store must have felt confident enough with its sales to drop Paula Deen's line of merchandise.

Whole Foods, Austin HQ (No. 35) - With any luck, the rising popularity of quinoa and gluten-free gummy bears will keep this grocery chain in the black.

7-Eleven, Dallas HQ (No. 37) - Thanks, Big Gulp.

Army Air Force Exchange, Dallas HQ (No. 43) – This government agency, which provides reduced-price merchandise on military bases, has been stirring up controversy lately.

AT&T Wireless, Dallas HQ (No. 54) – AT&T certainly raised the bar, with sales growing nearly 17 percent from the previous year — the fourth largest growth of any Top 100 company.

GameStop, Grapevine HQ (No. 68) – Optimists believe active, educational and humanitarian video games have the potential to be this year's big sellers.

Dell, Round Rock (No. 83) - Dell is one of only two online-only companies to make the list; the other is Amazon.com at No. 11. "In this digital age, it seems remarkable that bricks-and-mortar retailers have displayed such staying power," writes Stores reporter David Schulz. "Truth is, more than 15 years into the dot-com revolution, online transactions account for less than 15 percent of total retail sales."

Neiman Marcus, Dallas HQ (No. 84) - How will becoming a publicly traded company affect the luxury retailer?

Michaels Stores, Irving HQ (No. 88) - Nearly $4 billion is a lot of Mod Podge!

RadioShack, Fort Worth HQ (No. 98) - Really?

The Top 5 companies overall? Walmart, Kroger, Target, Costco and Home Depot.

H-E-B was ranked #23 on the list of Top Retailers, 2013.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”