An extensive remodeling program is underway, beginning with a store in West Des Moines
After shedding some of its peripheral businesses, including its Wahlburgers partnership and its convenience-store operations, Hy-Vee is doubling down on prepared foods, perishables, health and pharmacy.
The company hasseveral new initiatives plannedin those areas, CEO Jeremy Gosch told theDes Moines Business Recordin an in-depth interview detailing the retailer’s growth strategy for the future. In the wake of the company’s 2024purchase of the Strack & Van Til chain, more acquisitions could also be a part of the company’s future, he said.
“What we’re really looking at is, ‘How do we continue to move to where the customer wants us to go long term?’” Gosch, who was named CEO in 2022, told the newspaper.
An extensive remodeling program is underway, beginning with a store in West Des Moines. The revamp included relocating the pharmacy and floral departments, adding a branded Candy Shoppe and extensive changes in the prepared-foods areas. That included an updated Market Grille in-store restaurant with a salad case, an expanded selection of prepared foods and more soups and sandwiches in the deli, and freshly made bagels and tortillas. The Starbucks cafe was also relocated to the dining area.
Other initiatives Hy-Vee is implementing include redesigning the ecommerce and pharmacy pickup areas to speed up order fulfillment and traffic flow. This is exemplified by a redesign at a Waukee, Iowa, Hy-Vee, where the retailer moved online grocery pickup from the parking lot to be attached to the store and added a pickup lane for online pharmacy orders.
It is also planning to introduce a new drive-through pharmacy solution that will allow customers to let stores know when they are on their way to pick up a prescription and pay for it in advance. That service will be tested at stores in Waukee, Grimes and Ankeny, Iowa, according to the report.
The retailer is also expanding the assortments of vitamins, supplements and other products in its HealthMarket departments, Gosch told the paper.
In its meat and produce categories, Hy-Vee recently completed a brand evaluation focused on product quality and ended some of the partnerships it had and strengthened others, including one with produce supplier Driscoll, according to theBusiness Recordreport.
Hy-Vee’s efforts also include the conversion of the retailer’s Dollar Fresh Market banner, a low-price concept that operates in small towns, to the traditional Hy-Vee format, with a service meat department and in-store bakery, Gosch said. The company plans to expand this smaller version of a traditional Hy-Vee store into more small-town markets in the Midwest, he said.
Hy-Vee is also continuing to focus on new-store development in major metro markets where it already operates, including Des Moines, Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha, Neb., and Springfield, Mo., Gosch said.
He also said the company is open to considering additional acquisition opportunities if the company’s “mission and values closely match” those of Hy-Vee.
