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Hy-Vee has long had a reputation as an innovative grocery company. In recent years, the Midwestern chain has experimented with a variety of store formats beyond its supermarkets, including a discount store, a wine and spirits store and a health food market.
The chain’s focus on concepts beyond its big-box grocery stores comes at a time when other grocers and retailers are exploring alternative formats to better meet consumer needs. Some — like Publix’s GreenWise and Schnuck Markets’ EatWell — have not been successful, while others — like Whole Food Market’s Daily Shop concept and Meijer Grocery — are still in their early stages.
Hy-Vee has had its own ups and downs with its alternative stores. Its Fast & Fresh format has exploded, with the number of stores growing by around 135% in less than three years. However, its HealthMarket concept failed to take off after an initial attempt.
Hy-Vee has also recently made a digital push into new formats, including a pet products website and a telemedicine and prescription delivery service. In early 2022, the grocer announced the Introducing WholeLotta Gooda ship-to-home site that sells items such as vitamins, health food and beauty products to the 48 contiguous states.
Here’s a glimpse into how Hy-Vee manages its various store formats.
Fast & Fresh
Number of locations: 190
Hy-Vee’s Fast & Fresh is a convenience store chain Focus on fresh food and ready mealsThe grocer opened standalone Fast & Fresh stores in 2018 and then worked to convert its convenience stores to the modernized format.
“What makes Hy-Vee’s Fast & Fresh concept unique is that it combines convenience with fresh offerings and a focus on service,” wrote Dawn E. Buzynski, Hy-Vee’s assistant vice president of communications, in an email. “Customers appreciate that our stores are bright and inviting, rather than looking like a typical convenience store.”
Last fall, Hy-Vee presented its newest standalone Fast & Fresh in Davenport, Iowa.
Fast & Fresh has 190 stores in total, including 21 stand-alone locations and 169 adjacent to a Hy-Vee grocery store, Buzynski said.
Fast & Fresh recently released a new app.
Photo illustration: Getty; HyVee
“We continue to see an increase in customer traffic as these locations meet our customers’ need to serve as a one-stop shop where they can fill up on gas, purchase fresh groceries and get either a hot meal or something to go for the whole family,” Buzynski said.
Fast & Fresh’s new mobile app is designed to make food shopping more convenient, Buzynski said. It allows app users to order ahead and have meals delivered to their vehicle, as well as check daily fuel prices and take advantage of exclusive deals and savings.
Dollar Fresh Market
Number of locations: 25
Hy-Vee’s Dollar Fresh Market competes with dollar stores in rural markets.
“We chose the name Dollar Fresh and wanted to focus more on freshness because we believe that’s where the discounters are weakest,” then-CEO Randy Edeker told Grocery Dive in 2021.
Products at a Dollar Fresh store.
Courtesy of Hy-Vee
Since the launch of Dollar Fresh in fall 2018, discounters have become an even greater threat to grocery companies with their expanded grocery assortments and emphasis on low prices. In early 2020 Hy-Vee has announced it would six former Shopko Locations in Iowa and reopened later that year under the Dollar Fresh brand.
There are fourteen Dollar Fresh stores in Iowa. The format has six locations in Nebraska, two in South Dakota and one each in Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri. accordingly Hy-Vee’s website.
Healthcare market
Number of locations: 0
Hy-Vee opened its first standalone HealthMarket store in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 2018. The 15,700-square-foot location was three times larger than the grocer’s in-store HealthMarket departments.
Edeker told the Des Moines Register in 2018 that Hy-Vee was planning to open 50 or 60 HealthMarket locations. But three years later decided to close the store and replace it with one of the Wall to Wall Wine and Spirits locations.
The future of the HealthMarket concept remains unclear. Hy-Vee does not currently list any HealthMarket locations on its website.
Fourth + Court
Number of locations: 1
Hy-Vee introduced its urban concept called Fourth + Court in downtown Des Moines, Iowa in 2017 and used it as a test location for many Hy-Vee offerings. A few years later, Hy-Vee announced it would convert the store to the HealthMarket format, but told the Des Moines Register in 2023 that plans for those changes had been put on hold.
“Based on feedback from downtown Des Moines customers, this location will remain a Hy-Vee grocery store,” Buzynski said.
The town is struggling with crime, and in February Hy-Vee abruptly shorten store opening hoursand told Axios that thefts and loitering were common at the location, with police receiving over 200 calls in six months.
Wine and spirits from wall to wall
Number of locations: 4
Hy-Vee announced in 2021, open a new store format with a focus on alcohol called Wall to Wall Wine and Spirits, starting with four locations in Iowa and Nebraska.
The grocer has achieved its goal by opening three stores in Nebraska and one in Iowa. The stores offer a wide selection of wine, spirits, beer and bottled water and a free rewards program that lets customers earn points as they shop.
“The wall-to-wall wine and spirits concept has been successful in its current markets and we plan to grow this area of our business in the future,” Buzynski wrote.
