Hy-Vee has 40 new retail units in the pipeline for 2021, reports Progressive Grocer. This includes 14 Dollar Fresh stores, Hy-Vee’s answer to discount grocers like Aldi; 11 small-format Fast & Fresh convenience stores; and 12 Hy-Vee locations. Hy-Vee is also planning a state-of-the-art warehouse in the Des Moines metro area.
“This year is the biggest capital budget that we’ve ever had, by a long shot,” said Chairman of the Board, CEO, and president Randy Edeker. “We have a new format that we’re building called Dollar Fresh, where we’re focusing on building those. We have a dozen of those built. We’ve kind of just done it quietly.”
When reflecting on the past year, Edeker said a lot of Hy-Vee’s growth opportunity came from dealing with a supply chain that “was challenged on all sides.”
“I think that there were a lot of lessons we learned about supply chain, just in timed inventories in some categories were detrimental to not just us, but other big players around the country,” he said. “Those are things that we really analyzed where we need to have safety stock and what we need to have on hand.”
“We [also] became much more creative with sourcing and trying to go out and find new avenues to get product,” Edeker continued. “So I think that we’re a lot better at that. We’re way better at local sourcing, finding people that are making products right in our backyard that we need to strengthen relationships with.” Full Story
Related: Hy-Vee to Build Free-Standing Grocery Pickup Kiosk; Hy-Vee to Host Best of Local Summits in 2021.
Image: Hy-Vee