The story
Early years and General Supply Company
Starting in 1917, Vredenburg & Lewis, David Vredenburg's previous partnership, operated stores as part of the General Supply Company, an RLDS Church-owned company based in Lamoni, Iowa.
In 1921, Charles Hyde started working for the General Supply Company's store in Woodbine, Iowa, which was operated by Vredenburg & Lewis. In 1922, the General Supply Company was formally incorporated. Vredenburg was president and Hyde was a member of the board of directors. In 1924, Hyde left the General Supply Company and started his store in Cameron, Missouri.
In 1927, Hyde purchased a half stake of a store in Kellerton, Iowa, the other half being owned by the General Supply Company. In 1930, Vredenburg and Hyde started a separate partnership from the General Supply Company, named Supply Stores, and opened their first store in Beaconsfield, Iowa.
In 1932, The General Supply Company was dissolved because of the effects of the Great Depression. Vredenburg purchased most of the former General Supply Company's remaining stores and mill. Both Hyde and Vredenburg owned and operated other stores outside of their partnership. Hyde and Vredenburg's partnership was dissolved for approximately six months in 1935 after Iowa enacted the Chain Tax Act of 1935, a heavy tax against chain stores that was later declared unconstitutional.
In 1938, Hyde & Vredenburg, Inc. was officially incorporated, with 15 stores in Iowa and Missouri. The incorporation consolidated all of Hyde's and Vredenburg's independently owned stores with the stores they had in their partnership. The company was headquartered in Lamoni. The new company's management plan involved autonomy for store managers, setting the stage for eventual employee ownership.
In 1945, Hyde & Vredenburg moved its corporate headquarters from Lamoni to Chariton, Iowa, after acquiring the Chariton Wholesale Company.
The Supply Store name, with each town's name preceding it, was still used on most stores until 1952. A few stores were named differently, such as Hyde's Service Store, Vredenburg's Grocery, and Hyde & Vredenburg, all changed in 1952.
1950s and 1960s
The Hy-Vee name, a portmanteau of Hyde and Vredenburg, was adopted in 1952 as the winning entry of an employee contest, with three employees submitting the name. The first store with the name opened in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1953. In 1956, Hy-Vee introduced its first private-label products and a new logo. In 1957, Hy-Vee opened its first in-store bakery at the Iowa City, Iowa, store.
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In 1960, the company became employee-owned by the Employees' Trust Fund. The slogan "Where There's a Helpful Smile in Every Aisle" was first used in a TV commercial in 1963. The company's name was officially changed to Hy-Vee Food Stores, Inc., in 1963.
In 1969, Hy-Vee expanded into Minnesota after acquiring the Swanson Stores chain based in Cherokee, Iowa. In 1969, Hy-Vee opened its first Drug Town, a pharmacy separate from a regular store, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the end of 1969, Hy-Vee had 66 stores.
1970s, 1980s, and 1990s
Hy-Vee continued expanding during the 1970s and 1980s, opening stores in South Dakota (1975), Nebraska (1977), Illinois (1979), and Kansas (1988). In 1975, Hy-Vee's 100th store, which was also its first to use electronic cash registers, opened in Keokuk, Iowa. By the end of 1989, Hy-Vee had 172 stores in seven states. In 1994, Hy-Vee updated its logo.
In 1995, Hy-Vee moved its corporate headquarters from Chariton to West Des Moines, Iowa, and shortened its name to Hy-Vee, Inc. The company's primary distribution center is still in Chariton; a second one is in Cherokee, Iowa.
NFL quarterback Kurt Warner worked at a store in Cedar Falls, Iowa, from 1994 to 1995, before going to play arena football for the Iowa Barnstormers.
2000s
At the turn of the millennium, Hy-Vee increased its focus on customers' healthy lifestyles. HealthMarket private-label products were introduced in 2001. The company also began an initiative to provide customers with the services of corporate and in-store dietitians.
Stores began offering an expanded line of ethnic foods to the Midwest's increasingly diverse population. Online shopping capabilities expanded in 2005, with a redesigned Hy-Vee website offering online shopping for such items as holiday meals, floral arrangements, and catering selections; gift cards were added in 2006.
Hy-Vee was selected as Progressive Grocer's Retailer of the Year in 2003. Drug Town stores were renamed Hy-Vee Drugstores in 2005. Hy-Vee celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2005 with the publication of a second company history book (The History of Hy-Vee). In 2007, Hy-Vee's first store, in Beaconsfield, Iowa, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the fiscal year 2009, Hy-Vee sales exceeded $6.3 billion; at the time, it was the second-largest employee-owned company in the United States and ranked by Forbes magazine the 48th-largest privately owned company in the country. More than 55,000 employees worked in the Hy-Vee family in 2009.
By the end of 2009, there were 228 stores. In 2009, Hy-Vee moved into its eighth state of operations when the store in Madison, Wisconsin, opened. In December 2009, Hy-Vee's fourth president, Randy Edeker, was selected to lead the company. Ric Jurgens retained the chairman and chief executive officer titles until 2012, when Edeker assumed those roles.
In 2003, Milan, Illinois–based grocer Eagle Food Centers went out of business, and a few of their stores, such as the John Deere Road store in Moline, Illinois, became Hy-Vee stores in the late 2000s.
2010s
In 2010, Hy-Vee expressed interest in building/opening a store in Joplin, Missouri, but the plans fell through when the developer would not negotiate traffic signal installation. Despite this, they retained interest in the area, but according to a Facebook reply in 2016, they have yet to make plans for the Joplin area.
In 2012, Hy-Vee introduced its loyalty program, Hy-Vee Fuel Saver, which allows customers to earn discounts on fuel at Casey's General Stores; Shell; PDQ/Kwik Trip, as well as Hy-Vee's own gas stations, by purchasing select items.
Later that year, Hy-Vee began adding full-service restaurants to some stores, such as the Hy-Vee Market Grille.
In 2015, Hy-Vee brought online shopping to all stores with the introduction of its new website, Hy-Vee Aisles Online. The company's loyalty program adopted Hy-Vee Fuel Saver + Perks branding.
In September 2015, Hy-Vee opened its first stores in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.
In 2016, Hy-Vee began opening clothing boutiques featuring Tesco's F&F brand in select larger locations.
In 2017, Hy-Vee became the exclusive retailer in its service area for sports nutrition products marketed by Mark Wahlberg. This expanded into a deal-making Hy-Vee a franchisee for Wahlburgers restaurants; the first location under the deal opened in May 2018 at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. In 2025, Hy-Vee announced the end of its partnership with Wahlburgers, converting all locations into Market Grille.
Hy-Vee opened its first standalone HealthMarket store in 2018. Much like the in-store health department, also named HealthMarket, the standalone store focuses on health and wellness. The store is a smaller format than regular Hy-Vee stores and contains a pharmacy and attached Orangetheory Fitness.
In 2018, the first Hy-Vee Dollar Fresh store opened up in Osceola, Iowa. The concept is designed and marketed to offer customers in smaller communities a budget-friendly selection of grocery items, and includes a bakery section, a dollar section, a Wall of Value, ready-to-eat meal offerings, and other services.
In 2018, the first Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience store opened in Davenport, Iowa. It offered standard pantry and frozen grocery items alongside fresh produce, dairy, meat, and bakery departments. It also had a gas station, online pickup, wood-oven pizzas, sushi, a craft beer station, wine and spirits section, made-to-order meals, take-and-heat meals, meal kits, and a Starbucks with a drive-thru. Unlike other Hy-Vee locations, the convenience store was not open 24/7; in some markets, Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh was meant to compete with Walmart Neighborhood Market, a similar small-store concept launched in 1998.
In 2019, Hy-Vee announced it would open Joe Fresh clothing sections in stores and replace its existing F&F clothing departments.
2020s
On January 27, 2020, Hy-Vee agreed to acquire six former Shopko locations in Iowa that will re-open under the Dollar Fresh brand by late summer.
On February 10, 2020, Hy-Vee grocery stores ended 24-hour service at most locations. Most of the 24-hour stores closed between midnight and 5 a.m., though hours varied by location. The stores still had stock crews working overnight, but the stores are not open to the public.
On February 19, 2020, Hy-Vee acquired four QuikTrip convenience store locations in the Des Moines metro that re-opened under the Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh Express brand on March 20, 2020.
In August 2021, Hy-Vee announced a new standalone liquor store named Wall to Wall Wine and Spirits, with plans to open four stores in West Des Moines, Iowa, Papillion, Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska, and Lincoln, Nebraska.
In September 2021, Hy-Vee opened a 92,989-square-foot flagship store in Grimes, Iowa. The "smart store" contained new technology for Hy-Vee, including scan-and-go shopping, salad-making robot vending machines, digital shelf labels, and self-serve kiosks that allow customers to order bakery items, hot food, or fitness equipment. The store also had experimental ideas including a cigar room, a new design for the hot food area inspired by food halls, fitness equipment from Johnson Fitness & Wellness, redesigned wine and spirits section, DSW shoe department, and nail salon named The W Nail Bar. The same month the chain opened a similar store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This location was the first in the state outside of the Madison area.
In November 2021, Hy-Vee received several awards from the Technology Association of Iowa at their annual Prometheus Awards ceremony. Hy-Vee won the awards: CEO of the Year, Creative Technology Solution of the Year, and Software Development Technology Company of the Year.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee expressed interest in a former Shopko location in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, by applying for liquor licenses. The nearly 125,000-square-foot store opened on November 8, 2022, becoming the largest in the chain by square footage. It was the fourth location in Wisconsin.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee launched a new subsidiary, RedBox Rx, which provides telehealth online pharmacy services and home prescription delivery.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee announced the closure of four locations. Two of them, one in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and one in Moline, Illinois (acquired in the 2000s as part of the Eagle Food Center bankruptcy), were to be closed permanently. A store in Kansas City, Missouri, will be converted into a Wall to Wall Wine and Spirits location, and another in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will be renovated into a non-retail bakery and pharmacy fulfillment location.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee announced plans to expand into four new states, with plans to open at least 21 new stores by 2025 with seven of the 21 to open no later than 2023, in the following markets: Indianapolis, Louisville, Kentucky, Huntsville, Alabama, Knoxville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and Memphis, Tennessee. Their primary competitors in the South will be Cincinnati, Ohio–based Kroger and Lakeland, Florida–based Publix. Hy-Vee said it had no plans to open stores within H-E-B's trade territory of Texas. Hy-Vee plans to build a third distribution center, in Nashville, their first outside of Iowa, which will service the seven new stores and southern Missouri. Hy-Vee had originally planned to build its third distribution center in Austin, Minnesota, but put those plans on hold indefinitely.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee expanded its online offering by introducing home delivery. Customers are able to purchase bulk grocery items directly from the Hy-Vee Deals website, and a pet specific website (Petship) was also launched.
In February 2022, Hy-Vee opened its second Springfield, Missouri, store.
In March 2022, Hy-Vee announced a new location in Spring Hill, Tennessee, its first location in the state.
On July 27, 2022, the company announced that Randy Edeker would step down from his position as CEO, and Aaron Wiese would assume the CEO role. Randy Edeker remained chairman of the board.
On April 17, 2024, Hy-Vee announced the acquisition of 22 Strack & Van Til stores in northwest Indiana. The acquisition included the one Town & Country location under Strack & Van Til ownership. The price was not revealed, but spokesperson Tina Potthoff said the purchase was one of the largest in Hy-Vee's history. Strack & Van Til will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hy-Vee but will retain its logos, name, and branding.
Having previously announced locations in Zionsville and Fishers for Indiana expansion, Hy-Vee said those timelines may shift, but are still in the plans for expansion. "We plan to continue to build in these areas," Potthoff said. "Due to this acquisition, we are reviewing and finalizing our construction timeline for those locations."
In September 2025, it was reported that Hy-Vee had discontinued plans for a store in Stillwater. Minnesota.
Information and statistics
Hy-Vee is known to move departments into separate buildings for legal requirements or optimal customer service. This is commonly seen in the construction of a separate building for Hy-Vee Gas, usually near the main store. It is also common for Hy-Vee to have attached liquor stores, as in Minnesota, where grocery stores are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages over 3.2% alcohol by weight. In some cases, there is a completely separate building for the liquor department, such as the Prairie Village, Kansas store, where the liquor store is across the street (State Line Road) in Kansas City, Missouri, and thus operates under Missouri's more liberal alcohol laws.
Hy-Vee ranked second on the National Center for Employee Ownership's list of Largest Employee Owned Companies in 2011. Hy-Vee ranked 27th on Forbes magazine's annual list of the largest privately owned companies in the United States in 2017. Hy-Vee ranked 27th on "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" by Supermarket News in 2016. Hy-Vee ranked 4th on America's Favorite Grocery Retailers by Market Force Information in 2016.
Hy-Vee won numerous awards in 2017, including recognition by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers. Forbes named Hy-Vee as one of the top 50 private companies in the United States. Hy-Vee was ranked as the sixth favorite Grocery Retailer in America by Market Force in 2017. Progressive Grocer selected Hy-Vee as its Retailer of the Year in 2017, while Mass Market Retailers appointed Hy-Vee as the 2017 Retail Innovator of the Year.
In 2021, Hy-Vee was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 24th largest privately owned company in the United States.
As of 2021, Hy-Vee Inc. had more than 91,000 employees and 285 retail stores. It had annual sales of more than $12 billion.
Presidents and CEOs
Hy-Vee has had five company presidents and four CEOs in its 91-year history:
From Wikipedia’s article on Hy-Vee, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5