Hy-Vee Dollar Fresh
- Thread starter Cyinthenorth
- Start date
Lol. I originally wrote it as 20th, then changed just the number. well played.
When I was in high school a couple of classmates of mine got a summer job with the City working in the sign shop since they were replacing all of the street signs in town and they needed help. They were affixing all of the letters and numbers on the signs so the regular City crews could put the signs up. A few months later there was a story in the paper about the street signs because all of the numbered streets (the vast majority of streets in town) had signs that said 1th, 2th, 3th 4th, 5th, etc. Apparently they thought they could save time by putting all of the ths on the signs first and just add the numbers when they knew which street intersection they would be doing next. Those classmates never lived that down.
The Hy-Vee I go to has two seating areas; one is a Market Grille, sit down restaurant with wait staff, and the other is a self-seating and self-bussed area for eating after ordering Chinese, pizza, or subs at the counter or going through the salad bar. The second one is always way busier.
This is smart because a lot of people like the old setup, but unfortunately the damage has been done with some of them and they turned away. A lot on my in-laws side of the family used to love going to Hy-Vee for breakfast, but choose not to anymore.
I used to love getting an easy meal, loaded hashbrowns, but now you have to get something fancy off their menu even if you take it to the self service area.
Exactly. My in-laws used to go to the Hy-Vee deli right after church most Sundays. They liked the diner atmosphere and diner prices. I doubt if they have been to the Market Grill more than a handful of times because they don't want to pay that much (and yes, they do tip) and they just want a diner atmosphere. I think last I knew they would occasionally go to the Corner Cafe or whatever it is called on 100th. I think I have been to the Market Grille a grand total of twice even though there is now a Hy-Vee within walking distance of me.
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Mills Civic in WDM still has this. Full Market Grille (not Express), but casual dining still for Chinese/Kitchen/Salad Bar type meals with a self-serve soda fountain and coffee/iced tea. If the Market Grille gets too full (usually on Sunday mornings/afternoons with large parties), Market Grille customers have spilled out into the casual dining area.
The Drug Towns were rebranded to Hy-Vee Drug 10+ years ago. We have one 2 minutes from our house and at least 2 more within 10 minutes of our house here in NE CR.
We have the same setup in south Ankeny and the casual dining is always packed. They have 2 check out lines that are always backed up so whenever I get pizza or chinese, I just take it to the front.
Is the one at the corner of Boysen and C still there? We lived just a few minutes from there many years ago.
I think all but maybe one CR stores converted to Market Grill. Then once reduced to just Express, all the casual seating was gone. The whole restaurant conversion process just screams lack of research. It's like someone in accounting ran a P&L one day and exclaimed, "Damn, look at how much our labor costs have increased!" Well duh.
I ate at the restaurant a few times as they had some decent selections, but I'm not going to carry a plate of food into their express seating and pay extra for the privilege.
Yep, still there. The long term plan is once Tower Terrace Rd is completed (if ever), HyVee plans on building a store on the corner of Tower Terrace/C St/Robins Rd. I would expect the drugtown to go away at that point.
I ate at the restaurant a few times as they had some decent selections, but I'm not going to carry a plate of food into their express seating and pay extra for the privilege.
Yep, still there. The long term plan is once Tower Terrace Rd is completed (if ever), HyVee plans on building a store on the corner of Tower Terrace/C St/Robins Rd. I would expect the drugtown to go away at that point.
Yup that is the one 2 minutes from my house. It can be very busy at peak times especially after work. Whenever Hy-Vee get's around to building the new Hy-Vee at C and Robins Rd I wouldn't be surprised to see it closed but they make a lot of money off of that location since the next closest grocery store is Target followed by the Lindale Hy-Vee. Those are not that much farther (especially Target) but not nearly as convenient as the Boyson Rd Drug Town to the booming far NE side and north side of Marion.
The one I go to that was just built went this route originally, but have since closed off the one dining room and now send everyone to the market grill express to eat. I've never been approached by a server when I bring food in from one of the departments. Haven't gone to eat from the market grill since the change.
The employees at the HyVee's I go to in West Des Moines have always been super friendly and courteous. I think HyVee's employee model may have shifted over the years as well. It seems like most of the front of house employees are high school aged kids being managed by college aged kids or fresh out of college.
This model is pretty much the same as it was 30+ years ago at the Hy-Vee Mrs. Velo worked at. She and her brothers were just a few of the high schoolers who were managed by mostly young managers. It does seem like the "Helpful Smile" is still more prevalent at that store when compared to my store in Minnesota.
