Hy-Vee-What's up?

[wxman1]

Went to the new Grimes Hy-Vee tonight for a few things that we needed last minute and while I did not check out the entire store what I did see by basically going around the outside aisles and departments was pretty cool. It has a very modern and high tech feel to it with all the digital signage and design of the store. Lost of space to navigate the store too, they didn't just cram everything into every square foot they could so didn't have a cramped feel to it. Actually ran into a guy that I worked with in the corporate IT department when I interned there 20 years ago and he says their IT department has grown substantially since I worked there and he thinks this new store is something other chains in the region and country are going to make a point to come visit to see how some of the new concepts Hy-Vee is trying out in this store will work. Really looking forward to having this store less than a mile from my house to shop at.

Apparently they have robots that can help you shop? Seems like something to screw with more than anything.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Just a wild guess here.

A large portion of the store focuses on dining. Between people not wanting to dine at Hy-Vee along with workers not being downtown to have lunch, it always seems pretty dead. I thought the downtown lunch crowd was always overplayed. Most of the downtown workers are a long ways from Hy-Vee and people are not going to walk 3/4 mile to get lunch when they have an hour. Of course HV is doubling down and creating some more dining options that no one will use.

As we've seen from other posts here and other places, people like to fantasize the whole "live downtown, never drive, shop downtown". This isn't reality in DSM. Most get in their cars and go get groceries or do delivery. The store just isn't very busy from what I've seen. I also think people like to do big shops and this HV isn't really built that way. It's built to have you visit multiple times per week.

How many people actually live walking distance to this Hy-Vee? If I have to get in my car and drive, I may not choose the downtown HV.

This. And if you're going to walk (or drive) to Court Ave there's actual restaurants to eat at.

Don't get me wrong, I eat at HyVee's a lot. But I'm not going to go to there instead of W-Tao or Fongs or Cabco or Hessen Haus or any of the myriad other places in that area.

 

[ruflosn]

I just want ONE option for a decent grocery selection downtown. I don't do my full on grocery shopping at the downtown location but it's the only option and was really nice for picking up a few things a couple of times a week. I don't even mind paying a bit more for those occasions. It really isn't that big of a deal to drive 10-15 minutes instead 2 minutes or a short walk but it was nice.

La Tapatia Grocery