Hy-Vee's weirdest business decision yet?

Gonzo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2009
23,726
26,145
113
Behind you
The stores in Iowa are almost all new builds, the ones aren't hardly old enough to remodel. I think there is remodeled one in CR that I stopped at it was nice. KwikStar is basically kicking Casey's *ss in most markets. It seems from a customer viewpoint.
Casey's has been mailing it in for a while now, especially with their gas operation. Most times when I pull in anymore half the pumps are out of order.
 

KnappShack

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2008
20,386
26,299
113
Parts Unknown
Casey's has been mailing it in for a while now, especially with their gas operation. Most times when I pull in anymore half the pumps are out of order.

The pizza maker by me doesn't do a great job. I like a cheap pizza, they sucked the last couple of times.

On the no fly list.
 

SECyclone

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 29, 2011
2,624
3,001
113
Pella
The pizza maker by me doesn't do a great job. I like a cheap pizza, they sucked the last couple of times.

On the no fly list.
Since they basically force you to order online now its a 50/50 chance they actually make your pizza around here. Show up after 30 min and the ticket is still hanging out of the machine.
 

carvers4math

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2012
20,577
16,335
113
Multiple Casey’s and a BP is all we get in small town Iowa so hopefully they are doing ok. Can’t see Kwik Star slumming it in rural southern Iowa. The pumps and pizza are all fine, although in a nearby town, the pumps frequently won’t take any card.

Our elderly often get groceries at BP or Casey’s as the Hy-Vee is too big of a walk past non grocery items to get food staples.
 

madguy30

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2011
50,355
47,238
113
Multiple Casey’s and a BP is all we get in small town Iowa so hopefully they are doing ok. Can’t see Kwik Star slumming it in rural southern Iowa. The pumps and pizza are all fine, although in a nearby town, the pumps frequently won’t take any card.

Our elderly often get groceries at BP or Casey’s as the Hy-Vee is too big of a walk past non grocery items to get food staples.

Never know.

I suppose they're on routes that are part of fishing/outdoor destinations but there's some pretty barren areas of WI that have one and it's likely the only place around with a few healthy/sustainable food options.
 

CyPhallus

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2021
478
459
63
Never know.

I suppose they're on routes that are part of fishing/outdoor destinations but there's some pretty barren areas of WI that have one and it's likely the only place around with a few healthy/sustainable food options.
They have traffic patterns and projections so dialed in it's wild. Every time I see one that seems randomly placed the parking lot is packed.
 

Al_4_State

Moderator
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mar 27, 2006
30,410
23,626
113
38
Driftless Region
Visit site
Multiple Casey’s and a BP is all we get in small town Iowa so hopefully they are doing ok. Can’t see Kwik Star slumming it in rural southern Iowa. The pumps and pizza are all fine, although in a nearby town, the pumps frequently won’t take any card.

Our elderly often get groceries at BP or Casey’s as the Hy-Vee is too big of a walk past non grocery items to get food staples.
Kwik Star has been in rural NE/N Iowa for 30 years. They aren’t afraid of rural.
 

madguy30

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2011
50,355
47,238
113

Nor'easter

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2016
1,034
1,362
113
I'm sure Hy-Vee is next in line with the tradition for Iowa companies these days expand a ton then sell to an out of state competitor that'll kill the brand and all the history along with it.
 

Al_4_State

Moderator
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mar 27, 2006
30,410
23,626
113
38
Driftless Region
Visit site

BillBrasky4Cy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 10, 2013
15,507
28,216
113
As a prior poster alluded to, they are trying to boost margins. Restaurants, clothing, etc do that and they have switched the mix over time trying to find the appropriate strategy. Every comparable gricery chain is doing the same thing. And no, Aldi’s is not a comparable grocery chain. Finally, holding cash is a death sentence. They have to grow and that’s exactly what they are trying to do.

Haha! Hy-Vee is only growing in regards to their footprint. The company is hemorrhaging money. HyVee can also reinvest into their stores without trying to sell me new jeans. None of those strategies have worked for them and WE are paying the price for it. I've been pretty anti WalMart my entire adult life and I can't ignore the savings anymore. Hy-Vee has made it perfectly clear they don't give a sh!t about their consumers so I've all but stopped supporting them.
 

IcSyU

Well-Known Member
Nov 27, 2007
27,782
6,007
113
Rochester, MN
Haha! Hy-Vee is only growing in regards to their footprint. The company is hemorrhaging money. HyVee can also reinvest into their stores without trying to sell me new jeans. None of those strategies have worked for them and WE are paying the price for it. I've been pretty anti WalMart my entire adult life and I can't ignore the savings anymore. Hy-Vee has made it perfectly clear they don't give a sh!t about their consumers so I've all but stopped supporting them.
Unless you work in the accounting department you don't know that. How do you know the lease agreements they're getting from the space on the stuff you have determined isn't working? They don't have to move much product to get the margins I would expect from groceries.

And typically their pricing isn't too much more terrible than say...Target. You'll notice item to item difference but in the grand scheme your total won't be much different for a cart.

You're going to find most things which are growing absolutely churn cash. Kwik Trip is spending more cash than it takes in on expansion. That company PRINTS money from operations and the land investment company spends it before it even comes in the door. A company like Menards is the exact same story.
 

Pat

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2011
2,215
3,202
113
They might have issues, but Casey's stock has more than doubled the last 3 years. They are making money somewhere.

I think this is actually a symptom of the problem. They’re growing through acquisition and the balance sheet looks good, but they are cutting corners to cut costs, and it’s going to backfire at some point. You can only defer maintenance for so long.
 

Kinch

Well-Known Member
Sep 19, 2021
3,384
2,967
113
I think this is actually a symptom of the problem. They’re growing through acquisition and the balance sheet looks good, but they are cutting corners to cut costs, and it’s going to backfire at some point. You can only defer maintenance for so long.
According to their SEC filings a lot of their growth is from existing stores. 12% same store growth the last two years is pretty good. And that is inside store, not fuel. agree with deferred maintenance will catch up.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: ClonesFTW

Help Support Us

Become a patron