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Hy-Vee history
Hy-Vee company history timeline
1930: Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg open a small store in Beaconsfield, Iowa.
Begining in the 1930's store mangers would meet in the backroom of the Unionville, Missouri store to discuss operations, plan advertising with each store manger having the option to alter the ad if they so choose.
Hy-Vee was founded in the 1930's, and the rest is history.
In 1932, The General Supply Company was dissolved because of the effects of the Great Depression.
In 1933, Hyde and Vredenburg decided to pay its store managers on a profit sharing basis.
However, in 1934 these general stores with such names as The Supply Stores, Hyde Service Store, and Vredenburg Grocery began selling only groceries.
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.
Its 1938 annual sales were about $1.5 million.
In 1938, Hyde & Vredenburg, Inc. was officially incorporated, with 15 stores in Iowa and Missouri.
The end of the 1940's brought two big changes to the company, the first was the retirement of the founders Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg. the second was the passing away of David Vredenburg that same year.
In 1941 Hyde & Vredenburg had sales of $2 million.
In 1945 it moved from Lamoni to Chariton, Iowa, after purchasing the Chariton Wholesale Grocery Company.
In 1948 it built its first warehouse/office complex, a 72,000-square-foot facility in Chariton.
In 1948 Hyde & Vredenburg, Inc had a transportation divison of twenty- two tractor trailers trucks.
At the end of 1949 the growing company owned 29 stores that brought in $9.2 million in annual sales.
Co-founders Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg retired in 1949; David Vredenburg died later that year.
In 1952 an employee contest resulted in three employees suggesting that the stores be renamed 'Hy-Vee' by combining the last names of the two founders.
A few stores were named differently, with names such as Hyde's Service Store, Vredenburg's Grocery, and Hyde & Vredenburg, all of which were changed in 1952.
The first store with the name opened in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1953.
At the end of fiscal year 1959 the company's annual sales stood at almost $36 million from its chain of 37 stores that employed 1,186.
The first store in a metropolitain area was built in Johnston Iowa; a suburb of Des Monies opened in 1959 as well.
"Spring Time Party", a traditon that continues today combining spring cleaning with a celebration complete with store decorations themes and costumed employee's was introduced in 1960.
The 1960's gave birth to the Slogan "Where there's a helpful smile in every aisle"
Hy-Vee started advertising on TV in 1961.
Hy-Vee began advertising on television in 1961, the same year the company bought its first computer system.
The Hy-Vee Employees Trust Fund in 1963 purchased the locally based National Bank & Trust Company of Chariton, and the same year the company broadcast its first television commercial.
The slogan "Where There's a Helpful Smile in Every Aisle" was first used in a TV commercial in 1963.
With the company doing so well, it decided to start the Hy-Vee Foundation in 1968 to provide college scholarships.
The Hy-Vee Foundation began funding college scholarships in 1969.
In 1969, Hy-Vee opened its first Drug Town, a pharmacy separate from a regular store, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In 1969, Hy-Vee expanded into Minnesota, after acquiring the Swanson Stores chain based in Cherokee, Iowa.
A 1971 addition of 78,000 square feet brought the total capacity of the Chariton warehouse up to 430,000 square feet.
1975: First South Dakota store is opened at Brookings.
In addition, in 1976 the company built a secondary warehouse/office complex in Cherokee, Iowa.
1977: First Nebraska store is opened in Norfolk.
Other company landmarks for the decade included the opening of the 100th store, in Keokuk, Iowa (also the first store in the chain to use electronic cash registers), and surpassing the $500 million annual sales mark, in 1978, for the first time.
1979: First Illinois store is opened in Macomb.
Electronic scanners were introduced in 1980 when the Dubuque, Iowa, Save-U-More store opened.
To meet the needs of its growing chain, Hy-Vee in 1982 organized Perishable Distributors of Iowa (PDI), an affiliated firm that later became a subsidiary.
1982: Twelve former Safeway stores in Iowa and Nebraska are acquired.
1982 brought in the first billion dollar sales year for Hy-Vee . In 1982 Perishable Distributors of Iowa Inc. was created to provide fresh meat and fish and seafood products.
In 1983 the 150th store opened in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In 1983, the company, which had been in business for 45 years, elected only its second president, Ron Pearson.
Expanding services to customers including video rentals and bank branches in stores came to Hy-Vee in 1984.
In 1984 Hy-Vee made national news when it became the second store in the nation to offer customers the use of a debit card to pay for their purchases.
The first combination food and drug store – referred to in the industry as a combo store - opened in 1985 at Lincoln, Nebraska on Old Cheney Road.
The same year, the Hy-Vee Employees' Trust Fund acquired National Bank & Trust of Chariton, Iowa, whose ownership passed from the Trust to the corporation itself in 1986.
The Des Moines, Iowa, Number 1 store, which opened in 1986 in a new building at Harding Road.
The second private label, an economical line of products refered to today as "Midwest Country Fare" was offered for purchase to customers starting in 1987.
In 1988 Hy-Vee opened its Overland Park, Kansas Number 1 store, the company's first store in Kansas.
He was named CEO in 1989 as well.
Also in 1989, the company's first history book, The Family of Hy-Vee, was published and the first free-standing floral department opened.
In 1989, when his predecessor Dwight Vredenburg retired, Pearson was elected chief executive officer and chairman of the board.
The Early 1990's were spent having having Hy-Vee diverseified it operations thru the development of purchases of several subsididaires.
The Chariton Distribution Center opened its ice-making facility in 1990.
In 1991 Perishable Distributors of Iowa (PDI) acquired Sunrise Dairy, which supplied dairy products and ice cream to stores.
In 1991 Hy-Vee became the largest private employer in the state of Iowa, a distinction still held today.
In February 1992, D&D Foods of Omaha, Nebraska, was acquired as a supplier of fresh salads and dips to Hy-Vee stores and now includes meat products such as Hy-Vee's popular chicken grillers in its product line.
The first Chinese Express department opened in Independence Missouri in 1992.
The third corporate logo, the white Hy-Vee name on a red background, appeared in 1993.
Customers were able to contact the company about products using a toll-free product phone line introduced in 1993.
In 1994, Hy-Vee updated its logo to the one used today.
In 1995 the firm moved its corporate headquarters to West Des Moines and changed its name to Hy-Vee, Inc.
When Hy-Vee celebrated its 65th anniversary in 1995, President/CEO/Chairman Ron Pearson realized the company should do something to preserve and use its history.
The following year the bank started started operating branches in serval Hy-Vee stores, In 1995 Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc. changed it's name to Hy-Vee, Inc.
HyVee Weitz Construction was formed in 1995 to serve as a general contractor.
The Road of Gold program, which rewards Hy-Vee truck drivers with accident-free records, was introduced in 1995.
In 1995 Hy-Vee moved its corporate headquarters from Chariton to West Des Moines, Iowa, while shortening its name to Hy-Vee, Inc.
Hy-Vee Bakery Manufacturing was established in 1996.
In 1997 Consumer Reports ranked the Iowa-based company as the fifth best United States supermarket chain.
The first gas operation opened in 1997 in Davenport Iowa.
Hy-Vee's Rochester Number 3 store in 1998 was the first in the chain to offer optional telephone or Internet shopping.
The Drug Town chain expanded into Nebraska in 1998.
In 1998 the corporation reached $3 billion in sales and the Employees' Trust Fund was reorganized into the Employees' Profit-Sharing Trust Fund and 401(k) Plan.
Customers were introduced to online grocery shopping in 1998.
In some markets, Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh will have some competition with Walmart Neighborhood Market, launched in 1998, that is similar to the Fast & Fresh concept.
On January 22, 1999 it sold Heartland Pantry, its chain of 42 Iowa convenience stores, to Kraus Gentle Corporation, which by April 1999 converted all those stores to the Kum & Go name.
Hy-Vee's annual sales reached an all-time high of $3.5 billion at the end of fiscal 1999.
1999: Hy-Vee, Inc. sells Heartland Pantry convenience stores to Kraus Gentle Corporation.
A third private-label line of products called Grand Selections was introduced in 1999.
In the April 1, 2000 Des Moines Register Tait said supermarkets had to remodel every seven to ten years to remain competitive, so he decided to sell his business.
However, strong regional chains including Hy-Vee were praised by retail analysts in the April 15, 2000 Supermarket Business, which ranked the nation's leading supermarkets.
In June 2000 Hy-Vee organized its newest subsidiary called electricfood.com, which began offering gourmet foods for purchase.
2000: Subsidiary electricfood.com starts offering Internet shopping for specialty foods.
As the 2000's were ending Hy-Vee had 228 stores along with Hy-Vee moving into its 8th state with opening a store in Madison Wisconsin.
In 2000 the profit-sharing plan was renamed the Hy-Vee and Affiliates Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan.
Thus more Mom and Pop grocery stores died as the supermarket industry consolidated. For example, Tait's Foods in Des Moines, a former Safeway supermarket, in 2000 sold its store to Hy-Vee, which planned to convert it to a Drug Town with an attached Regal liquor store.
HealthMarket private-label products were introduced in 2001.
In 2001 Ron Pearson was elected to serve for two years as chair of the Food Marketing Institute, the authoritative voice of the industry.
The fourth Hy-Vee logo, red letters on a white background, was unveiled in 2004.
Opening in 2004 was Hy-Vee Hall, the convention/event center part of the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines, for which Hy-Vee had purchased the naming rights.
In 2005 Hy-Vee celebrated its 75th Anniversity.
In 2007, Hy-Vee's first store, which was located in Beaconsfield, Iowa, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beginning in 2007, Hy-Vee has sponsored the richest purse in triathlon history with the Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon, held in summer in the Des Moines area.
Hy-Vee's fourth president, Randy Edeker, was selected to lead the company in December, 2009.
In fiscal year 2009, Hy-Vee had sales of exceeding $6.3 billion; it is the second-largest employee-owned company in the United States and is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 48th-largest privately owned company in the country.
In 2009, Hy-Vee moved into its eighth state of operations when the store in Madison, Wisconsin, opened.
Expansion and Technology advancement is the key in the 2010's
Hy-Vee ranked second on the National Center for Employee Ownership's list of Largest Employee Owned Companies in 2011.
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.
In 2012, Hy-Vee started to add full-service restaurants to some stores, named Hy-Vee Market Grille.
Hy-Vee purchased The Weitz Company interest in Hy-Vee Weitz Construction in February 2013.
New stores in new cities opened in Waukee Iowa and Plattsmouth NE in 2013.
Hy-Vee continued its focus on health and wellness with the addition of more in-store dietitians, HealthMarket® departments and the introduction of the Hy-Vee Healthy You Mobile in 2013.
In February 2014, Hy-Vee announced the acquisition of specialty pharmacy solutions provider, Amber Pharmacy, based in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 2014 stores in Fitchburg WI, Kernery NE and Springfield IL opened.
Hy-Vee's seafood sustainability program, Responsible Choice, was nationally recognized when Hy-Vee was ranked in the top five out of the 25 largest supermarket chains in the United States by Greenpeace in 2014.
In March 2015, Hy-Vee announced a partnership with the Pinky Swear Foundation and that following summer, Hy-Vee Pinky Swear Kids Triathlons were held in four states.
In September 2015, Hy-Vee opened its first stores in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.
In 2015, Hy-Vee celebrated its 85th Anniversary.
A fun, at-home online exercise program for kids and families, Hy-Vee KidsFit™, was launched in 2015.
In 2016, Hy-Vee began opening clothing boutiques featuring Tesco's F&F brand in select larger locations.
Hy-Vee ranked 27th on "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" by Supermarket News in 2016.
Hy-Vee ranked 27th on Forbes magazine's annual list of the largest privately owned companies in the United States in 2017.
Hy-Vee won numerous awards in 2017, including recognition by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers.
In 2018, the first-ever Hy-Vee Dollar Fresh store opened up in Osceola, Iowa.
In 2019, Hy-Vee announced it would start opening Joe Fresh clothing sections in stores and replace its previous F&F clothing departments.
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 September 2021, Hy-Vee opened a 92,989-square-foot flagship store in Grimes, Iowa.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee expressed interest in a former Shopko location in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin by applying for liquor licenses.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee launched a new subsidiary RedBox Rx which provides telehealth online pharmacy services, and ships prescriptions directly to patients’ homes.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee announced it would close four locations.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee expanded its online offering by introducing ship-to-home services.
In December 2021, Hy-Vee announced that Jeremy would be promoted to President of Hy-Vee, with Randy Edeker continuing to serve as CEO and chairman of the board.
In 2021, Hy-Vee was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 24th largest privately owned company in the United States.
The nearly 125,000 square foot store plans to open by the end of 2022, with specific plans yet to come.
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Hy-Vee competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winco Holdings, Inc. | 1968 | $4.7B | 20,000 | 103 |
| Safeway | 1915 | $36.3B | 250,001 | 44 |
| Wegmans Food Markets | 1916 | $10.8B | 50,002 | 483 |
| Price Chopper Supermarkets-Market 32 | 1932 | $640.0M | 3,000 | 7 |
| Hannaford Supermarkets | 1883 | $4.2B | 25,000 | 1,064 |
| Publix | 1930 | $48.4B | 225,000 | 492 |
| Whole Foods Market | 1978 | $16.0B | 91,000 | 1,714 |
| Stop & Shop | 1914 | $15.2B | 82,001 | 6 |
| King Soopers/City Market | 1947 | $4.0B | 20,000 | 137 |
| ShopRite Supermarkets Inc. | 1951 | $630.0M | 3,000 | - |
Hy-Vee history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Hy-Vee, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Hy-Vee. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Hy-Vee. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Hy-Vee. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Hy-Vee and its employees or that of Zippia.
Hy-Vee may also be known as or be related to Hy-Vee, Hy-Vee Inc and Hy-Vee, Inc.