Hy-Vee Food Stores is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets located in the Midwestern United States.

As of March 2005, Hy-Vee operates 194 supermarkets in seven states. Over 100 of those stores are located in Iowa, with additional stores in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota. They also operate 26 Drug Town pharmacies in Iowa and Nebraska as well as liquor stores under the names Regal Liquors and Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits.

Most Hy-Vee stores are full-service supermarkets with bakeries, delicatessens, banks, florists , and pharmacies. To keep pace with Wal-Mart's recent expansion into the gas station business, Hy-Vee has also added gas stations with convenience stores on some of its properties.

Hy-Vee is known for its longtime advertising slogan, "Where there's a helpful smile in every aisle."

History

In 1930, the first Hy-Vee store was started in Beaconsfield, Iowa, by Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg. More stores were started, and in 1938, they incorporated into Hyde & Vredenburg, Inc. The Hy-Vee name, which is a contraction of the two names, was adopted in 1952.

Hyde & Vredenburg was originally based in Lamoni, Iowa, before moving to Chariton, Iowa, in 1945. Hy-Vee's corporate offices were moved to their current home in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995. The company still has its primary distribution center in Chariton; a second distribution center is located in Cherokee, Iowa.

Hy-Vee purchased the naming rights to the Iowa Events Center's exhibition hall in 2001; Hy-Vee Hall was completed in December 2004.

In recent years Hy-Vee has branched out from its retail operations by acquiring several companies that provide services to its stores. Hy-Vee's non-retail subsidiaries are:

• D & D Foods, Inc., a supplier of fresh salads based in Omaha, Nebraska
• Florist Distributing, Inc., a distributor of flowers and plants based in Des Moines, Iowa
• Hy-Vee Care, a pharmaceutical product distributor based in Urbandale, Iowa
• Hy-Vee Weitz, L.C., a construction company based in Des Moines
• Lomar Distributing, Inc., a specialty food distributor based in Des Moines
• The Meyocks Group Inc., an advertising, marketing, and product research firm based in West Des Moines, Iowa
• Midwest Heritage Bank, FSB, a bank based out of Chariton, Iowa
• Perishable Distributors of Iowa, Ltd., a distributor of meat, seafood, and ice cream, based in Ankeny, Iowa

Hy-Vee Inc. provides career opportunities to over 47,000 American Midwesterners. The company has annual sales of over $4.6 billion. In 2004, Hy-Vee ranked 31st on Forbes magazine's annual list of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States. [1]

External link

• Hy-Vee Food Stores Official Website