Hy-Vee Plans Small Store for Online Pickups

Midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. is planning to build a new small-format store that would be a pick-up point for online grocery orders.

The combined market and gas station, planned for the Jordan Creek Town Center development in Hy-Vee’s headquarters city of West Des Moines, Iowa, might also include a quick-serve restaurant, the Des Moines Register reported.

The retailer is reportedly considering the name “Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh” for the work-in-progress concept, which would be 12,000 to 16,000 square feet and would include groceries, a fueling station and possibly a coffee shop, Hy-Vee spokeswoman Tara Deering-Hansen told the Register.

Construction is expected to begin this summer or fall.

The retailer currently operates grocery stores measuring around 90,000 square feet, as well as gas stations with small convenience stores.

This concept heralds further expansion of Hy-Vee’s online grocery shopping program, Hy-Vee Aisles Online. The service continues to grow among the retailer’s existing stores, and the company recently opened a fulfillment center in suburban Des Moines to supply the program.

This is the latest new store announcement for Hy-Vee since the retailer opened a 36,000-square-foot grocery store in downtown Des Moines earlier this year.

Hy-Vee operates more than 240 grocery stores across eight Midwestern states.