Key moments in Hy-Vee’s history
The following is a history of West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee Inc., with more than 570 retail units in nine states. The timeline was compiled from information from a history book on the company, its online timeline and news releases.
1930s
1930 – Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg open a small grocery and dry goods store in Beaconsfield, Iowa. In 1933, the men begin calling the store Hyde & Vredenburg.
1938 – Hyde and Vredenburg with 14 others incorporate 15 stores in Iowa and Missouri as Hyde & Vredenburg Inc. Dwight Vredenburg, David’s son, becomes company’s first president. Sales that year gross over $1 million.
1940s
1940 – The first self-service Hyde & Vredenburg store opens in Centerville. Clerks no longer fill orders. Instead, customers – with the use of shopping carts – select their own groceries from the shelves.
1945 – Hyde & Vredenburg Inc. purchase the Chariton Wholesale Grocery in Chariton, where it moves its corporate offices.
1949 – Hyde & Vredenburg Inc. operate 29 stores.
1950s
1952 – A contest is held to rename the growing chain of grocery stores. The winning name – Hy-Vee – is formed from a contraction of Hyde and Vredenburg.
1954 – The company opens a data processing department, now known as information technology.
1956 – Private label products using the name Hy-Vee are introduced.
1957 – Hy-Vee opens its first in-store bakery at a store in Iowa City.
1959 – A store opens in Johnston, Hy-Vee’s first in Polk County and in a major metropolitan area.
December 1959 – Hy-Vee has 37 stores in two states and about 1,200 employees.
1960s
1960 – The Employees’ Trust Fund is established, allowing all eligible employees to share in ownership of the company.
1961 – Hy-Vee introduces its first eat-in dining area and first express lane checkouts.
April 1961 – Hy-Vee opens its first store in Des Moines at 2310 Euclid Ave.
1963 – The slogan “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” is introduced.
1969 – Hy-Vee adds a drug store division, opening its first Drug Town in Cedar Rapids. The stores, located in Iowa and Nebraska, are renamed Hy-Vee Drugstores in 2005.
December 1969 – Hy-Vee has 66 Hy-Vee stores in three states including Minnesota.
1970s
1975 – Electronic cash registers are introduced at a Hy-Vee store in Keokuk.
1978 – Dwight Vredenburg is elected the company’s first chief executive officer and chairman of the board.
1979 – In-store floral shops are added to stores.
December 1979 – Hy-Vee has 124 stores in six states including South Dakota, Nebraska and Illinois; it has about 10,000 employees.
1980s
1982 – Hy-Vee has its first billion-dollar sales year.
1982 – Hy-Vee establishes subsidiary Perishable Distributors of Iowa Inc. to provide fresh meat, fish and seafood products.
1983 – Ron Pearson is elected president. In 1989, he becomes CEO and chairman of the board.
1984 – Video rentals and bank branch services are added to stores.
1989 – Hy-Vee begins operating a chain of convenience stores known as Heartland Pantry.
December 1989 – Hy-Vee has 173 stores in seven states including Kansas; it has about 23,000 employees.
1990s
1991 – Hy-Vee becomes Iowa’s largest private employer, a distinction it still holds.
1991 – Perishable Distributing acquires Sunrise Dairy, which supplied dairy products and ice cream to stores.
1992 – Florist Distributing Inc. is acquired to provide fresh flowers, plants and decorative items.
1995 – Hy-Vee Weitz Construction LC is formed to serve as general contractor for Hy-Vee Inc. Also, the company changes its name from Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc. to Hy-Vee Inc. The company relocates its corporate headquarters from Chariton to West Des Moines.
1997 – The first Hy-Vee Gas opens in Davenport.
1998 – Hy-Vee introduces self-scanner checkouts at its store at Southridge Mall in Des Moines.
December 1999 – Hy-Vee has 208 stores in seven states and about 43,000 employees.
2000s
2001 – Ric Jurgens is elected president of Hy-Vee. He becomes CEO in 2003 and board chairman in 2006.
2001 – HealthMarket private-label products are introduced as Hy-Vee increases its focus on customers’ healthy lifestyles.
The company also begins providing in-store dietitians.
2008 – A relocated store on Fleur Drive in Des Moines becomes Hy-Vee’s largest, with over 91,000 square feet.
2009 – Randy Edeker becomes Hy-Vee’s fourth president. He is named CEO and board chairman in 2012.
December 2009 – Hy-Vee has 228 stores in eight states including Wisconsin. The company, with $6.3 billion in sales in fiscal 2009, has about 55,000 employees.
2010s
2012 – Hy-Vee introduces its Fuel Saver + Perks program that allows customers to earn discounts on gasoline.
2013 – Pharmacy Fulfillment Center, a central-fill pharmacy, opens in Des Moines. Also, that year, Hy-Vee buys Weitz Co.’s interest in the construction company, whose name is changed to Hy-Vee Construction Inc.
2014 – Hy-Vee acquires Amber Pharmacy, a specialty pharmacy in Omaha, Neb.
October 2015 – Hy-Vee Aisles Online is fully implemented, allowing customers to shop on the company’s website and either pick up orders or have them delivered.
2016 – The Hy-Vee Training and Education Center opens in Urbandale. The center houses the company’s management development program and other training initiatives.
2017 – Hy-Vee Helpful Smiles Technology innovation center opens in Grimes. The space is designed to promote creativity and collaboration and attract tech workers.
2017 – In the fiscal year, Hy-Vee has $10 billion in annual sales.
2018 – The first three Hy-Vee-owned Wahlburgers restaurants open, including in West Des Moines.
2019 – Hy-Vee announces $90 million investment to remodel 14 stores in Kansas and Missouri.
December 2019 – Hy-Vee has 265 retail stores in eight states including Wisconsin and about 75,000 employees.
2020s
October 2020 – Hy-Vee donates record $59 million to local communities.
December 2020 – The company launches Vivid Clear Rx, its own pharmacy benefit manager that is designed around transparent pricing.
August 2021 – Hy-Vee launches a new division: Wall to Wall Wine and Spirits. The first stores open in West Des Moines and in Nebraska.
September 2021 – Hy-Vee opens its first “reimagined” store in Grimes. It includes a new exterior look. Inside is a large Food Hall, DSW shoes and accessories, Joe Fresh clothing, a nail salon, and a fitness and wellness showroom, as well as other standard features of a Hy-Vee store.
October 2021 – Hy-Vee selects Caitlin Clark, then a University of Iowa sophomore, as its first collegiate athlete partner under the NCAA’s new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy.
2021 – Hy-Vee launches subsidiary RedBox Rx that provides telehealth and online pharmacy services, shipping prescribed treatments to patients’ homes.
December 2021 – Hy-Vee introduces its Disaster Relief Fleet to aid communities affected by natural disasters.
May 2022 – The company’s first OpportUNITY Summit, designed to promote and advance women- and minority-owned businesses, is held in Cedar Rapids.
Spring 2022 – Hy-Vee undertakes a restructuring effort that affects more than 100 corporate positions.
July 2022 – A series of leadership changes are announced including naming Aaron Wiese and Jeremy Gosch co-CEOs, effective Oct. 1.
December 2022 – More leadership changes are announced including naming Gosch as the company’s sole CEO. Wiese becomes president, overseeing Hy-Vee’s health and wellness subsidiaries and distribution and technology. Donna Tweeten is also named president, overseeing marketing, merchandising, private brands and digital development.
April 2023 – Hy-Vee opens a free-standing health infusion clinic in West Des Moines. The clinic offers treatments for rheumatology, gastroenterology, oncology and other chronic conditions.
October 2023 – Hy-Vee becomes largest employer in the Greater Des Moines area.
January 2024 – Hy-Vee becomes joint owner of Exemplar Care, a direct primary care medical practice based in Central Iowa.
April 2024 – Hy-Vee announces that it is acquiring the Strack & Van Til Food Market chain, also known as Indiana Grocery Group LLC.
July 2024 – Gosch becomes Hy-Vee’s chairman of the board.
