Grocery Business

Chris Higginbotnam from HyVee was the speaker at the Optimist Club on 24 July.  He started in the grocery business in 1979 and started at HyVee in 1988.  He will be the manager at the new HyVee store on West Broadway, which is opening in November.

HyVee started in 1930.  They now have 230 stores in 8 states.  They opened their first store in Wisconsin (Madison) this year and one in Peoria, Illinois.  They announced one Springfield, Missouri.  HyVee is a $6 billion company.  They usually build their own stores.

The new Council Bluffs store will be 68,000 square feet, slightly smaller than the Madison Ave one.  It will contain a sushi shop, a sub shop, and a floral shop in the middle of the store.  The store will have 370-400 employees.  The 16^th Street store will close when the new one opens.

HyVee is a privately owned company.  They are employee owned, meaning you need to be an employee to buy stock.  Employees can also take advantage of a 401K program to invest in the company.