Hy-Vee Opens 1st Store Under New Small-Format, Fresh-Focused Concept

Hy-Vee has opened the first store under its new Fast & Fresh banner, a fresh-focused concept intended to provide on-the-go shoppers with quality products.

The 10,000-square-foot store, which opened last week in Davenport, Iowa, offers the typical mainstays of a convenience store, such as fuel pumps, frozen food, roller grill favorites and wine and spirits. The location is roughly one-tenth the size of Hy-Vee's largest grocery store, in Bloomington, Ill.

But despite its smaller size, it still incorporates many features typical of Hy-Vee's grocery stores, including a growler craft beer station, meal kits, nori sushi, a wood-oven pizza, produce, grab-and-go meals, a Starbucks Coffee store with a drive-thru, and more. Shoppers even can make their purchases in the store or through Hy-Vee's Aisles Online click-and-collect service.

News outlets first reported that Hy-Vee was working on the new format in the spring of 2017. Initial reports said that the first location was being planned for the grocer's hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, and that it might also include a quick-serve restaurant.

Hy-Vee Inc. operates more than 245 retail stores across eight Midwestern states and has more than 80,000 associates. It ranks 15th on Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.