WEST DES MOINES, IA - This year looks to be one of innovation for midwestern retailer, Hy-Vee. Following the recent restructuring of its corporate organization, the company has confirmed it is exploring a new, convenience-oriented format highlighting its Aisles Online program offering convenient drive-thru grocery pick up.

The project is currently operating under the concept name of “Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh,” according to local news source, the Des Moines Register.

“The exact store design and store concept is still being decided,” Tara Deering-Hansen, Group Vice President, Communications of Hy-Vee, told the source.

She confirmed that the store will be between 12,000- and 16,000-square-feet, including groceries and fuel pumps. According to the source, she went on to say that this is a new concept for the company, and will expand on the existing gas stations and small convenience stores the company operates.

Real estate drawings of the project depict a small Hy-Vee store with a pickup lane for online grocery orders on one side, and a drive-thru cafe on the other.

Last year, Hy-Vee rolled out online shopping for all 240 of its stores. The Aisles Online program allows consumers to order and pay online, then select pick up or delivery. Earlier in March of 2017, Hy-Vee bought an 81,936-square-foot facility for $3.6 million to turn into a fulfillment center for the online grocery ordering program, according to the Des Moines Register.

"It takes too many store personnel to fill orders when online shopping grows. It too expensive, and employees are tripping over real customers in the stores," Jim Hertel, Senior Vice President at consulting firm Willard Bishop, an Inmar Co, told the source. “Hy-Vee's relatively new online program must be successful if it is moving fulfillment operations out of stores.”

Will this new hybrid convenience format take off? Stay tuned with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report.

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