Hy-Vee-What's up?

[CTTB78]

Our rural area only has Walmart but when we get to the big city it's HyVee for most stuff and when back to Iowa it's Fareway for meat. Don't care about greetings, on-line, delivery, clothes, bath, or beer. Just want selection and quality at value prices.

 

[somecyguy]

Aldi's is for poor people.

Aldi's is Walmart without the guilt/shame/disgust.

 

[NodawayRiverClone]

And maybe I’m just an old man now, but I started working there at age 14 through high school, went back after the military as a college job and back then (not THAT long ago) it was a freaking grocery store that emphasized customer service over all else. Now try finding an employee in an aisle that knows where a specific item you’re looking for is. Try finding an empty and open check out lane. Try finding a shift manager that’s not more worried about their phone or chatting with other workers. In my day you’d get written up for not greeting a customer in the aisle. Now it’s not so much a grocery store as they want it to be a lifestyle thing. Dumb.

In my experience (shopping weekly), only one I can agree with is the empty, open check-out lane where managers seem a little slow (or distracted) in getting an additional checker or two. Believe HV is still much better than WalMart.

 

[isufbcurt]

Aldi's is Walmart without the guilt/shame/disgust.

We used to go to Aldi's when I was a kid and I felt very ashamed.

 

[NodawayRiverClone]

The curse of the Market Grille. Just an absolute bomb of an idea.

A friend just remarked today that his granddaughter is being laid off from a metro Market Grille that is converting to W-burgers and how she will miss the great tips that have been given. Apparently not bad for everybody.

 

[abe2010]

I told my wife that Hy-Vee jumped the shark when they started putting bars in their grocery stores. WTF? Who bellies up at a grocery store?

i would totally love a beer while my wife grocery shops for an hour

 

[Gunnerclone]

We used to go to Aldi's when I was a kid and I felt very ashamed.

Every Aldi I’ve been in has been disgusting. Can’t get past it.

 

[jdcyclone19]

Aldi's is for poor people.

The poor gotta eat too. The new Aldi's are very nice.

 

[Al_4_State]

I love Aldi's. Keep holding your nose, I'll save money on the items where there's no discernible drop off in quality.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I worked at HyVee in high school and a short period in college. We went through good training and were actually supervised well to execute that training. It seems like the kids that bag my food now were never told to put delicate items at the top of the bag.

I've gone from exclusively shopping at HyVee for groceries to splitting between HyVee, Aldi, and Trader Joe's.

I won't complain too much, though. When I lived in Northern Virginia, Safeway and Giant were significantly worse than HyVee in my opinion. The only thing that was as good was Harris Teeter.

 

[NodawayRiverClone]

Giant Eagle's are actually kinda nice! Kroger's suck and I hate their existence.

Has Acme Fresh Market made it's way from North East Ohio yet? Those things.... 2nd favorite grocery store in the country. Publix by far is the best.

Publix we have shopped in Florida are clean and well stocked - and probably should be - prices in Florida are high.

 

[dosry5]

We used to go to Aldi's when I was a kid and I felt very ashamed.

What is this quarter for a cart rental BS I hear that Aldis has going on? I think there is an Aldis cult...I’m a little scared to start shopping there

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I don’t have time to listen to your problems, I have to face front the cereal aisle...

Jello and pudding boxes were the freakin worst! Cat food was a close second.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

What is this quarter for a cart rental BS I hear that Aldis has going on? I think there is an Aldis cult...I’m a little scared to start shopping there

Aldi is night and day different from when I was a kid. I remember my grandma taking me there as a kid and even feeling shame at the young of an age that I was poor. I was young and probably had no idea what a "brand" even was, but still somehow knew that Aldi was selling some watered down version of the real thing. Anymore though, I can't really tell the difference between a jar of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce and whatever off-brand Aldi sells, so why not save .50 cents? The stores do look cleaner and more up to date now, and I think the quality has increased too, or at least my perception of it has.

 

[twojman]

Aldi's is for poor people.

By poor do you mean smart?

 

[aeroclone]

So you worked when it opened in 1998? Curious what you did there, I didn't really know a whole lot of people outside of the meat room or store management as I just didn't get a lot of interaction with the rest of the part timers obviously. I still shop there today as it is the closest store from where I work so it is really convenient to stop there on the way home. Not many people left from when we worked there but in retail I am not surprised by that either it is a high turnover business and those who do hang around either stay in 1 spot for a long time or jump to the next promotion they can get. I am really impressed with the current store director they have there as I bet 75% of the times I am in there I run into him either in passing or he's running a check out lane or helping dish up some food from the Chinese or kitchen. Always quick to say hi and ask how you are doing and maybe even make small talk so I get a sense he's probably a very hands on director that knows what is going on there. I couldn't say the same about the guy that was the director when it first opened up. He was usually up in his office a lot and never saw him get out on the floor and help much. He probably was able to get away with it in part that the managers directly under him were really good as well as the department heads too plus that store is in an area that it will always get a lot of business regardless because there is no other grocery store within several miles of it. I did enjoy getting to visit a good chunk of the stores during 2 summers and part of a spring after a college doing some IT work for them as I got to meet a lot of great people that ran the stores. Was interesting to see the behind the scenes stuff that goes on in both larger and smaller stores they have and the type of people they had a the top of their management.

I spent much of my tenure as a cashier. I did get through a couple departments in time, but never worked the meat department.

 

[JP4CY]

Every Aldi I’ve been in has been disgusting. Can’t get past it.

Ankeny, WDM, and Ames stores are all nice.

 

[CTTB78]

What is this quarter for a cart rental BS I hear that Aldis has going on? I think there is an Aldis cult...I’m a little scared to start shopping there

Those Germans are very smart. Don't have to pay for some HS kid to wander around the parking lot looking lost.
Aldi is now going into 'upscale' neighborhoods and it is one of the fastest growing grocery chains in the country.

 

[Gonzo]

The one thing that Hy-Vee and others are probably struggling with is the pace of change. For their whole history, Hy-Vee's main competitors were other grocery stores. Your options 10 years ago in the metro were mostly Hy-Vee, Dahls, and Fareway.

Now you have
Costco
Wal-Mart is finally a grocery option and also delivery
Target is finally a grocery option and also delivery
Amazon=Will soon have grocery delivery
Trader Joes
Aldi's=People are now considering this an option
Whole Foods
KwikTrip=Not all your groceries but cheap options for things like butter, milk, bread ext.

My wife is a loyal Hy-Vee shopper and has used the delivery service since day one. She constantly has issues with them missing items, not crediting her fuel saver, etc. She has tried Target delivery (actually pick-up) and she said they kill Hy-Vee when it comes to customer service.

I don't know much about Fareway but I do know that I like that Hy-Vee is willing to try new things. When I walk into most Fareway's, it's like stepping back 50 years ago. I will sometimes go there for meat but the rest of the store is depressing. If I want to be depressed, I'd rather go to Aldi's and pay less. As a car guy, it's kind of like this:

Hy-Vee=Lexus
Fareway=Toyota
Aldi=2013 Toyota Corolla
Whole Foods=Mercedes S Class
Amazon=Tesla
Wal-Mart=Nissan Leaf
Costco=Mazda CX-5
Price Chopper=Nissan Altima


Aldi's doesn't have to worry about Amazon and Whole foods because very few people cross shop a new Mercedes and a used Corolla.

Hy-Vee is still reliable and people have always paid a little more for the luxury. Except now for the same price you can buy a Tesla. With the Tesla, you may lose some of the luxury but customers are realizing that the Tesla is better in a lot of other aspects.

Fareway has always gotten away with "The ES and the Camry are basically the same car". Not sure how well this will work in the future. Do they stick with the gas engine, move to a hybrid, or go full electric? Do they just keep producing the same thing until this demographic dies out?

Price Chopper=Altima trying to compete against better sedans in an already dying market.

Costco=Sedans are dying and everyone is buying mid size SUV's and ours is the best in the segment.

Amazon believes that grocery stores are a thing of the past and the future is delivery.

I worked at Sunmart through high school (Cedar Rapids area), courtesy of Nash Finch (which also owned Econofoods). We were like the Oakland Raiders of the grocery store world, minus the winning tradition. Misfit central. It was great.

 

[dosry5]

I worked at Sunmart through high school (Cedar Rapids area), courtesy of Nash Finch (which also owned Econofoods). We were like the Oakland Raiders of the grocery store world, minus the winning tradition. Misfit central. It was great.

So you worked at a 2nd class store and root for a 2nd class team? Got it....