Hy-Vee's weirdest business decision yet?

jcisuclones

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After seeing how successful the indy car race was this weekend, it made me wonder how great hyvee would be if they spent more time focusing on their customers than branding.
 
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aeroclone

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Their meat is good but everything else is garbage about them too. Their produce is terrible and they are kind of limited on certain things. I never understood the Sunday thing either. I mean when you are in that business don't you want to be open on the day everyone else is off?
Isn't it like a religious thing with their ownership? Like how Chick-fil-A is closed Sundays.
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
Their meat is good but everything else is garbage about them too. Their produce is terrible and they are kind of limited on certain things. I never understood the Sunday thing either. I mean when you are in that business don't you want to be open on the day everyone else is off?
In north Iowa, their produce is better.
 

NWICY

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Their meat is good but everything else is garbage about them too. Their produce is terrible and they are kind of limited on certain things. I never understood the Sunday thing either. I mean when you are in that business don't you want to be open on the day everyone else is off?
Meh my local Fareway has produce that is every bit as good as Hy-Vees and I respect them for being closed on Sundays so their employees are guaranteed 1 day a week off.
 

StormnClone58

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After seeing how successful the indy car race was this weekend, it made me wonder how great hyvee would be if they spent more time focusing on their customers than branding.
Was it? Honest question, because i havent really heard.

Have to imagine they paid a crap-ton for their performing acts, kick-backs to the indy series, and then throw in the $10mil they dumped into fixing up the track.
 

GMackey32

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I'm not sure if religion has anything to do with it. I think they just want to guarantee their employees a day off. Not a bad thing unless your in the grocery or convenience store business.

It is all about resting on Sundays in the biblical sense I think.
It used to be resting on Sundays when they first started in the 1930’s but the last couple of decades it’s more about guaranteeing their employees at least 1 day off on the weekend.
 

KidSilverhair

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It used to be resting on Sundays when they first started in the 1930’s but the last couple of decades it’s more about guaranteeing their employees at least 1 day off on the weekend.
I remember my Grandma was pretty loyal to Fareway back in the 70s because they were closed on Sundays. Their ads in the local paper quite specifically said they were closed so their employees could spend Sunday with their families (“at church” was strongly implied).

For the longest time we wouldn’t even get fast food or buy anything on Sundays if we were spending time with those grandparents, because they thought it was sinful to force someone else to work on Sunday. She did relax her views later in her life, though.
 
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GMackey32

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I remember my Grandma was pretty loyal to Fareway back in the 70s because they were closed on Sundays. Their ads in the local paper quite specifically said they were closed so their employees could spend Sunday with their families (“at church” was strongly implied).

For the longest time we wouldn’t even get fast food or buy anything on Sundays if we were spending time with those grandparents, because they thought it was sinful to force someone else to work on Sunday. She did relax her views later in her life, though.
Fareway used to strongly imply using Sundays to go to church but have really backed off that stance the last 20-30 years. Now that they have a Gen Xer in charge, they are more up with the times than they were previously.
 

tm3308

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Meh my local Fareway has produce that is every bit as good as Hy-Vees and I respect them for being closed on Sundays so their employees are guaranteed 1 day a week off.
The Faraway I had in Iowa City had produce that was good enough for me most of the time, but I would occasionally have to go to Hy-Vee for that. Everything else about Fareway was better, though. Better meat (by a lot), better prices on most boxed/canned goods, and better service. As far as being closed on Sundays, I'm glad they do that, even if I did often get annoyed if I forgot something at the store and didn't realize it until I needed it on Sunday.
 

isufbcurt

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Was it? Honest question, because i havent really heard.

Have to imagine they paid a crap-ton for their performing acts, kick-backs to the indy series, and then throw in the $10mil they dumped into fixing up the track.

Yes it was a huge success.

Indy is coming back the next 3 years. And many Indy drivers publicly stated that other Indy venues need to follow the HyVee model of making it an "Event" rather than just a "race".
 

tm3308

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Here's an idea - Don't schedule an employee every day then. It's really pretty simple.
It's not about guaranteeing at least one day off every week. It's guaranteeing at least one *weekend* day off, which is more challenging to do if the store is open all weekend. As someone whose job can create really weird schedules, not having a day off on the weekend blows. What good does having a day off on Tuesday do? Nothing's happening on a Tuesday.
 

GMackey32

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Here's an idea - Don't schedule an employee every day then. It's really pretty simple.
Well, Managers are there everyday, typically from 5 a.m. to 5-6 p.m. By closing the store, it kind of forces Store Managers to take at least 1 day off. There’s a lot of Store Managers that are workaholics to the point it’s dangerous for their health.
 
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Jer

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Saw this post on Reddit and it fits pretty damn well...

Fareway gives me the heebee jeebeez. The white shirts, the old school paper hats, the "gods" of fareway that sit above the food and watch you. It's 100 percent weird. I can handle loading my own car fareway, I don't need some awkward forced conversation while walking to the car.