Hy-Vee's weirdest business decision yet?

houjix

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2021
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They claim it's because of too much product loss (theft)
The Valley West store and Grand store in WDM still have 4-8 self-checkouts. Maybe fewer criminals over here than Ankeny. They did dump the big ones with the rollers though.
 

AgronAlum

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2014
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A Costco membership for big ticket items (detergent, meat, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc.) and shopping at Aldi for produce and everyday items has saved us thousands of dollars the last few years. HyVee is an expensive Wal-Mart that seems to care very little about customers.

The AgronAlum household of 5 is

Sams - Big stuff
Fareway - Meat
Aldi - Almost everything else

We went from Sams to Costco for a year but ended up ditching Costco and went back. I can't imagine how much money we would have spent going to HyVee or Fareway for everything. We're running around 800-1000 a month as it is. We also do a lot of bulk meats (and deer) and stick it in the chest freezer. The only time I really step foot into HyVee is if I need a specialty item or everything else is closed.
 

KnappShack

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2008
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Parts Unknown
A Costco membership for big ticket items (detergent, meat, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc.) and shopping at Aldi for produce and everyday items has saved us thousands of dollars the last few years. HyVee is an expensive Wal-Mart that seems to care very little about customers.

Which is crazy.

It's never been a true low cost option. Service. Helpful smiles and whatnot....

20 years ago I saw staff run to the front of the store, grab umbrellas, and walk customers to their cars.

Then load up the groceries.

Now they don't have the customer service and can't consistently beat a Costco or Aldi.
 

CyState85

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May 8, 2019
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Which is crazy.

It's never been a true low cost option. Service. Helpful smiles and whatnot....

20 years ago I saw staff run to the front of the store, grab umbrellas, and walk customers to their cars.

Then load up the groceries.

Now they don't have the customer service and can't consistently beat a Costco or Aldi.
I exclusively shopped at HyVee the first 30 years of my life and when kids came along, I branched out and was floored at how much money I wasted over the years. I do spreadsheets for spending and the baby stuff alone was $1500/year from our first to second child.

I know nothing about business but most of their ideas the last 8-10 years are super weird and off putting.
 

alarson

Well-Known Member
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SuperFanatic T2
Mar 15, 2006
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Ankeny
They did dump the big ones with the rollers though.

I liked those.

I don't mind scanning my own stuff, it's doing that and bagging at the same time while others are waiting behind that can get more annoying
 

Freebird

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Apr 11, 2006
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The Valley West store and Grand store in WDM still have 4-8 self-checkouts. Maybe fewer criminals over here than Ankeny. They did dump the big ones with the rollers though.
I don’t think they had the big ones open in Ames for more than a few months. Wonder how much money they lost on installing those wastes of space.
 

Freebird

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Apr 11, 2006
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I liked those.

I don't mind scanning my own stuff, it's doing that and bagging at the same time while others are waiting behind that can get more annoying
Same. I used them for the brief time they were open
 

Kinch

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Sep 19, 2021
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South Ankeny Hy-Vee did as well. I wonder just how much merchandise walked out of the store not paid for or rung up incorrectly thanks to those lanes.
I noticed other stores besides Hy Vee, cutting back on self checkout.
 

Die4Cy

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Jan 2, 2010
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When did they install the 30 foot long conveyor checkouts at Menards? I haven't been to one in quite a while. Didn't care for it.
 

ClonesTwenty1

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2018
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They claim it's because of too much product loss (theft)
Definitely is. Back in the day when I use to work Loss Prevention we use to catch a lot of people not scanning hundreds of dollars at a time through self checkouts. I can’t even imagine how much shrinkage they have from them.
 

Tailg8er

Well-Known Member
Feb 25, 2011
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Johnston
The Valley West store and Grand store in WDM still have 4-8 self-checkouts. Maybe fewer criminals over here than Ankeny. They did dump the big ones with the rollers though.

Guessing they were causing too many insurance claims, my wife handled a bunch where kids would get their fingers caught in them. That & the space they take up.
 

Urbandale2013

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2018
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Urbandale
-shut down the self-check lanes on one side, freeing up that employee to do whatever job they were hired to do in the first place; turn those lines into “HyVee Aisles” checkouts for the employees clogging up the aisles shopping for online customers; still don’t have enough checkers working
I still don’t understand why they went away from the fulfillment center method for the shopping. Keep all of the lazy people’s groceries away from people that are actually doing their own shopping.

When I worked there you couldn’t have a pallet or anything out during the day so that shoppers weren’t inconvenienced.
 

CyclonesRock

Well-Known Member
Jan 1, 2018
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Iowa
Sam's Club now has the tollway type scanners set up. No more random scans of a couple items in my cart and receipt when I leave, they just wave you on through.
 

somecyguy

Well-Known Member
Jun 19, 2006
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About 2 months ago.

‘Because they wanted to provide more customer service’ per an employee when I asked. But it was 100% because of theft or theft suspicions.

Either way I'm still bagging my own because there is never any baggers around.
 

jsb

Well-Known Member
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SuperFanatic T2
Mar 7, 2008
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I liked those.

I don't mind scanning my own stuff, it's doing that and bagging at the same time while others are waiting behind that can get more annoying

Yep, I was really happy with the big ones. I could scan my groceries and bag them faster than the actual clerks could.
 

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