Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee makes plans to come to Louisville, 3 other states
A popular Iowa-based grocery chain is hoping to drastically expand its footprint, with plans to open a new distribution center and more than 20 stores in new states in the next four years.
Hy-Vee intends to open new stores in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Alabama, CEO Randy Edeker said in a video obtained by the USA Today Network.
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The goal is to have the distribution center — slated for Nashville, Tennessee — and seven new stores opened by 2023, Edeker said in the video.
Four of the new stores are planned for Tennessee, with the other locations including a store in Louisville, Kentucky; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Huntsville, Alabama.
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“This is the growth for the next 25 years for Hy-Vee in this territory,” Edeker said on the video. “If we can build out 50 stores in this market, we estimate that is $6 billion (in sales). But overnight we’re going to go from a regional company to a national company. As we build our third DC (distribution center) in the Nashville market you will see us turn more into a national presence.”
Currently, the company has more than 93,000 employees across nearly 300 stores in eight Midwest states. It is the largest private employer in Iowa. According to the video, select Hy-Vee employees will begin relocating to the Nashville region as early as January 2022.
Hy-Vee is the second grocery chain to recently announce plans to expand into the Louisville market. Publix, a Florida-based supermarket chain, announced in September that it plans to open its first store in Kentucky in Jefferson County, at Terra Crossing Boulevard and Old Henry Road, near Middletown, in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Earlier this month, Publix said it plans to place a second Derby City location at the northeast corner of Ballardsville Road and Brownsboro Road. That store would open in the first quarter of 2024.
Des Moines Register reporter Hannah Rodriguez contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Hy-Vee grocery chain makes plans to come to Louisville
