With each new store in the Twin Cities, Hy-Vee raises the stakes in a highly competitive grocery market.
Its store opening today in Savage features several Hy-Vee firsts, including Basin, a cosmetics and beauty department and several new grab-and-go options such as Dia Pida Italian Street Food, Long Island Deli sandwich shop, the hibachi Asian Grill and a Produce Butcher who will cut fruits and vegetables to order at no charge.
“We look at the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as a sophisticated food market,” Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chief executive, said. “Our store designs are evolving as we see how people shop.”
The new 98,300-square-foot store at 6150 Egan Drive also makes its first nod to Minnesota’s liquor laws. Savage is one of many communities that only allows municipal liquor stores, so Hy-Vee included space for the city of Savage to run one of its outlets, which the city agreed to do and readied for the opening.
“We think wine and spirits is part of how today’s customer wants to shop,” Edeker said.
The 24-hour store also includes amenities from other Twin Cities locations, such as a Market Grille restaurant, Juice & Smoothies Island, Hickory House comfort foods, Cocina Mexicana made to order, bagel shop, F & F fashions for the family, as well as a pharmacy with drive-up, Starbucks, dry cleaning and postal service.
The new store in Savage is Hy-Vee’s 243rd.
Next week, Hy-Vee for the first time will open a store in an urban downtown and chose Des Moines, its headquarters city. The downtown store will be 36,000 square feet in size, slightly larger than Target’s stores in Dinkytown and Highland Park. Edeker said Hy-Vee is looking for appropriate spaces in Minneapolis and St. Paul for similar stores.
Hy-Vee plans to open two more stores in the Twin Cities this year in Cottage Grove (summer) and Shakopee (fall). Other stores in the pipeline include Farmington, two locations in Maple Grove, Columbia Heights, Robbinsdale, Chaska and White Bear Lake, which is set to include a fitness center.
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