Hy-Vee's weirdest business decision yet?

[HoraceGrant]

It's not just user error though. Those machines constantly have issues. I've had to have someone come over more times than not because an item wasn't recognized in the bagging area.

Yeah, I mentioned in another post that Hy-Vee's POS system is especially laggy. There are also a few items that have barcodes, but then if you scan them it has an error because you were supposed to type it in and unless you have made that mistake there is no way to know - would probably be helpful if those items just didn't have barcodes, but I don't know.

 

[tube1]

HAVE YOU USED YOUR HY-VEE PERKS REWARDS CARD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Kinch]

In Ottumwa, a small mom and pop couldn’t keep up with Hy Vee, so they went more to scratch and dented items, which they got from….Hy Vee. Business was brisk, so much that it was cutting into Hy Vee’s business. After a few years, Hy Vee stopped selling to them and then started selling to Mennonite stores. Same thing happened. The Mennonite stores found other suppliers and they kinda eat into Hy Vee sales. Kinda funny. Mennonite stores in southern Iowa and northern Missouri have a large distribution network.

 

[cydsho]

Ironically HyVee is taking those out...

Which is really ironic since the largest Hy vee in the world that was just built (here in Omaha area) is mostly self check out.

 

[ScottyP]

I don't understand how many Hy-Vee's and other stores only have about 1/3 or 1/2 of the self-checkouts actually open. I understand you might want some employee monitoring them, but you should be able to consolidate them into a space where you only need one employee to monitor 6-8 self-checkout kiosks. I went into Hy-Vee on Saturday and only 2 of the six or eight checkout kiosks were open.

 

[carvers4math]

HAVE YOU USED YOUR HY-VEE PERKS REWARDS CARD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

This made me laugh. We get multiple emails about this daily and I haven’t set foot in Hy-Vee since the open soap bomb bin right by the pharmacy induced an asthma attack over four years ago.

 

[iahawkhunter]

This made me laugh. We get multiple emails about this daily and I haven’t set foot in Hy-Vee since the open soap bomb bin right by the pharmacy induced an asthma attack over four years ago.

Inducing an athsma attack at the pharmacy. That's some guerrilla marketing right there.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I never got around to using the "Scan and go" thing at HyVee, like Sams has., But they need that back. It's life-changing at Sams. Scan with your phone as you put into your cart, click the pay button and walk out of the store like a boss. You still have to get frisked at the door, but it saves waiting in the checkout line with the unwashed masses.

 

[VeloClone]

You guys won’t believe this but the DSW partnership and decision to sell shoes in a grocery store didn’t work.

Yeah, they have been moving all of that crap out of our store for the last 6 months. No big surprise here.

 

[VeloClone]

HAVE YOU USED YOUR HY-VEE PERKS REWARDS CARD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Not a large enough font. The way you have this doesn't say can hear it clear back at the meat counter to me.

 

[carvers4math]

Inducing an athsma attack at the pharmacy. That's some guerrilla marketing right there.

Surprised they didn’t ask if I wanted to refill my Albuterol

 

[DSMCy]

Not a large enough font. The way you have this doesn't say can hear it clear back at the meat counter to me.

You can actually set the volume and it saves to your Perks account.
Then it doesn’t blare the next time you use self checkout

 

[Pope]

HyVee North in Ankeny now has signs that say 12 item limit for self checkout lanes.

 

[dmclone]

Seriously, they can't make anything stick. I get why they want it to work, the non-food stuff has a LOT higher gross but some of this is just common sense. Grimes has only been open for a few years and they've already shut down the nail salon, Joe Fresh, DSW, and they were selling fitness equipment.

What could they do with these spots that would work? What have other chains started?

They don't need more groceries. One of the few reasons my wife shops at Hy-Vee over other places is that they carry pretty much everything

I'm really struggling trying to think of anything good. Maybe follow the lead of someone like Public or HEB and stick to what got you here.

 

[Three4Cy]

HyVee North in Ankeny now has signs that say 12 item limit for self checkout lanes.

Target has done the same thing in their self checkout, a limit of 10 items.

 

[VeloClone]

Seriously, they can't make anything stick. I get why they want it to work, the non-food stuff has a LOT higher gross but some of this is just common sense. Grimes has only been open for a few years and they've already shut down the nail salon, Joe Fresh, DSW, and they were selling fitness equipment.

What could they do with these spots that would work? What have other chains started?

They don't need more groceries. One of the few reasons my wife shops at Hy-Vee over other places is that they carry pretty much everything

I'm really struggling trying to think of anything good. Maybe follow the lead of someone like Public or HEB and stick to what got you here.

Not necessarily true at all of their stores.

There are quite a few things that Mrs. Velo started buying at Hy-Vee and got hooked. Our local Hy-Vee stopped carrying many of those items. When she worked at Hy-Vee if the manager got a request to bring an item or brand of item back they would, even with just one request. She has been unable to get any of the items back that she has requested.

 

[Pat]

Not necessarily true at all of their stores.

There are quite a few things that Mrs. Velo started buying at Hy-Vee and got hooked. Our local Hy-Vee stopped carrying many of those items. When she worked at Hy-Vee if the manager got a request to bring an item or brand of item back they would, even with just one request. She has been unable to get any of the items back that she has requested.

Seconded. I always preferred Hy-Vee because of the grocery selection. Did I need a choice of 17 different brands/sizes of tater tots? Not at all. But when they get rid of 15 of them and the only choices were the “expensive” ones, it really removed any competitive advantage they had over Walmart or Fareway.

 

[ZRF]

I never got around to using the "Scan and go" thing at HyVee, like Sams has., But they need that back. It's life-changing at Sams. Scan with your phone as you put into your cart, click the pay button and walk out of the store like a boss. You still have to get frisked at the door, but it saves waiting in the checkout line with the unwashed masses.

I understand the hate for Walmart/Walton affiliated stuff in general, but as a store Sams's blows Costco away for their ease of checkout alone.

I live in Overland Park and have a Sams store that's closer to the house. The Costco is an extra 5 minutes away and is an absolutely nightmare store to visit. Over the weekend I went with the oldest to get a slice of pizza after the EKL (Overland Park high school conference) swim meet at Blue Valley North (basically across the street from Costco). I couldn't even park, finally finding a spot near the loading dock that's typically reserved for workers. The checkout lines were a nighmare, the store was packed, and it reminded me why I never go there (they really need to build another store near 151st as that one services too many peeps).

In Sams the aisles are wider, the products are just as good (I used to find Kirkland brand items to be of better quality but feel Kirkland has taken a nosedive the last decade), and the continuous scan app saves time. I'm out of the store in 20 or so minutes where a similar run at that Costco would be 45-60 minutes.

Every so often I'll go to Costco to load up on peanut butter. Otherwise I avoid it like the plauge.

 

[Nothingman]

The downtown Des Moines store just announced today that they are closing at 6:00 pm going forward. Apparently didn’t even tell the staff. Smart. As a downtown resident, it’s disappointing.

 

[Cyientist]

HyVee North in Ankeny now has signs that say 12 item limit for self checkout lanes.

I wish the NA Hyvee would bring back the one way aisles of Covid days. It is getting hard to make it through these days. If you don’t grab your item while still on the move the entire aisle gets backed up.