It's no longer a grocery store, the new ones seem like they have less selection for groceries and more ******** like the bathbombs and clothing store. (South ankeny one). As others have said they expanded into other areas way to fast.
Hy-Vee-What's up?
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
It makes me wonder what kind of research they do. Seems like they want to be an industry driver but they didn’t actually do any research with customers/consumers.
Also seems like they are way past just promoting up the ladder like they do so much of. It’s a great story when a bag boy eventually becomes a frozen foods manager but there’s a big lack of skills there because their only talent is being part of the machine and having experience in the machine.
For the people mentioning "the lack of helpful smile in every isle" is this really a issue. When we go to the grocery store we know what we want/need and can find it relatively easy without assistance. In fact if we can manage to not see any employees in an isle that's a huge bonus.
I used t work for a supplier of HyVee and whent hey rolled out the Aisles on-line program our very first reaction was "that's a great way to get people to stop buying high margin impulse items." That was fact realized within a year of the program and they still pushed their chips all in on the fulfillment centers. So dumb!
They are clearly emphasizing high-margin items at the expense of grocery selection. I hate everything about Walmart, but the Duff location might have a better grocery selection than the revamped East Hy-Vee. And since both are essentially self-check...
I worked at Hyvee in high school and remember being reprimanded by the front end manager on my first day because I didn’t say hello to a customer in passing. Fast forward ten years, I go into Hyvee and see kids, the same age I was when I worked there, grouped up standing around on their phones in the produce section talking crap about customers who they had to deal with earlier in their shift.
Yes, I’m right there with you. However, one bad customer service blunder can affect a customers decision to return. Main reason it’s effecting changed? Likely not, but there has been a downfall in customer service from them in the stores I’ve been in within the last decade.
1 - It's hard to find anything but high school or college kids that will work in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. Those helpful smiles largely went away when they could no longer bring in the necessary numbers of less young workers.
2 - They overplayed some of their cards; i.e. Market Grille.
3 - They tried to do too many things all in a 5-10 year period (Hy-Vee Gas, Market Grille, huge store changes, Fast & Fresh, etc).
But, let's not pretend they have some huge competition either and are at risk of going under. Fareway isn't going to take that many shoppers because there isn't the variety or volume of items, regardless of what Hy-Vee gets wrong.
If they were smart, they'd stop with the things like the bath bomb crap, simplify and change their eating options, double down on their core, and stick to just the grocery stores and gas stations. They'd likely get back to greatness pretty easily and quickly.
2 - They overplayed some of their cards; i.e. Market Grille.
3 - They tried to do too many things all in a 5-10 year period (Hy-Vee Gas, Market Grille, huge store changes, Fast & Fresh, etc).
But, let's not pretend they have some huge competition either and are at risk of going under. Fareway isn't going to take that many shoppers because there isn't the variety or volume of items, regardless of what Hy-Vee gets wrong.
If they were smart, they'd stop with the things like the bath bomb crap, simplify and change their eating options, double down on their core, and stick to just the grocery stores and gas stations. They'd likely get back to greatness pretty easily and quickly.
But do not touch the Hy Chi - that is a staple!!!
I think it’s a departure from what made them successful. They built a loyal base and it’s cornerstone was customer service. I don’t need it every time I go, but when I do need it, I want it. I’ll sacrifice lower prices for a better experience, even at the grocery store, but remove that better experience and I’m headed to the no frills but lower prices of Fareway
I've been curious about the profitability of their health food section. All of that stuff has pretty good markups, but you almost never see anyone there. If someone is looking for health food options, they're going to Whole Foods/TJs/Wheatsfield/whatever local option is dedicated to it.
I went through the management training program where you have to spend months in each area of the store. Here is one thing I can tell you that may have changed:
When I started there was a defined path to management. From day one was a courtesy clerk, where everyone started, you were trained on the ways of hy-vee. The truth was that most of these kids that started out as courtesy clerks knew the routine because they shopped with their parents for the previous 15 years at hy-vee. This type of customer service was 100% mandatory. If you didn't do it the right way the Shift Manager would call you out. If the Shift Manager didn't call you out, the Assistant Manager would call out the Shift Manager. The Shift Manager was a key part of the whole process. They had to constantly be good at managing workload, managing people, and making sure the customer had a good experience. Back then, I could walk into a store and within a few minutes I could get a good idea of whether there was a good Shift Manager on duty. These shift managers are now called something else and from what I can see, most are doing a piss poor job.
When I started there was a defined path to management. From day one was a courtesy clerk, where everyone started, you were trained on the ways of hy-vee. The truth was that most of these kids that started out as courtesy clerks knew the routine because they shopped with their parents for the previous 15 years at hy-vee. This type of customer service was 100% mandatory. If you didn't do it the right way the Shift Manager would call you out. If the Shift Manager didn't call you out, the Assistant Manager would call out the Shift Manager. The Shift Manager was a key part of the whole process. They had to constantly be good at managing workload, managing people, and making sure the customer had a good experience. Back then, I could walk into a store and within a few minutes I could get a good idea of whether there was a good Shift Manager on duty. These shift managers are now called something else and from what I can see, most are doing a piss poor job.
Giant Eagle's are actually kinda nice! Kroger's suck and I hate their existence.
Has Acme Fresh Market made it's way from North East Ohio yet? Those things.... 2nd favorite grocery store in the country. Publix by far is the best.