Edeker Named Hy-Vee President
December 10, 2009 | News & Press Releases
WEST DES MOINES, IA – For only the fourth time in the company’s 80-year history, Hy-Vee, Inc. has named a new president.
At the company’s annual meeting Wednesday in West Des Moines, stockholders ratified the Board of Directors’ selection of Randall B. (Randy) Edeker, 47, to succeed Ric Jurgens as president of the Iowa-based supermarket chain. Jurgens, who had served as president since 2001, remains chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee.
Edeker, a 28-year veteran of Hy-Vee, has held a number of positions with the company, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He began his career as a part-time employee of the Chariton Hy-Vee store and managed a store in Columbus, NE before moving to Hy-Vee’s corporate office in 1995.
With his election, Edeker becomes only the fourth company officer to hold the title of President since Hy-Vee’s founding in 1930. The late Dwight Vredenburg (son of company co-founder David Vredenburg) was elected Hy-Vee’s first president in 1938, when the partnership of Hyde and Vredenburg incorporated. Only 23 years old at the time, Vredenburg served as president for 45 years until being succeeded by Ron Pearson in 1983. Pearson served in that capacity until 2001, when Jurgens was elected president.
In announcing Edeker’s promotion, Jurgens called him “a strong leader we can count on to lead with confidence and vision as we move to the future.” As president, Edeker will oversee retail operations, store design, marketing, advertising and communications for Hy-Vee, which operated 228 supermarkets and drug stores in eight Midwestern states.
A graduate of English Valleys High School, Edeker attended the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dawn, are the parents of two grown daughters and reside in Urbandale.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating 228 retail stores in seven Midwestern states. For FY 2009 the company recorded total sales of $6.4 billion, ranking it among the top 30 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States.