Hy-Vee Announces Plans to Build First Store in Peoria
July 3, 2008 | News & Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WEST DES MOINES, IA—Officials with employee-owned Hy-Vee Inc. announced today that it has signed a lease agreement to build a store in the Sheridan Village shopping center. It will be the Iowa-based company’s twelfth store in Illinois and first one in Peoria.
The almost 84,000-square-foot store with attached wine and spirits will be situated in the north wing of the mall, bringing more than 400 new jobs to the city.
“We are excited to introduce Peoria to our company and to having many of them join our family of employees,” said Tom Watson, Hy-Vee vice president of operations for the company’s eastern region. “We have studied this market for quite some time and we are anxious to become a part of this very vibrant community.”
Several stores in the center section of the mall will be torn down and those tenants moved to other locations in the center to make room for the supermarket. Site plans were submitted to the city Thursday.
Bob Manning, city councilman for the third district where Sheridan Village is located, said that Hy-Vee will be a great addition to the center. “They are a terrific partner in this reinvestment and revitalization project. They are a well-respected business with Midwestern values. I think the neighbors and citizens of Peoria will be very supportive of this venture.”
Hy-Vee supermarkets cater to the latest in shopping trends and services including a variety of eat-in and take-out dining options, a drive-up pharmacy and one-hour and digital photo labs. There will be expanded departments of fresh-cut meat, organic produce, HealthMarket products, gourmet salads, desserts and much more. The store will also feature a Hy-Vee Club room for classes and meetings as well as the services of an in-store dietitian.
Watson said that while some central Illinois residents might already be familiar with Hy-Vee, “new customers will be pleased with our focus on stellar customer service, quality products that are competitively priced and programs that focus on health and wellness.”
Once the requisite city approvals are obtained a timeline for construction will be set.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating 224 retail stores in seven Midwestern states. For 2007 the company recorded total sales of $5.6 billion, ranking it among the top 30 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States.