HyVee
2012
Hy-Vee is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets located in the Midwestern United States. The company operates over 230 supermarkets which are located throughout the Midwest in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and now Madison, Wisconsin. Hy-Vee also operates liquor stores under the names Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits.
Most Hy-Vee stores are full-service supermarkets with bakeries, delicatessens, banks, florists, pharmacies, and coffee shops (Caribou Coffee and Starbucks). Hy-Vee has also added gas stations with convenience stores to some of its properties. Customers are often given a discount of several cents per gallon of gas when their grocery receipt is shown; the discount can often run between three cents a gallon, to as much as twenty cents a gallon, depending on the register receipt when purchasing grocieries.
Hy-Vee is known for its longtime advertising slogan, "Where there's a helpful smile in every aisle". The slogan was adopted for Hy-Vee's first television commercial in 1963. When the jingle became a full song in the '90s, its music was written by Annie Meacham and James Poulsen.
Two-time National Football League MVP and three-time Super Bowl player Kurt Warner once stocked shelves at a Hy-Vee store in Cedar Falls, Iowa. After being cut by the Green Bay Packers at age 24, he thought his football career might be over and worked there to cover bills. Actor Ashton Kutcher is also a former Hy-Vee employee.
Hy-Vee's largest store is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which has over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of retail space in the store.
Consumer Reports Ranked HY-Vee the No.9 Supermarket in 2012,behind only Wegmans,Trader Joes,Publix,Fareway,Costco,Harris Teeter,Market Basket,And Raleys'.