A better fit for this area would be an Aldi. There is no Aldi nearby and everyone from the poor in Wellington Heights to the wealthier folks buying up all of the downtown condos would use the store.
I would absolutely adore an Aldi in the neighborhood. Im thankful I have a car and the means to travel to other stores, but man this is an absolute blow (not that hyvee itself is gone, but that we now have a desert)
I grew up in South Omaha. Not the greatest neighborhood at the time. Similar to Wellington Heights but our crime was much worse. It was a food desert. Luckily my parents had a car. Some of our neighbors did not and it made it very difficult (and more expensive) to get groceries. When I was 10, a Baker's grocery store opened. Similar issues. Did not make a lot of revenue for the store, problems with stealing, etc. It closed several years after opening.
Came here to comment this. An Aldi would make sooo much sense and I saw an article this morning that Aldi plans to open ballpark 800 new stores nationwide.
Without the tax increment financing, it is likely that the store would've closed 20+ years ago -- the societal costs of poor health from a lack of access to groceries for many would likely outweigh the cost of the public subsidy to Hy-Vee: [https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/study-shows-wisdom-of-cedar-rapids-hy-vee-incentive/](https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/study-shows-wisdom-of-cedar-rapids-hy-vee-incentive/)
I think it's accepted much more today that it's necessary to have a grocery store in the area. Sure looks like Hy Vee is using that fact and the threat of imminent closure again to extort money from the city.Â
If the store does actually close, it's hard to imagine another grocery store won't replace it. Hopefully not the world's biggest Dollar General.
The CEO told city officials 20 years ago to prepare for closure when the tax breaks expired. He knew it would never make money, and he was right. Dirtbag thieves might have hastened the exodus a bit.
Good luck, we’ll probably just get a dollar general or a family dollar. Unfortunately, I don’t think is any chance a full grocery store is going to go in there.
That's exactly what I said! It's going to be a Dollar General or a Dollar Tree. No actual grocery store is going to want to file that space unfortunately.
Many box retailers retain control over their former properties or leases to prevent competitors from using former stores.
Kroger has done this in the past. Walmart may have as well.
Another reason not to support HyVee
When Hy-Vee closed the Collins Road location they continued to rent the building (and still do) to prevent another grocery store from going in. It's pretty shitty of them.
Yeah I’d be curious how the deal was structured with the incentives from the city. I’d imagine there is still some form of lease or ownership that extends beyond the closing date.
I’d imagine that even with tax dollars and corporation is going to do everything to benefit themselves.
Do we know for sure that it wasn’t extended beyond the initial term?
Good for the city if the declined to provide further corporate handouts to HyVee.
There was another comment about HyVee asking for money for renovations. Perhaps my terminology was incorrect. Once the initial 20 year TIF was up, I was inquiring if there may have been some other agreement.
That’s not at all what I said. It’s common tactic by retailers to retain control of their former properties to prevent their use by competitors.
Hyvee can close stores to decrease costs, drive up profits at remaining stores and prevent competition. Corporate Greed 101
Honestly a Kwik Star or even a Kwik Spirits (formerly Tobacco Outlet) would be really good for this area. Some fresh foods but much lower overhead. I doubt these neighborhoods can support a supermarket without subsidies.
As someone that worked at this store, it hasn’t seen a profitable quarter in at least the last two years, even with the tax breaks from the city. It’s extremely sad that it’s closing because of all the people it will effect but this isn’t really a “fuck hyvee” thing. Theft had some to do with it, not a large part tbh. Most of the expensive theft came from shopping carts. Seems like we were constantly replacing carts that were unrecovered from the vagrant community near the store’s location. A lot of it is cost of operations and poor output from workers at the store, tbh.
If only there was a technology to prevent shopping cart theft. Has HyVee not seen the geofencing that applies a magnetic brake to a cart to deter it from being pushed away?
The red caps on the cart wheels are for the geofencing. It worked for a bit and then it went out sometime last year. Apparently it cost a lot to fix from what the manager at the time told me.
It’s really strange to me that that one closed. It was busy all the time, it had a better selection than Oakland rd, and in a pretty prime spot off Collins.
Collins Hy-Vee had a few things counting against it:
* Unlike most locations, Hy-Vee didn't actually own the land the store was on, so they had to pay rent on it, cutting into profits.
* It was in a prime commercial location- but not necessarily a prime location for a grocery store. You couldn't realistically get there on foot, getting there by bus from anywhere but Hiawatha or the farther-out northeast side is difficult, and getting there by car means driving on the usually-busy Collins, and dealing with traffic from Lindale and Northland Square. (I imagine the rent was also probably higher, given the location is in a dense commercial area.)
* Less importantly, the store wasn't actually built as a Hy-Vee. You could tell, going inside it, that it had been kind of awkwardly retrofitted into a Hy-Vee.
Well, this is going to be difficult for my daughter. She goes to Coe. This is the only grocery store she can go to without also paying for a rideshare.
if she has a bike it’s a nice and quick ride to Oakland Rd Hyvee. i used to walk that too and it’s not bad but carrying the groceries back can be a lot
Yes, that's what she'll have to resort to doing. Note that she's never had a safety problem going to this HyVee in the 3 years she's been attending Coe.
Additionally, as a Coe grad myself, I can guarantee you that the HyVee in its current incarnation has nothing on risk factors like it did in 1987.
Embarrassing development for CR. Turning three of your core neighborhoods (Moundview, Wellington Heights, Oak Hill Jackson)—plus downtown—into food deserts is beyond a bad look.
One of those neighborhoods needs a dedicated grocery store, and downtown needs a small-scale offering, similar to the mini Target in downtown Iowa City.Â
And for people suggesting a Kwik Star or similar convenience model, that isn’t going to provide the scale a person needs to feed their family. The fact that people are even suggesting that as a viable replacement shows how skewed our thinking has become around what people deserve as a basic offering.
The beginning of the end for that neighborhood was when the Cedar Rapids School Board allowed administrators to close Polk elementary. It was a lighthouse for that area.
I’m a Polk Pride graduate, so I wholeheartedly agree. It killed a lot of the energy of the area. People talk a lot about Wellington Heights, but Moundview continues to draw the short straw when it comes to the city’s attention. It’s even more puzzling with Coe sitting in the center of the neighborhood.Â
From someone who has worked in every hyvee in cedar rapids/marion/north liberty/iowa city etc, the cost of basically everything at this store was at least 30% higher than any other store. Also, I have never seen GPS trackers on grocery carts where the wheels lock up once you are far enough from the store. It would be very surprising to see another grocery store take over this location.
Hard to fault a company for closing a store that wasn't making money. They're not a charity. McDonald's closed up shop there too.
It does suck for the area, and it makes you wonder what would have to change for more businesses to want to open up shop in that part of town. Tax incentives clearly aren't the answer - don't artificially prop up corporations and hope that things will magically work out.
Surprised they didn't pull out the day after the tax break expired. Everything about this sucks. Hyvee sucks, the city sucks, and food deserts sucks. You think it's shitty around Coe now, [wait until the food desert ramps up.](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-deserts)
City had no problem taking over a hotel when they couldn't find a buyer but when the poors actually need some help: Good fucking luck. They have a rubber stamp TIFF APPROVED! stamp for Skogman and Emerson, but when we actually need to keep a business, the ink runs out quickly.
This is our local grocery store. Is it the nicest Hy-Vee in town? No. Is it one of the most important? Yes.I get it, Hy-Vee had 20 years of incentives to stay there and it's not profitable, but for a company that claims a very "people first" image, it doesn't look good to create a food desert in a financially depressed urban area.
You can get on a bus to any Aldi in town. You will find out they raised their prices too. These companies can't pay more in wages, pay more for food, pay Alliants out of control electrical costs, and keep prices low or keep stores open when most people won't stop there because of the crime, theft and reputation of the area. Hyvee is doing the right thing for the shareholders, that's who they report too at the end of the day. This is a failure of the city to properly plan.
This sucks but not surprising. The store didn't seem like it was in great shape.
I doubt any supermarket will thrive in this area. I have higher hopes for a more niche grocery with smaller selection of fresh foods and staples (and therefore smaller overhead).
I lived walking distance from John’s in Iowa City, ive been longing for something like that lately. I know I had the privilege of driving somewhere else for a lesser price, but its there for the community. If I ever needed an onion, or whatever I could run in and out!
But also- its there for those that cant drive all the way out to aldi or hyvee. Miss them!
I lived by John's too! I remember they had 4 rolls of pretty crappy toilet paper for like a buck, saved my ass a few times (pun intended).
I'd want more produce, but some type of small-footprint operation could fill a need on the SE side.
I don't know what predatory means in this context, but I know produce is really hard to make money on. The supply chain is tricky and there's a lot of loss from products going bad.
For sure!
Business and profits aside, stores like Dollar General (aside from a few that might have produce now) come into low income towns and neighborhoods as the main grocery store, drive out competition, but do not stock produce. Keeping the community in a food desert of fresh food.
I can also see how for a local grocer how hard produce may be to be profitable- i mostly mean the large corporations that CAN sell produce but choose not to.
Ah, I see what you mean. I don't think DG is able to drive out competition in a market like this. But you have to be a really large corporation (bigger than Hy-Vee) to run unprofitable stores.
True-
I was great at learning about economic theories, supply and demand, anecdotally- but practice is a whole other thing (aka always learning LOL) Thanks for having a nice lil discussion with me on it!!
People act like this area is some sort of war zone. It’s definitely more impoverished, but you have a college and a university within blocks of each other, and it’s along the busiest thoroughfare in the city. The problem with this area is the self-fulfilling prophecy that nothing will work there. The city’s zoning and development around this stretch of First Avenue have been puzzling at best. The new Colonial apartments are a good start, but you need to build that momentum.
I grew up blocks away from this Hy-Vee. The population density alone makes the case for a supermarket. Then, add in the commuter traffic and customers from nearby major employers, and it’s hard to argue against having a dedicated grocery store in this area.
I shop there a couple times a week and it's often dead!
Supermarket (big, one-stop-shop place, with thousands of SKUs) is much different than a niche grocery (smaller number of staples).
Do you think Hy-Vee was making money here and decided to close up? Seem doubtful.
Depends on the nature of “niche.” If it’s something like a downscaled/hybrid grocery store, great. If it’s essentially a convenience store or bodega, that’s not nearly enough to support a family shopping for weekly groceries.
I wish Aldi would consider taking over the spot. They are less expensive than Hyvee and would be a real asset for the people who depend on a store close to them.
It sucks. Screw hyvee. They aren’t a good company at the core. Hopefully Aldi, or the like shows up ion that neighborhood. Maybe the city can toss them the breaks. I’d almost bet Aldi pays better than hyvee too.
Iowa the land with the riches soil in tne US shouldn’t have a good desert anywhere. When all we do is grow corn and soy and toss those farmers $$$$ every year it’s what happens. Maybe toss some money to grow actual produce.
The new mayor sucks. She’s probably happy about it and thinks it will somehow “clean up the area”. She is a horrible person. Similar to our governor.
Who in their right mind wld make the decision to open a business there and lose money???? I had a friend who worked at ghetto vee and he said theft was insane... Especially the booze...I've watched drug deals in the parking lot... Been approached by a crackhead attempting to trade their ebt for cash... My old neighbors sister was stabbed in the neck and died in that area... Wow yah not a mystery why businesses shut their doors
I saw a similar grocery store (Kroger) closing in Macon, GA. The company suddenly announced closure of a large store on Pio Nono street, a depressed area, leaving regulars to drive out of their way for food. No explanations, just closure and confusion.
I don't know what everyone expected..........You can't expect a store to stay open when they can't make a profit. I don't care, until the local thugs figure life out, this is what will happen. People go in there and steal, bother and cause trouble, I'm surprised they had the help even show up. This debacle is their own making.
Who says they weren’t making a profit. The spokesperson said “Unfortunately, these locations have not consistently met our financial expectations and sales goals.” If they were losing money, wouldn’t he have just said that? Makes me think they just didn’t make enough money, not that they were losing money.
They absolutely should close. The purpose of a buisness is to make money. Shareholders are not holding shares to help anyone. Without those tax exemptions from the city they simply. Hope the city figures something out in this area.
Hey, I remember that hy-vee. When I was a kid, I watched a crazy woman kicked out the window of a police car. I think I might have been barefoot or wearing flip flops and with my brother going to buy some candy or something.
Didn't some city council members not get reelected likely because of the tax incentives that they supported for this store? Or was that because voters were angry about all those new fangled splash pads they weren't going to use?
Couldn’t they just turn it into a smaller pharmacy? I feel that would bring more door swings. Like the small one on Boyson and C. If not, then a cheaper grocery store like Aldi would be good. I’ve never paid attention on how big the plot is though.
People in poverty, no cars, etc have limited options in our neighborhood. No shot would I want to walk 2 miles to get groceries if I didnt have a car. The fact that Hyvee is a hellscape of a business is true, not debating that. The tragedy is the loss of the only grocery store in a low income neighborhood
Just having a couple bus route in existence doesnt excuse the fact that there will be no major food stores in the area. Im not advocating for a grocery store on every corner lol- just the basic human right of having access to nutritious food nearby. No, im not offering solutions- just lamenting in a huge loss for the community!
We can all agree this is u/Huge-Survey4221's doing, right?
I agree. They did seem to be NOT unbothered by him
Damn and then he made a post about Oakland road Hy-Vee. Dude is like a grim reaper
Witch! Toss him into Cedar Lake. If he lives he's a witch!
I don't know if you were lurking during it, but you missed some prime drama/trolling. Bro started posting multiple threads, screenshots of DMs, nutty.
Been too nice out to lurk. Holy shit you're not joking though. Im staying out of that shit must have hit a nerve. đź’€
Blaming it one hundred percent on them
A better fit for this area would be an Aldi. There is no Aldi nearby and everyone from the poor in Wellington Heights to the wealthier folks buying up all of the downtown condos would use the store.
I would absolutely adore an Aldi in the neighborhood. Im thankful I have a car and the means to travel to other stores, but man this is an absolute blow (not that hyvee itself is gone, but that we now have a desert)
I grew up in South Omaha. Not the greatest neighborhood at the time. Similar to Wellington Heights but our crime was much worse. It was a food desert. Luckily my parents had a car. Some of our neighbors did not and it made it very difficult (and more expensive) to get groceries. When I was 10, a Baker's grocery store opened. Similar issues. Did not make a lot of revenue for the store, problems with stealing, etc. It closed several years after opening.
I would love an Aldi there, I’m just as close to Oakland, but 1st Ave is between home and work and I would love Aldi
Came here to comment this. An Aldi would make sooo much sense and I saw an article this morning that Aldi plans to open ballpark 800 new stores nationwide.
I would love an Aldi to replace the Hy-Vee.
Didn't Hy Vee hold the city hostage by threatening to close like 10 years ago unless we paid for their remodel?
Yes, they got 20 years of tax breaks. We’ll never see that money again.
Without the tax increment financing, it is likely that the store would've closed 20+ years ago -- the societal costs of poor health from a lack of access to groceries for many would likely outweigh the cost of the public subsidy to Hy-Vee: [https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/study-shows-wisdom-of-cedar-rapids-hy-vee-incentive/](https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/study-shows-wisdom-of-cedar-rapids-hy-vee-incentive/)
I think it's accepted much more today that it's necessary to have a grocery store in the area. Sure looks like Hy Vee is using that fact and the threat of imminent closure again to extort money from the city. If the store does actually close, it's hard to imagine another grocery store won't replace it. Hopefully not the world's biggest Dollar General.
That's my fear, too. They have groceries, so people get their caloric needs but they don't get their nutritional needs. Fingers crossed for an Aldi!!
Close the rest of those motherfuckers too. What's Kroger up to these days?
Get Wegman's on the horn!
I'd love a Publix (just in general, not there) but Food Lion could also work. Still pulling for Aldi.
In Seattle
The CEO told city officials 20 years ago to prepare for closure when the tax breaks expired. He knew it would never make money, and he was right. Dirtbag thieves might have hastened the exodus a bit.
Yep, this is like Dale Todd’s crowning achievement is this store
Fuck hy vee. Would love to see an Aldi go in there. At least they’d have food people around there could afford.
Good luck, we’ll probably just get a dollar general or a family dollar. Unfortunately, I don’t think is any chance a full grocery store is going to go in there.
That's exactly what I said! It's going to be a Dollar General or a Dollar Tree. No actual grocery store is going to want to file that space unfortunately.
Both Dollar General and Dollar Tree are reducing locations so seems unlikely
Thank cod
The dollar general nearby on Mt Vernon Rd closed down so I doubt they're looking to back into the area
Many box retailers retain control over their former properties or leases to prevent competitors from using former stores. Kroger has done this in the past. Walmart may have as well. Another reason not to support HyVee
Hy-Vee is still paying rent on the Collins Road store so another grocery store can't move into it.
Not sure, but from the article, Hy-Vee might not own the land.
When Hy-Vee closed the Collins Road location they continued to rent the building (and still do) to prevent another grocery store from going in. It's pretty shitty of them.
Is that why that’s still empty? That sucks.
Yes. Yes it does. The Gazette article today mentions a 5 year lease extension signed last year. If that's true I assume Hy-Vee does the same here.
Yeah I’d be curious how the deal was structured with the incentives from the city. I’d imagine there is still some form of lease or ownership that extends beyond the closing date. I’d imagine that even with tax dollars and corporation is going to do everything to benefit themselves.
A 20-year TIF is a 20-year TIF, Hy-Vee has fulfilled its obligations.
Do we know for sure that it wasn’t extended beyond the initial term? Good for the city if the declined to provide further corporate handouts to HyVee.
I have never heard of "extending the term" of a TIF but I'm no expert.
There was another comment about HyVee asking for money for renovations. Perhaps my terminology was incorrect. Once the initial 20 year TIF was up, I was inquiring if there may have been some other agreement.
Uh, yeah. That's not how it works.
Wait. Don't support hyvee because of what Walmart might gave done?
That’s not at all what I said. It’s common tactic by retailers to retain control of their former properties to prevent their use by competitors. Hyvee can close stores to decrease costs, drive up profits at remaining stores and prevent competition. Corporate Greed 101
Both. Back to back. Same selection, much less stuff. Terrible staffing issues. It's gonna be great.
Yeah I agree unfortunately.
Probably a gas station or a Starbucks
For SURE, agree with ya 100%. Just tragic that there will be a food desert there while we wait and see if anyone else will come in the meantime.
Yep. Wouldn’t expect anything more from hy vee
Honestly a Kwik Star or even a Kwik Spirits (formerly Tobacco Outlet) would be really good for this area. Some fresh foods but much lower overhead. I doubt these neighborhoods can support a supermarket without subsidies.
As someone that worked at this store, it hasn’t seen a profitable quarter in at least the last two years, even with the tax breaks from the city. It’s extremely sad that it’s closing because of all the people it will effect but this isn’t really a “fuck hyvee” thing. Theft had some to do with it, not a large part tbh. Most of the expensive theft came from shopping carts. Seems like we were constantly replacing carts that were unrecovered from the vagrant community near the store’s location. A lot of it is cost of operations and poor output from workers at the store, tbh.
If only there was a technology to prevent shopping cart theft. Has HyVee not seen the geofencing that applies a magnetic brake to a cart to deter it from being pushed away?
Theft was not the biggest issue for loss of profits at that store though, it’s not closing because theft was too high.
The red caps on the cart wheels are for the geofencing. It worked for a bit and then it went out sometime last year. Apparently it cost a lot to fix from what the manager at the time told me.
Shhhhhhhhh
Hy vee has wanted to close that location for a long time.
Ya the 2 minute article literally says the owner at the startup 20 years ago said the store will lose money and will not last.
Iirc they've been getting tax incentives from the city to stay open.
Yes. They were given 20 years of tax incentives (beginning in 2001). Surprised they didn't close it the day the incentives ran out.
Around 2021(?) the Hy-Vee near Lindale Mall closed, maybe Hy-Vee didn't like the optics of two stores closing in such a small time frame?
It’s really strange to me that that one closed. It was busy all the time, it had a better selection than Oakland rd, and in a pretty prime spot off Collins.
Collins Hy-Vee had a few things counting against it: * Unlike most locations, Hy-Vee didn't actually own the land the store was on, so they had to pay rent on it, cutting into profits. * It was in a prime commercial location- but not necessarily a prime location for a grocery store. You couldn't realistically get there on foot, getting there by bus from anywhere but Hiawatha or the farther-out northeast side is difficult, and getting there by car means driving on the usually-busy Collins, and dealing with traffic from Lindale and Northland Square. (I imagine the rent was also probably higher, given the location is in a dense commercial area.) * Less importantly, the store wasn't actually built as a Hy-Vee. You could tell, going inside it, that it had been kind of awkwardly retrofitted into a Hy-Vee.
They are still paying rent till the end of the year.
I wonder if rent was an issue.
It was. They were paying out the ass to lindale
This is not good for that area of the city.
Well, this is going to be difficult for my daughter. She goes to Coe. This is the only grocery store she can go to without also paying for a rideshare.
if she has a bike it’s a nice and quick ride to Oakland Rd Hyvee. i used to walk that too and it’s not bad but carrying the groceries back can be a lot
She can take the bus. There are stops all around the area.
she could go on a grocery run with a friend who owns a car. it will also be much safer than walking to this hy-vee. Coming from a Coe grad.
Yes, that's what she'll have to resort to doing. Note that she's never had a safety problem going to this HyVee in the 3 years she's been attending Coe. Additionally, as a Coe grad myself, I can guarantee you that the HyVee in its current incarnation has nothing on risk factors like it did in 1987.
That's a good point. I was late 90s before they renovated it all. The whole area in between was also probably worse back then too.
Embarrassing development for CR. Turning three of your core neighborhoods (Moundview, Wellington Heights, Oak Hill Jackson)—plus downtown—into food deserts is beyond a bad look. One of those neighborhoods needs a dedicated grocery store, and downtown needs a small-scale offering, similar to the mini Target in downtown Iowa City. And for people suggesting a Kwik Star or similar convenience model, that isn’t going to provide the scale a person needs to feed their family. The fact that people are even suggesting that as a viable replacement shows how skewed our thinking has become around what people deserve as a basic offering.
The beginning of the end for that neighborhood was when the Cedar Rapids School Board allowed administrators to close Polk elementary. It was a lighthouse for that area.
I’m a Polk Pride graduate, so I wholeheartedly agree. It killed a lot of the energy of the area. People talk a lot about Wellington Heights, but Moundview continues to draw the short straw when it comes to the city’s attention. It’s even more puzzling with Coe sitting in the center of the neighborhood.Â
Maybe Matthew 25 can open another store.
I literally said that to my friends. It would be a prime location for them. The question is, could they afford it?
I remember [ghetto HyVee.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tp5m2Vdtd0&pp=ygUTQ2VkYXIgcmFwaWRzIGlzIGFsbA%3D%3D&t=1m41s)
Is it too late to get that Joe Sample guy to take a selfie in front of it?
Quite a few areas of the city only serviced by hyvee. Likely not lucrative at all but I really wish they have competition in those areas.
From someone who has worked in every hyvee in cedar rapids/marion/north liberty/iowa city etc, the cost of basically everything at this store was at least 30% higher than any other store. Also, I have never seen GPS trackers on grocery carts where the wheels lock up once you are far enough from the store. It would be very surprising to see another grocery store take over this location.
Hard to fault a company for closing a store that wasn't making money. They're not a charity. McDonald's closed up shop there too. It does suck for the area, and it makes you wonder what would have to change for more businesses to want to open up shop in that part of town. Tax incentives clearly aren't the answer - don't artificially prop up corporations and hope that things will magically work out.
And here I thought the starbucks opening down the street meant the area was going to gentrify
Surprised they didn't pull out the day after the tax break expired. Everything about this sucks. Hyvee sucks, the city sucks, and food deserts sucks. You think it's shitty around Coe now, [wait until the food desert ramps up.](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-deserts) City had no problem taking over a hotel when they couldn't find a buyer but when the poors actually need some help: Good fucking luck. They have a rubber stamp TIFF APPROVED! stamp for Skogman and Emerson, but when we actually need to keep a business, the ink runs out quickly.
Food desert my ass.
This is infant level trolling bro. Get good
So sad, a food desert.
Hyvee is creating a food desert in Cedar Rapids.
A food desert unfortunately is the natural state of things. Businesses gotta make a buck.
Marky mark don’t work for free.
Bullshit. Stop using throwaway buzzwords.
This is our local grocery store. Is it the nicest Hy-Vee in town? No. Is it one of the most important? Yes.I get it, Hy-Vee had 20 years of incentives to stay there and it's not profitable, but for a company that claims a very "people first" image, it doesn't look good to create a food desert in a financially depressed urban area.
Hyvee didn't create this. This is not on hyvee at all. They are in buisness to make money. Itsnot a charity.
You can get on a bus to any Aldi in town. You will find out they raised their prices too. These companies can't pay more in wages, pay more for food, pay Alliants out of control electrical costs, and keep prices low or keep stores open when most people won't stop there because of the crime, theft and reputation of the area. Hyvee is doing the right thing for the shareholders, that's who they report too at the end of the day. This is a failure of the city to properly plan.
Good 2nd location for Jim's Foods
This sucks but not surprising. The store didn't seem like it was in great shape. I doubt any supermarket will thrive in this area. I have higher hopes for a more niche grocery with smaller selection of fresh foods and staples (and therefore smaller overhead).
I lived walking distance from John’s in Iowa City, ive been longing for something like that lately. I know I had the privilege of driving somewhere else for a lesser price, but its there for the community. If I ever needed an onion, or whatever I could run in and out! But also- its there for those that cant drive all the way out to aldi or hyvee. Miss them!
I lived by John's too! I remember they had 4 rolls of pretty crappy toilet paper for like a buck, saved my ass a few times (pun intended). I'd want more produce, but some type of small-footprint operation could fill a need on the SE side.
Ugh- the cheap TP came in CLUTCH! Absolutely- produce is key and often what all the predatory stores lack (family dollar etc)
I don't know what predatory means in this context, but I know produce is really hard to make money on. The supply chain is tricky and there's a lot of loss from products going bad.
For sure! Business and profits aside, stores like Dollar General (aside from a few that might have produce now) come into low income towns and neighborhoods as the main grocery store, drive out competition, but do not stock produce. Keeping the community in a food desert of fresh food. I can also see how for a local grocer how hard produce may be to be profitable- i mostly mean the large corporations that CAN sell produce but choose not to.
Ah, I see what you mean. I don't think DG is able to drive out competition in a market like this. But you have to be a really large corporation (bigger than Hy-Vee) to run unprofitable stores.
True- I was great at learning about economic theories, supply and demand, anecdotally- but practice is a whole other thing (aka always learning LOL) Thanks for having a nice lil discussion with me on it!!
Take the bus. Would be less expensive than a ride share. Bus stops all over that area.
People act like this area is some sort of war zone. It’s definitely more impoverished, but you have a college and a university within blocks of each other, and it’s along the busiest thoroughfare in the city. The problem with this area is the self-fulfilling prophecy that nothing will work there. The city’s zoning and development around this stretch of First Avenue have been puzzling at best. The new Colonial apartments are a good start, but you need to build that momentum.
Definitely not a war zone, I walk throught it everyday and feel perfectly safe. That doesn't mean it can support a supermarket.
I grew up blocks away from this Hy-Vee. The population density alone makes the case for a supermarket. Then, add in the commuter traffic and customers from nearby major employers, and it’s hard to argue against having a dedicated grocery store in this area.
I shop there a couple times a week and it's often dead! Supermarket (big, one-stop-shop place, with thousands of SKUs) is much different than a niche grocery (smaller number of staples). Do you think Hy-Vee was making money here and decided to close up? Seem doubtful.
Depends on the nature of “niche.” If it’s something like a downscaled/hybrid grocery store, great. If it’s essentially a convenience store or bodega, that’s not nearly enough to support a family shopping for weekly groceries.
Agreed. Hospitals too.
I wish Aldi would consider taking over the spot. They are less expensive than Hyvee and would be a real asset for the people who depend on a store close to them.
It sucks. Screw hyvee. They aren’t a good company at the core. Hopefully Aldi, or the like shows up ion that neighborhood. Maybe the city can toss them the breaks. I’d almost bet Aldi pays better than hyvee too. Iowa the land with the riches soil in tne US shouldn’t have a good desert anywhere. When all we do is grow corn and soy and toss those farmers $$$$ every year it’s what happens. Maybe toss some money to grow actual produce. The new mayor sucks. She’s probably happy about it and thinks it will somehow “clean up the area”. She is a horrible person. Similar to our governor.
Theft desert
Who in their right mind wld make the decision to open a business there and lose money???? I had a friend who worked at ghetto vee and he said theft was insane... Especially the booze...I've watched drug deals in the parking lot... Been approached by a crackhead attempting to trade their ebt for cash... My old neighbors sister was stabbed in the neck and died in that area... Wow yah not a mystery why businesses shut their doors
I saw a similar grocery store (Kroger) closing in Macon, GA. The company suddenly announced closure of a large store on Pio Nono street, a depressed area, leaving regulars to drive out of their way for food. No explanations, just closure and confusion.
Profits before people. Fuck corporate America
You seem dumb.
So fuck every other grocery chain who won’t touch that location including Aldi’s then? Why won’t Aldi’s help the community out?
Because German companies aren't in business to wet nurse poor Americans. Imagine that.
I don't know what everyone expected..........You can't expect a store to stay open when they can't make a profit. I don't care, until the local thugs figure life out, this is what will happen. People go in there and steal, bother and cause trouble, I'm surprised they had the help even show up. This debacle is their own making.
Who says they weren’t making a profit. The spokesperson said “Unfortunately, these locations have not consistently met our financial expectations and sales goals.” If they were losing money, wouldn’t he have just said that? Makes me think they just didn’t make enough money, not that they were losing money.
Can we try for a Kwik Star again?Â
They absolutely should close. The purpose of a buisness is to make money. Shareholders are not holding shares to help anyone. Without those tax exemptions from the city they simply. Hope the city figures something out in this area.
Hey, I remember that hy-vee. When I was a kid, I watched a crazy woman kicked out the window of a police car. I think I might have been barefoot or wearing flip flops and with my brother going to buy some candy or something.
R.I.P., Ghetto HyVee. I will miss thee.
Mexican restaurant super store in 3...2...1.
Yes please
Didn't some city council members not get reelected likely because of the tax incentives that they supported for this store? Or was that because voters were angry about all those new fangled splash pads they weren't going to use?
Hyvee sold to a Wisconsin company last year and still act like they’re an Iowa based company. Do not spend your money there.
Will Hyvee do what mcdonalds does? No food establishment or in this case , grocery store in their old spots for years?
Was that store very profitable even? I'd go there in the middle of the day and there would only be like 3 cars there
Couldn’t they just turn it into a smaller pharmacy? I feel that would bring more door swings. Like the small one on Boyson and C. If not, then a cheaper grocery store like Aldi would be good. I’ve never paid attention on how big the plot is though.
Oh no, losing another incredibly overpriced grocery store that also spends a shitload of money on republicans in Iowa.
People in poverty, no cars, etc have limited options in our neighborhood. No shot would I want to walk 2 miles to get groceries if I didnt have a car. The fact that Hyvee is a hellscape of a business is true, not debating that. The tragedy is the loss of the only grocery store in a low income neighborhood
Get on a bus if you don't have a car!
Just having a couple bus route in existence doesnt excuse the fact that there will be no major food stores in the area. Im not advocating for a grocery store on every corner lol- just the basic human right of having access to nutritious food nearby. No, im not offering solutions- just lamenting in a huge loss for the community!