Iowa’s largest employer is making a shift from corporate to retail. Hy-Vee announced these changes in a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette and other newspapers Wednesday.The company announced it will ask up to 500 corporate-level employees to switch to the retail side of Hy-Vee. In March, it made a similar move, asking more than 100 employees to do the same. What is unclear is what happens to those corporate-level employees if they opt not to take the retail jobs. KCCI reached out to Hy-Vee, asking that question, but Tina Potthoff, Senior Vice President of Communications did not answer the question directly.The announcement came in an advertorial, a paid advertisement written like a news article.The ad mentions incentives and moving bonuses to entice employees to move to open positions at the retail level. An internal Hy-Vee document obtained by KCCI provides details of those incentives. They include a bonus of $2,500 for those who move to a retail position outside of central Iowa and a $7,500 bonus for those who move to a retail position in Madison, Wisconsin, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, or the Quad Cities. Further, the company will offer relocation expenses of $1,000 to those moving outside of central Iowa and $1,500 to those moving to the other three mentioned areas. Employees affected tell KCCI a job fair will be held at the corporate headquarters on Thursday and Friday.”This week, we invited all corporate office employees to attend an internal job fair to continue our efforts to see if any of our retail leadership openings may be a good fit for them, as many people in our corporate office have retail experience,” Pothoff said to KCCI in an email Wednesday afternoon. “We currently have approx. 400 store leadership positions open across our eight-state region in addition to other full-time opportunities. Since we are in the midst of these changes, we don’t have specific details on any final numbers at this time. We should know more after the internal job fair this week.””As the company looks closer at the retail landscape, it’s making moves to be as lean as possible and moving many of its leaders into stores to serve its customers,” the newspaper advertorial states.Hy-Vee is also making more cost-saving measures, including pausing several new projects, such as its planned new warehouse in Cumming, Iowa. The advertorial says it and other projects will be resumed at a later date. The company is also “evaluating its existing land parcels to determine whether the spaces still align with its growth plans for the future,” the advertorial states, adding that company leaders say these measures alone are not enough for what they predict lies ahead.”As prices rise across the country, our top priority has to be centered on fighting to get the best deals possible for our customers,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee’s president and chief retail officer in the advertorial. “In order to do that we must find other ways to cut expenses so we can do what we do best — which is serving the customer.”Those cost-saving measures also include centralizing its Aisles Online service to certain stores, reducing store hours and restructuring its retail leadership, the advertorial states.The company says it is also facing a series of economic obstacles, “from rising inflation and increasing fuel costs, to supply chain disruptions and more,” it says. The advertorial states that the company is working to get more deals out to customers on necessary items because more customers are cutting back on “indulgence items and impulse buys.””Many consumer trend reports are noting that more than 70 percent of consumers are spending less due to recent inflation,” said Donna Tweeten, chief merchandising officer and chief of staff for Hy-Vee, in the advertorial.The company is also “fighting for its communities,” the full-page advertorial says. “Hy-Vee has always donated to local nonprofits, food banks, churches and other organizations in the communities it serves. Last year alone, the retailer donated more than $54.6 million — much of that going to hunger relief organizations in communities across its eight-state region,” it says.The company also launched a campaign called Food Bank Fridays, in which donations will be collected at checkout. It has already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local food banks.When asked about Hy-Vee’s push to the southeastern United States, Potthoff says that is still going to occur, but specific opening dates for those stores have not been announced.Previously:
Iowa’s largest employer is making a shift from corporate to retail. Hy-Vee announced these changes in a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette and other newspapers Wednesday.
The company announced it will ask up to 500 corporate-level employees to switch to the retail side of Hy-Vee. In March, it made a similar move, asking more than 100 employees to do the same. What is unclear is what happens to those corporate-level employees if they opt not to take the retail jobs. KCCI reached out to Hy-Vee, asking that question, but Tina Potthoff, Senior Vice President of Communications did not answer the question directly.
The announcement came in an advertorial, a paid advertisement written like a news article.
The ad mentions incentives and moving bonuses to entice employees to move to open positions at the retail level. An internal Hy-Vee document obtained by KCCI provides details of those incentives. They include a bonus of $2,500 for those who move to a retail position outside of central Iowa and a $7,500 bonus for those who move to a retail position in Madison, Wisconsin, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, or the Quad Cities. Further, the company will offer relocation expenses of $1,000 to those moving outside of central Iowa and $1,500 to those moving to the other three mentioned areas.
Employees affected tell KCCI a job fair will be held at the corporate headquarters on Thursday and Friday.
“This week, we invited all corporate office employees to attend an internal job fair to continue our efforts to see if any of our retail leadership openings may be a good fit for them, as many people in our corporate office have retail experience,” Pothoff said to KCCI in an email Wednesday afternoon. “We currently have approx. 400 store leadership positions open across our eight-state region in addition to other full-time opportunities. Since we are in the midst of these changes, we don’t have specific details on any final numbers at this time. We should know more after the internal job fair this week.”
“As the company looks closer at the retail landscape, it’s making moves to be as lean as possible and moving many of its leaders into stores to serve its customers,” the newspaper advertorial states.
Hy-Vee is also making more cost-saving measures, including pausing several new projects, such as its planned new warehouse in Cumming, Iowa. The advertorial says it and other projects will be resumed at a later date. The company is also “evaluating its existing land parcels to determine whether the spaces still align with its growth plans for the future,” the advertorial states, adding that company leaders say these measures alone are not enough for what they predict lies ahead.
“As prices rise across the country, our top priority has to be centered on fighting to get the best deals possible for our customers,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee’s president and chief retail officer in the advertorial. “In order to do that we must find other ways to cut expenses so we can do what we do best — which is serving the customer.”
Those cost-saving measures also include centralizing its Aisles Online service to certain stores, reducing store hours and restructuring its retail leadership, the advertorial states.
The company says it is also facing a series of economic obstacles, “from rising inflation and increasing fuel costs, to supply chain disruptions and more,” it says.
The advertorial states that the company is working to get more deals out to customers on necessary items because more customers are cutting back on “indulgence items and impulse buys.”
“Many consumer trend reports are noting that more than 70 percent of consumers are spending less due to recent inflation,” said Donna Tweeten, chief merchandising officer and chief of staff for Hy-Vee, in the advertorial.
The company is also “fighting for its communities,” the full-page advertorial says.
“Hy-Vee has always donated to local nonprofits, food banks, churches and other organizations in the communities it serves. Last year alone, the retailer donated more than $54.6 million — much of that going to hunger relief organizations in communities across its eight-state region,” it says.
The company also launched a campaign called Food Bank Fridays, in which donations will be collected at checkout. It has already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local food banks.
When asked about Hy-Vee’s push to the southeastern United States, Potthoff says that is still going to occur, but specific opening dates for those stores have not been announced.
Previously: