Hy-Vee opened its first Fast & Fresh small-format store in Davenport, Iowa, with plans to open a second in Altoona, Iowa, next year. The West Des Moines-based retailer is deviating from its usual 85,000-square-foot format with the new 10,000-square-foot store, but managed to pack in features such as multiple foodservice stations, a Starbucks and full beer, wine and spirits offerings. The concept acts as a supermarket with grocery items, including meat, produce, dairy, pantry and bakery offerings, incorporated into a quick-stop convenience feel.
The Fast & Fresh format also features 14 gas pumps to further push the new concept’s goal of serving the “busy customer who needs a more convenient grocery and meal experience while on the go.”
The store’s mission is also driven by Mealtime prepared foods offerings that allow customers to purchase a hot ready-to-eat meal on the go.
Mealtime offerings also include take-and-heat meal options and Hy-Vee Mealtime Kits.
Sushi is available as another grab-and go offering for those looking for a lighter quick-meal fix.
The store features a full-service Starbucks complete with a drive-thru for customers who are just stopping to fuel up.
In line with the store’s grocery-convenience store hybrid feel, a self-serve soda station provides quick drink options.
A frozen beverage and other cold drinks station adorns an entire wall of the small-format store.
In addition to nonalcohol self-serve drinks, Fast & Fresh features a craft beer growler station with several options on tap.
For a smaller store, Fast & Fresh devotes a considerable amount of space to its extensive beer, wine and liquor assortment.
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The stresses of the ongoing pandemic, coupled with mounting economic uncertainty, social unrest and more have fueled a pressure cooker for grocery and convenience store customers and their employees.
U.S. consumers in 2022 were nothing if not channel surfers. Tuned into a widening lineup of local retailers offering fresh food, consumers were willing to shop around and try new retailer categories as they sought to ease the pinch of grocery inflation, which stood at 11.8% in December.
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