LAS VEGAS — Hy-Vee is rebranding all of its Dollar Fresh Market stores into its traditional namesake banner, CEO Jeremy Gosch said during a Groceryshop keynote address on Thursday.
“One thing that we’re proud of — and ashamed of sometimes — is we’re not afraid to try things. We’ll get into things, and then we’ll get out,” Gosch said. The grocer had made transitions like this before, he noted, pointing to Hy-Vee’s decision to convert all of its Wahlburgers restaurants into Market Grille locations in early 2025.
Hy-Vee’s Dollar Fresh Markets, which launched in 2018, were the regional grocer’s attempt to take on dollar retailers. Back in 2021, then-Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker told Grocery Dive that the format emphasized fresh offerings because that’s where discounters are weakest.
However, at the start of this year, it was becoming clear to Hy-Vee that the Dollar Fresh format wasn’t resonating with communities. In January, Hy-Vee announced it was rebranding four of its 22 Dollar Fresh stores — a change that it is now implementing across the board.
As it turns these discount locations into full-scale Hy-Vee stores, the grocer is bulking up their assortment and adding bakeries and service meat cases even to more remote stores “because that’s what customers have come to expect from our brand,” Gosch said.
The first four Dollar Fresh stores converted saw their assortment increase by “several thousand,” according to the retailer. Those stores also each received a health market and prepared foods section offering sandwiches, salads and pizzas.
“We tried Dollar Fresh Market — a different brand, low-price operator going for real rural small towns. And what we found is a 96-year-old brand has got way more staying power in any market than trying to have a startup with a different name, because you’re known for something and that’s what you have to hang your hat on,” Gosch said.
