Dive Brief:
- Hy-Vee has agreed to sell 21 Fast & Fresh convenience stores to Pump & Pantry for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Friday.
- Expected to close in July, the deal includes 18 locations in Iowa, two in Nebraska and one in Minnesota, according to the announcement. Five of the sites include an in-store Starbucks, while seven have a Smokey Row Coffee shop.
- Lucas Glasgow, senior vice president of Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh, said this sale will let Hy-Vee focus more on its grocery business as well as the c-stores that are adjacent to its supermarkets.
Dive Insight:
Hy-Vee has built a large network of Fast & Fresh c-stores across the Midwest over the years. This deal indicates the grocer wants to focus on the locations that directly complement its supermarket business.
“This move allows us to put more focus on our core business of operating retail grocery stores as well as convenience stores that are adjacent to our existing Hy-Vee stores,” Glasgow said in a statement. “Once the transition is complete, we will continue operating 168 convenience stores and have plans to build more Hy-Vee stores in 2027 and beyond.”
Pump & Pantry intends to rebrand all 21 locations to its banner once the deal closes, and current Hy-Vee employees will have the opportunity to transition to employment with Pump & Pantry, according to the announcement. About 15 of the 21 sites are located in the Des Moines metro area, with the rest in Davenport and Marion, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Lakeville, Minnesota.
“We’re confident that these locations, under the Pump & Pantry brand, will continue to deliver the same outstanding quality and value to customers on the go as they’ve come to expect from our stores,” Glasgow said in the announcement.
Pump & Pantry will bring its Pumped Up Rewards platform — which features app discounts, scratch and win games, online ordering and real-time fuel pricing — to these stores, but the retailer will retain Hy-Vee’s Fuel Saver redemptions. On top of that, Pump & Pantry intends to roll out the grocer’s fuel savings platform across the rest of its c-stores in Nebraska.
