Des Moines solidifies downtown Hy-Vee's new store hours after months-long upheaval

Hy-Vee officials say they're keeping their downtown Des Moines supermarket open beyond the minimum requirement outlined in a new deal with the city — though the store's hours of operation are still not up to where they were before an abrupt reduction in February.

Des Moines City Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement with Hy-Vee to set minimum hours of operation for the downtown grocery store, ending a months-long upheaval.

Starting May 7, the downtown Hy-Vee, located at 420 Court Ave., will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekends, according to Hy-Vee spokesperson Tina Potthoff. She said the grocery store's latest hours go beyond the minimum amount outlined in the city's latest agreement with the store.

"We are pleased to see that the agreement passed," Potthoff wrote in a statement to the Des Moines Register. "The hours listed in the amendment were the minimal hours of operation agreed upon for the store. Over the past several months, we have listened to those in the community and will try extended hours to best serve the downtown area."

The downtown Hy-Vee had been operating from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily before managers on Feb. 5 cut the hours by a third, to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The move came without advance notice to the city government or the public. Amid an ensuing uproar, the store's hours changed again ― again without announcement ― to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., where they have remained.

Under the latest two-year agreement between Hy-Vee and the city, the grocery store's minimum hours of operation are based on different times of the year.

On Monday through Friday during daylight saving time ― March to November ― the grocery store is required to open by 8 a.m. and close no earlier than 8 p.m. Weekend hours must be at least a minimum from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

During the rest of the year, weekday hours must be at a minimum from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend hours are required to remain the same as during daylight saving time. There are no required hours on state and federal holidays.

More: Downtown Des Moines Hy-Vee to get yet another set of new hours under agreement with city

After the two years, the hours will return to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., which was originally stipulated in a development agreement for the store, which opened in 2017. The city imposed those hours as part of a deal that provided Hy-Vee and developer Knapp Properties a break on the cost of the city-owned land to build the long-sought downtown supermarket.

Potthoff said the two-year agreement is to allow time for the grocery store chain to evaluate the effectiveness of the downtown store's hours.

"We will continue to review these extended hours so we can best match customer demand while abiding by the new amendment," she wrote in the statement.

Another provision in the agreement says the size of the store "shall be a minimum of 20,000 square feet of contiguous space." Currently, the store's total floor space is 36,000 square feet.

Ahead of the vote, downtown resident Carol Maher said she was pleased to see the city and Hy-Vee agree to keep a "full-service grocery store" running.

"Thank you to the city for making this a priority and working hard to keep them downtown for myself and my neighbors," Maher said. "And I hope that the relationship can continue and that we continue to have a good partner for the city."

Des Moines Register reporters Philip Joens and Addison Lathers contributed to this story.

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hy-Vee, Des Moines City Council reach agreement on downtown store hours