Hy-Vee's expansion to Indiana and the South begins. Here's what we know about the plan

Two years after a leaked video of then-Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker revealed him unveiling plans for the supermarket chain to enter Indiana and the South, the push into new territory is finally underway.

At least seven stores in Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky are in the planning stages, and construction of two stores in the Indianapolis suburbs could start next year.

Edeker had said some of the stores would be open in 2023. Hy-Vee officials now say plans were delayed as the company diverted attention to other projects, including a vast new distribution center in Cumming on the Des Moines metro's south side and the opening of Hy-Vee's largest store yet in an Omaha, Nebraska, suburb.

"Some other projects have taken precedent, but the expansion is still going to continue," said Hy-Vee spokesperson Tina Potthoff.

Here is what we know about the West Des Moines-based company's plans.

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Where does Hy-Vee plan to expand to?

In addition to two stores in the Indianapolis areas, Edeker in the internal company video obtained by the Des Moines Register said plans called for opening four stores in Tennessee ― two in metro Nashville and one apiece in the Knoxville and Memphis areas.

Another was slated for Louisville, Kentucky, and an eighth in the Huntsville, Alabama, area ― a plan that appears not to have progressed as yet. The stores were to be supplied by a warehouse to be built in Nashville.

"This is the growth for the next 25 years for Hy-Vee in this territory,” Edeker said in the video, adding that "overnight we’re going to go from a regional company to a national company."

Which stores are likely to open first?

Hy-Vee's current footprint covers eight Midwestern states, and the initial expansion appears likely to be in a ninth, Indiana. Construction of Indianapolis-area Hy-Vee stores in the northwestern suburb of Zionsville and the northeastern suburb of Fishers will likely start in 2024, according to Hy-Vee officials.

In May the Zionsville planning commission approved a rezoning request for the new store there. Plans call for a 113,000-square-foot facility on an 18-acre acre site near Interstate 65. It also will include gas station.

Hy-Vee representatives appeared before a Fishers planning committee in August 2022 with a plan for a site near Interstate 69, serving a fast-growing residential development, and received a warm reception.

“That area is growing like crazy and this is definitely needed there,” the Indianapolis Star quoted Fishers City Council member David Giffel as saying.

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An Indianapolis expansion could benefit from the millions of dollars Hy-Vee has spent since 2020 by sponsoring the NTT IndyCar Series. It has been the primary sponsor of a car in the Indianapolis 500, which draws about 330,000 fans each year to the city. Hy-Vee also sponsors two annual IndyCar races at Iowa Speedway near Newton.

What is the status of Hy-Vee's Louisville store?

In February 2022 Hy-Vee bought about 12 acres for a Louisville store. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported at the time that the initial plans were for a 150,000-square-foot store. It's not clear when construction could start, but Edeker said in the video that "we have services and offerings that we believe will bring an entirely new retail experience to those in Kentucky.”

What's happening in Nashville?

Plans for Nashville appear to have expanded. In 2022 Hy-Vee submitted plans for a store in the suburb of Spring Hill, known as the home of the General Motors plant that assembled the company's now-defunct Saturn automobiles. At 160,000 square feet, the store would be the chain's largest, with almost 20% more area than the Gretna, Nebraska, store. It would be adjacent to June Lake, a new housing development where 2,900 high-end homes, restaurant and office space and a 400-room hotel will be built around a new I-65 exit.

The Nashville plan initially called for two stores, but now a second and third are planned, both in Murfreesboro, the metro's second-largest city. The Murfreesboro planning commission approved the proposal in March, according to the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal.

The stores will be 116,000 square feet and 153,056 square feet, respectively, according to the planning commission agenda.

What's going on in Memphis?

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Dec. 6 that the Bartlett Municipal Planning Commission had approved plans for Hy-Vee to build a 113,000-square-foot store on a 26-acre site in the northeast Memphis suburb.

John Threadgill, president of the Bartlett Area Chamber, told the newspaper that the site near Interstate 40 is a prime location for visibility.

“They’re really interested in being in the Memphis market and willing to do all what is needed to do in order to make that site viable,” Threadgill said. “It shows that they’re really committed.”

But Hy-Vee does not own the land for a Bartlett store yet, Potthoff said, and she stressed that plans for Memphis are still in the exploratory stage.

"We are constantly looking at areas for future growth; however, we have not confirmed or announced any stores in the Memphis area," she said.

What is the status of Hy-Vee's Knoxville store?

Hy-Vee approached the southwest Knoxville suburb of Farragut about building there, but won't be going forward with planning, according to company officials.

It proposed to build a store in a mixed-use town center development and sought the necessary rezoning for commercial use. But residents wanted to preserve the site, one of the few remaining green spaces near the center of town. During a June 2022 public meeting, caught on a video by Brian Horback, a local blogger, residents told Hy-Vee Site Director John Brehm that they felt there were already enough grocers in town, even if, as Hy-Vee offered, the size of the store were reduced.

Will Hy-Vee have a store in Alabama?

Though Edeker in the 2021 video named Huntsville, Alabama, as one of the targeted locations for a store. Hy-Vee has not made any official announcements regarding one, Potthoff said.

Will Hy-Vee build a Nashville distribution center?

Another element of the expansion plan was to supply the new stores through a distribution center to be built in Nashville. Potthoff said she could provide no update on that plan.

Brittain Ladd, a former Amazon executive who is now a Dallas-based grocery, retail and supply chain consultant, said that as a general rule, companies try not to expand more than 500 miles from a distribution center. All of the expansion cities except Indianapolis are farther than that from Hy-Vee's currently closest warehouse in Chariton.

Building a new distribution center will require a large amount of capital, Ladd said. But it removes variables, like snow blocking roads in Iowa, from the equation and simplifies the supply chain from distribution centers to stores, he said.

"Opening a distribution center makes perfect sense," he said. "It's a wise business move (and) it increases their odds of success because they're going to be able to fulfill and replenish so much closer to their stores and to the customers in that region."

How big will the new stores be?

New flagship Hy-Vee stores average about 100,000 square feet, but some locations "are much smaller than that," Potthoff said.

Plans the chain has shown for the targeted cities so far appear to indicate the new Hy-Vees would tend toward the high end of the scale. And Hy-Vee has previously said that major new stores are going to be in the model of the more-than 90,000 square-foot store it opened in Grimes in 2021, with a food hall, a W Nail Bar, DSW Shoe department, a Joe Fresh clothing line area, a redesigned wine and spirits department, a pharmacy, a Starbucks, and even a showroom for exercise equipment.

The store also has an updated design inside and out. The 139,000-square-foot Gretna store that opened this year is in keeping with the concept.

Hy-Vee's largest store to date features a row of super-sized versions of its Italian, Chinese and Market Grille Express restaurants and bakery, deli and cheese selections.

In one corner sits beauty department rivaling the size of those sections in some department stores. Tucked into one corner is a sports shop selling local college, pro and high school sports apparel.

The Gretna store stocks 120,000 items, according to a news release. Built for a cost of $37 million, the store employs 128 people fulltime, according to the news release.

"We're really trying to figure out what's the best size going forward, Potthoff said.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to know about Hy-Vee's expansion to Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky