Please join me and my neighbors and boycott Hy-Vee.

[JPPaverage]

If some of you are not familiar with Hy-Vee, they are a large supermarket chain headquartered in Des Moines. And they are proving that they don't care about lower income people and elderly people who dont get around too well. Bottom line only for this corporation.
The reason I'm saying this is because they recently announced they are shutting down several stores, all of which are located in lower income areas and all the closings will create a food desert in the areas. This includes the one a few blocks from my house. And i know there is one in Moline. IL which is a lower income area and one in Cedar Rapids which is also, yep, you guessed it, lower income.
All three stores have been remodeled in the past few years and not for the best. In the case of the one near my house, they removed the service meat counter, the bakery, the deli, and some fruit and vegetable selections for a great big walk in cooler and expanded liquor selection. I can get beer anywhere. I'd rather get food at a grocery store. Therefore i believe they set it up to fail. The Cedar Rapids location actually got a grant or loan or something to rebuild a run down store. And this does not even take into account the people who work at these stores. So once again, i am asking you all to boycott Hy-Vee. And maybe drop them a line and/or call them like i did. Tell them you are unhappy about leaving food deserts for people who are already needy or immobile and unable to travel to another store for basic needs.
Thank you for reading my rant. I hope it isn't completely incoherent. Btw, if you live in Iowa, it is a certainty that you've heard of the above named grocery chain.

[rurallib]

1. I quit going into Hy-Vee years ago when they started putting armed guards in their store

I have no desire to die from a stray bullet from the gun of a security guard over a can of beans.

Sadly in Iowa there are not a lot of alternatives.

I am behind effort 100% though. Hy-Vee is not really a corporate citizen

[JPPaverage]

3. I called corporate hq in Des Moines

And the guy i talked to actually had the nerve to ask if there was another location near me. I told him that there is, but its around 3 miles away and people down here who are unable to get around really cant get there unless they take a bus or find another ride. And who wants to lug three or four sacks of groceries on a city bus on a hot day and still have to walk home after arriving at the bus stop? I also told him that we all know that the Rockingham Road location was set up to fail. He did not disagree with me.

[rurallib]

6. Hy-Vee seemed to take on an attitude with the second coming of Branstadt.

They certainly know that they are one of the big kahunas in Iowa and act that way.

[user name taken]

9. Recommended reading

https://apnews.com/article/shooting-suspect-leaves-debit-card-grocery-indiana-95942038372556b0bb7c4e6cc1dc998b
https://www.fox9.com/news/loring-park-cashier-found-impaled-with-golf-club-in-deadly-attack-at-grocery-store

Link to tweet

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-boy-shoots-at-grocery-workers-in-beechview-after-stealing-tip-jar/
https://abc17news.com/news/crime/2024/04/29/columbia-man-accused-of-assaulting-hy-vee-employee-charged-with-two-misdemeanors/
https://www.kcrg.com/2024/05/28/suspect-kroger-shooting-told-police-he-always-wanted-kill-somebody-court-docs-reveal/?outputType=amp
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/fatal-stabbing-of-3-year-old-outside-an-ohio-supermarket-took-just-seconds-police/3456072/
https://progressivegrocer.com/tops-markets-location-site-another-shooting

[Freddie]

2. Aldi did that here

Aldi bought out the Bottom Dollar chain here (Pennsylvania). They turned some of them into Aldi stores and the rest into empty stores. In my town that location was the only supermarket that was walkable to the folks that Iive in town and may not have cars. We have an existing Aldi miles away on the other side of town. No matter. To remove competition Aldi is paying the lease and made a stipulation that the shipping center cannot rent the store out to another grocery until the Aldi lease is up. So it’s been vacant for 9 years and counting.

[JPPaverage]

4. We are wondering about that very thing

People around this part of town are wondering if Hy-Vee is going to ontinue to pay for the building so they can insure that nobody moves into that spot. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they do.

[user name taken]

5. Let's see now ....

The best way to force a money-losing store to stay open is to boycott it. Is that right?
Sounds crazy. But it ... just ....might .... work.

[marble falls]

7. How does one boycott a closed shop? But boycotting a chain has worked before. If a business doesn't meet the needs ...

... of it's base, why should the base support the chain? How can you get any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

[JPPaverage]

8. Did you read my post?

Hy-Vee is a large chain stretching into at least 5 states. So we are not boycotting an already closed store. We are trying to boycott the entire chain.