HyVee tabs Hampton for Dollar Fresh store

HyVee Corporate last week announced intentions to open its Dollar Fresh store format in the former Shopko building, which has been vacant since 2019.

Ivy Sprague, a communications manager for HyVee, said that Dollar Fresh is a smaller format HyVee targeted towards smaller communities with retail needs. HyVee began the Dollar Fresh format in late 2018 and has recently installed stores in Toledo and Emmetsburg, Iowa and West Point, Nebraska.

“Our Dollar Fresh format is a newer format that we’re bringing to smaller communities that might not have had HyVee stores in the past,” she said.

Sprague said the store will contain a full selection of grocery items, fresh baked bakery goods, a produce section, a dollar section, a “wall of value” containing HyVee private label items and ready-to-eat meal solutions.

“It’s the specialty items you’d find in a larger community but in a convenient format for people in smaller communities,” she said.

Newton Grotzinger, Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, said HyVee’s decision to add a Dollar Fresh store in Hampton benefits the community from service, employment and convenience standpoints.

“I can say it is great to be able to fill the building and bring in another big-name company,” he said. “This will add additional jobs to the area and hopefully fill some of the gaps we currently have.”

Hampton Mayor Russell Wood announced the new store on his mayoral Facebook page shortly before 11 a.m. Friday morning. By the early afternoon, Wood said the post had more than 21,000 interactions, which reflects the excitement of the public and the benefits of the town.

“Because we’re a smaller community, people probably drive out of town to shop once in a while,” he said. “This gives people another option to look for whatever it is they need to purchase.

“We all know with shopping local, those dollars get recirculated,” he added.

Sprague said that the store will tentatively open in fall of 2020.

In the meantime, Grotzinger said the selection of Hampton as a location for Dollar Fresh reflects positively on the community and Franklin County as a whole.

“It tells me they view Hampton, Franklin County and the surrounding communities as a good location to do business,” he said.