Thread regarding Hy-Vee layoffs

Of the 85 store directors that got demoted to store manager how do you feel? How many years have you been a store director? How many thousand of dollars did you get cut? Do you feel the new district director have enough experience to be a district director? Do you think they will eventually cut all store directors to store managers? My last question is will you be looking for a new job outside of HyVee?

What happened to selling groceries?

In 1930, Hy-Vee was founded by Charles Hyde & David Vredenburg and 90 years later it has grown 245 stores large in eight states. Through hard work, on-job training, helpful smiles and more, Hy-Vee grew into one of the largest retailers in all of the midwest. Hy-Vee has been known as a great place to work and shop. Customers have often praised the helpful employees and great consumer experience going as far as most customers claiming they have their own Hy-Vee. You know what I am talking about… your aunt or cousin or neighbor has said to you at one point “Well, my Hy-Vee”... and so on. But somewhere along the way Hy-Vee forgot how to sell groceries. Between the colossal failure that is known as the Market Grille and randomly opening clothing and bath lines, Hy-Vee has completely lost their identity. Many fingers may point to CEO and known egotistical ignoramus Randy Edeker but its his gang of yes-men and women who have fed into his ego and allowed such changes to take place.

If you ‘ve never experienced the Market Grille or Market Grille Express restaurant and bar, congratulations. Overpriced food and an unfamiliar atmosphere has caused mostly confusion among customers who simply expected to go to Hy-Vee to enjoy a quiet, delicious breakfast. It’s not just the customers who suffer however, as employees are the ones who suffer most. With corporate forcing stores to remodel in order to fit a restaurant inside a grocery store, many stores have succumbed to debt in which they cannot overcome. Market Grille has cost employees to lose quarterly bonuses and raises in pay due to the costs of both opening the restaurant and sustaining it. Paying servers a minimum wage is just the start. Many items on the Market Grille menu contain food not used in other food service departments forcing stores to spend more money rather than centralizing product.

I could dive WAY more into just how stupid the Market Grille concept is, but that is the boring stuff. My guess is you clicked on this post expecting to read about juicier gossip. So here goes…

If you are a fan of Hy-Vee and you have internet, you’ve probably read that Hy-Vee has made many changes to the way it functions. Many store directors have been moved to “Store Manager” and the PR department in Des Moines, IA has done a great job of propaganda by convincing you that these changes are positive. Well, that is utter b—s—. 85 store directors have been removed from their positions and forced to either take a pay cut or be terminated from employment completely in order for those markets to have a “district director” that would oversee multiple stores. Centralizing your store director is one thing, but when HR and fresh departments become centralized as well, it is cause for worry to most. Hundreds of employees have been fired for reasons so obscure, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. The company has done this in an effort save money on labor. Employees with families, homes and TERMINAL ILLNESS’ have been told to either go part time or find a new job in order for Hy-Vee to no longer have to pay for insurance for said employees.

One page is not enough space to describe to you what is going on in Hy-Vee but the company is NOT in good standing. Companies that are doing well don’t fire random employees and cut labor out of stores completely. Every day employees go to work not knowing if they will be fired, cut or told to f— off. Only time will tell for Hy-Vee and its future.

Signed,
Anonymous

Can we start posting on the main Hyvee page which is here:

/hy-vee

or here

thelayoff.com/hy-vee

I got fired on Saturday February 29. Happy Leap Year to me. Almost 5 years vested and at least 30 perfect mystery shops. I was an expert at customer service. Trained at postal and western union. Perfect record and knew my customers by name. I am completely devastated the way they did it. We also lost managers in health market and our dietician and many other positions. We were the top selling store in Omaha.

Walmart way of doing business? Treat employees like hell and follow that with customers.

My immediate family members quit shopping at Hy-Vee a few months ago. Why would anyone choose to shop at a store that has HUNDREDS of holes on the shelf? Most of the time the product is in the backroom, there is just no one to put it on the shelf. How would Charles and Dwight feel if they walked into a store today and they saw their customers bagging their own groceries? Turn the ships around before they're all burned while we're still onboard!

Hy-Vee has no idea who it is anymore. It's trying to be all things to all people. It goes to great lengths to emulate the company it despises, Walmart. It jumps into new segments without expertise. For example: Market Grill, Clothing, Food Trucks, Smokehouse.
It mocks Fareway as though some customers don't appreciate good prices and carryout service.
It attempts to be Dollar General with it Dollar Fresh stores.
It smacks of QT wannabe with it's Fast n Fresh stores.
The Aisles Online has turned out to be the money pit on par with the 150 year old fixer upper house.
The for profit distribution centers ensure opulence in WDM at the expense of the worker bees who are just trying to pay their bills.
I recall a time when Hy-Vee hired good people and allowed them to flourish. They had autonomy and were rewarded for hard work and prudent decisions.
Imagine if Hy-Vee made the decision to care deeply for it's customers and employees. The customers would leave the stores anxious to return. The employees would feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in what they do and were rewarded for their efforts. Imagine employees receiving the $$$ now given to Wahlburg, Stone, Mahomes, Chiefs,etc.
I feel badly for those who were loyal to Hy-Vee and got c-apped on. I think there will be a ripple effect to this situation as we all know someone who was affected by these cruel decisions. As this plays out Hy-Vee will lose some sales. Dahl's, Eagles, Hinky Dinky, Jewel, A and P, Red Owl, Hy-Vee?

Who is the CFO for HyVee? He needs to be fired too. Randy says he is just trying to save this company. Well randy while you sit in your office thinking about these hard choices you have to make now. You should have thought about what these hard choice before you blew BILLIONS of dollars into bad ideas. If HyVee was a public traded company Randy would have been fired by now. All of the executive staff, V.P. And store directors have allowed him to do this to our company. They also need to leave this company.

Hey Randy hope youre reading this. I know how to fix this company to make lots of money. Just add motels to our stores! I mean, when the wife asks me where i want to go out to eat for our anniversaries, i say Hy Vee of course, because why would you go to a literal restaraunt lol thats just dumb. But what if I drink too much at the ole' grocery store bar? Ill need a place to stay! Its perfect! Maybe we can have it endorsed by Ricky Martin? Also consider laundromats and auto repair services. (Celebrity endorsed as well obviously). Maybe we can eventually add theme parks to our stores with all the money we will be making? Let me know what you think, pretty sure these ideas are right up your alley!

In my area Aldi is hiring Shift Managers starting at 17.80 an hour. I applied today. I'm getting out. Staying at Hy-Vee isn't looking promising or rewarding. I'm a 4 year full timer and was hoping to make a career with this company. Aldi seems to be growing at a faster rate and seems to have their ducks in a row.

Do you think Randy even cares about these post. I’m sure he just laughs at all of these comments. If he cared he would do a better job at communicating the 2020 plan. He has no respect for HyVee employees. Just look at how he is going about the secret changes going on. Randy demands respect or you will get fired. F— you randy and your g– a– boyfriend.

How long before the ship goes up for sale.
The stores did not have enough help before the cuts so what makes corporate think this will help. You have got to encourage customers to come back and shop your stores. PRICES, PRICES PRICES. The people that need to be released are the people that decided to have The Wallburgers, The steak houses, and All the pre made\packaged things that are trashed after the expire date. How much did it cost to have the Chiefs QB in the ADS? Come on CEO's there are other places to cut. To me it all comes down to the basics and until Corporate decides to admit it things will continue to go south. Too bad folks as HY-VEE in the day were the leaders in every aspect of the grocery business now they are playing the catch up game and problem is they waited too long. Those good old days are gone and have been for quite sometime. In my opinion

I am a HyVee customer and have noticed the stores growing bigger but not better. Very little is truly geared toward customer satisfaction. The store prices used to be very competitive but now are way beyond other stores. My heart goes out to the employees as I’m sure this is a very difficult time. I can only hope the CEO learns to listen rather than dictate.

Call your local news everybody. Media attention is the only way they will stop this BS

I guess there’s no more smile in every aisle. No wonder they stopped that jingle

Many years ago, I was doing a reset in a Hy Vee store. I seen this man and his wife approaching me and I knew exactly who he was. Mr. Dwight Vredenburg. We struck up a conversation and I was totally fascinated with what he had to say. A very brilliant person to say the least Over the years I seen Hy Vee grow and prosper. At that time, there were no sushi bars or restaurants in grocery stores. It was simple, give the customer a fair deal and not incorporate the operating costs and profit margins to fund these unneeded frills into the retail prices of groceries.

Frozen, dairy, health market managers moved or fired, dietian gone. gotta burn the ships with the people on board like randy says

As an employee owner, I call for RE to step down or resign.

I hope RE uses the money the company saved by laying me off to cut a deal with Gwenyth Paltrow to sell her products in hy-bee stores.

This week,
2 people got fired, 3 people went from full time to part time, other changes were made with people moving to different departments. Several people quit.
This is complete chaos.
Many (i say MANY) People are scared and looking for jobs elsewhere. It's not a matter of if but when they do leave, my store will have zero help.
This is a good business plan, This is good customer service?
Randy E and corporate , you should be ashamed of yourself and what you have done to this company.

You can’t run a grocery store from a office building in W.D Iowa! You don’t know the different customers that shop at each location! Give the store directors their say back!

Oh yeah! I forgot. We did get that vague letter🙄
Made me feel MUCH better😂

You got a vague letter... good enough right?

It would be really nice to hear about this all from our place of employment. I unfortunately we have to follow a blog to “hopefully” get some answers as to what is happening to us.

Can anyone elaborate to some specifics they have seen thus far? Which specific Dept. Managers are being eliminated, are ALL managers going from 50/45 to 40 hr work weeks? Has anyone actually seen frozen dairy, health market, manager of positions, etc is Eliminated? What Is a better time line, some said end of March, others and of February? Specifics?

RJ and RP if you're watching, please step in and right this ship. We have been going in the wrong direction for years. These changes are extreme and unnecessary. A number of things in regards to austerity can be done prevent job loss. RE says the competition is fierce these days and he is right. But just wait until Hy-Vees best leave and start working for the competition. They are really going to put the screws to their former employer. Your fierce competition is now armed with the best people who used to work hard for you RE.
There's no talking to RE because deep down he is an arrogant, know it all, condescending bully type that thrives on intimidation and we all know it. RJ was more like the father that you didn't want to disappoint. The coaching type. We need that type of CEO again.

85,000 Hy-Vee employees need to go on strike. Stop the madness. These cuts have went too far. If everyone is failing it’s the teachers fault. Changes at the top are necessary for true change to happen.

I am a near 30 year employee of Hy-Vee and a dept head. I am fortunate enough to so far still have a job. I watched the other day as full time employees were blindsided the with firings. It was gut wrenching. I am to understand there is more coming. This is NOT the Hy-Vee I have worked for all of these years. I have read every comment in these discussions and can agree with so much.
To the Store Directors that have commented on how this company is stronger then ever, I would have to disagree. Perhaps you don't have to worry about walking in the door and wondering if this is your last day, but so many of us do.
Morale in my store is low, and everybody is angry, scared, and most of all confused. Our CEO RE, has most definitely made decisions that have run us into the ground. I could list them, but we all now what they are. Unfortunately so many people have to pay for his arrogance and greed. He and the 4-5 people under him need to be removed. I honestly pray that somebody will stand up to him. it is not a small majority of workers that feel this way.
I have worked HARD for this company, and have no doubt in my mind that I have contributed to the bottom line. I am PROUD of this fact! It has been my only job since I was 16, and yes maybe I am spoiled that I have not had to experience anything like this as it has been my only job. Maybe my problem though, is that I care too much. I have always been told and worked under the impression that Hy-Vee is a company of integrity and will do the right thing. Unfortunately this is no longer a reality.
In terms of unions...maybe. Not sure if that is the right direction, but not against it. Would have to learn more.
I read that RE's sister is the Director of Aviation??? Are you freaking kidding me? Nepotism at it's absolute finest!
My store is a well run store that has constant management coverage, even on weekends. There are of course our problems, but we do well.
I would also agree that maybe it's time to re-evaluate the roles of supervisors. It's probably also time to re-evaluate the number of Vice Presidents the company has. Seems these promotions are handed out with hast. No rhyme or reason. This could be a money saver vs. the people running the bar codes over a scanner.
Just some thoughts from somebody who cares immensely. Here's to hoping my co-worker family and I walk in next week and still have a job..

If HyVee is hurting this bad they will soon be taking away the store bonus program. It’s a way we all can share some of the wage cut. Once the bonus is gone store directors will only be getting a yearly salary. Heard that new from my friend. She would at the top of the company.

The fact that they are forcing Store Directors to be the ones to enact the layoffs and huge wage reductions is irresponsible. They are being forced to do these. Then they have to work in these stores and communities. It only takes one crazy person for things to go poorly. Sure I could have someone from safety and security come to the store while it happens, but what about a day later? If this stuff has to be done it should be handled by the DVPs or someone else removed from the location. At least I’m lucky enough to not be a district director. Those poor guys get to walk into stores after knowing the employees for a week and then are expected to lay a bunch off and reduce wages for several others. That’s really going to win the store and community over. A lot of these district directors are supervising small town stores. I fear backlash is going to be intense. Sales are going to plummet due to customer backlash, the small town papers will have a hay day with layoffs, employee moral will be crushed. Just another well thought out plan by Hy-Vee.

Knowing how things go around here at the next meeting they will tell us all we need to add 25% more FT help because they take more ownership or something. Kind of like the ads. “Print ad is dead, NO ONE reads it, going away in Jan” - 2 weeks later, “Sales are terrible 2 weeks in. Could be for various reasons, but we are sure it’s the print ad that we just said no one reads, bring it back.” We need to have the guts to make a plan and stick to it for some period of time. So much energy and money has been wasted the last several years going ditch to ditch.

I was really hoping I would be able to line another job up before I had to do this.

12 year dept head just took a 10k a year pay cut today. Randy edeker has run this company into the dirt. Sh–ty business decisions that now we get to pay for. Why the hell does he still have a job?

Heard Iowa city 3 had some big changes too. It’s so sad. Been with the company since I was 16 years old, put my head down, worked hard to be where I am today and sadly I’m going to have to find somewhere else to finish out my career. Taking away my 45 hours to make me 40 with no compensation. No room for advancement anymore. Spent too much time trying to be like everyone else when we should have been worrying about just being the store with the best customer service. It’s nuts to me to watch this all unfold. All the chaos and all the rumors. I just want to know exactly what’s going to happen and when it’s going to end. Such a shame that this once great company has been driven in to the ground by greed and people at corporate who haven’t set foot inside a store in 20 years try to tell people what’s best

So glad I left HyVee after 15 years of service a few months ago. Last role was store director for 7 years. Loved that job for the first 3 years of my directorship. I had a buddy that is high up in the company tell me HyVee is not doing well. He told me that big changes are coming to stores. I knew about the pay cuts also. That why I started looking for a new job. He said it’s going to take 3-5 years to recover if they make quick changes to stop bleeding out cash. To all the future director good luck with the pay changes. The Job is stressful but pay was great so my spouse could stay home with the kids. Not anymore so you may want to rethink your career choice with this company.

Raises
Depends on director, Some give and some do not.
Completely unfair.
A union scale would eliminate poor, cheap directors from doing this
And you can always ask for more than scale, still up to director.
Some union stores, some not still get time and a half on sundays, could also be a premium. Hyvee used to offer premiums and now they don't
And how about severance ?? Don't get squat now, which under the circumstances, really stinks

Last week it was prefaced that the “changes” hadn’t even started yet. Well, guess what, the s—t storm has begun. Good luck to you all.

The job market is good for job hunters. Don’t worry you will land on your feet some where else. You can now watch as HyVee falls apart and becomes the next sears, Kmart, and toy r us. Rest East as your ride has ended. This will be a blessing in disguise.

Hy Vee #2 in Council Bluffs just had multiple full time dept managers lose their jobs today

Yes I'm a 30 year employee and still working. Have been a fully salaried employee until 12 years ago when we took the 1st pay cut. Now, starting Monday I will lose at least 7800$ per year and when our bonus goes........ wont be in April but July is not gonna happen. That will raise my loss to about 12K per year. 1000$ per month. Really dont think they're heading in the right direction.

Agreed. Perhaps "Burn the Ships" was a poor choice of words to be a call to action for this initiative to say the least. How about "Put out the Fire?" As the company seems to be burning down.
Hey, execs, how about some information?

The anger towards our company is being driven by fear. Being told to "burn it down" does nothing to assuage the fear. Especially, not when we've watched them make ungodly, multi million dollar mistakes over the last several years, and we're the ones taking the hit.

Yes, to the big boys/girls on here, I'm sure you've felt it in your portfolio, but seriously once you've made so many millions of dollars how many million more do you need?

That being said, how is the company ever going to build trust from the employees? That would be key to turning this train wreck around.