> Grocery Wars

A long time ago in a neighborhood near you, there were IGAs, Falley’s, Dillons, JM Bauersfelds, and a slew of comparatively small grocery stores (by today’s standards) offering a wide selection of, well, groceries! While a few neighborhood grocery stores still exist in Topeka, most of the family owned groceries have been edged out by a few Titans in the grocery industry: Dillons, Price Chopper and, coming soon, Hy-Vee. These grocery super stores aim to offer much more than canned goods, fresh veggies and cold dairy—they are creating a destination experience with Starbucks lattes, eat-in delis, banks and expanded beauty and household departments.

The Grocery Wars are particularly heating up in southwest Topeka, and the battle lines run right along S.W. 29th Street between Wanamaker and Urish Roads. As the walls of the giant new Hy-Vee store at 29th and Wanamaker are erected, Dillons is paving the way for a major expansion of its location at 29th and Urish as part of the company’s long-range plan for that store.

While the two grocery giants are following their blueprints for their super-sized facilities, they are also working on their strategic blueprints for capturing their share of the grocery dollars spent by the ever-increasing number of southwest Topeka residents.

Hy-Vee Aims to Wow Topekans
According to Rob Eslick, Assistant Vice-president of Operations for Hy-Vee, the company (which is employee-owned) looked at Topeka a long time before deciding to build a store here and they are “anxious to show Topekans our great service, low prices and wide variety of products.” The store will feature a pharmacy, a food court and dining area, floral, baby and pet departments, a bank branch, a Health Market with natural/organic foods and a Starbucks coffee shop.

What sets Hy-Vee stores apart from other grocers, Eslick says, is that “we are good at community involvement. We offer great service, low prices and a wide variety of products.” He says that company officials are, of course, concerned about established competition from other Topeka stores, but feels that their store will earn market share by offering services that other local grocers do not.

Eslick was unsure of an opening date although he feels that the new location will be open in April or May of 2008. The new Hy-Vee store will hire about 400 new employees beginning in February or March and Eslick indicated that store officials will work with the local Workforce Center to hire those employees. He said that both full and part time employees can become eligible to join the ranks of employee owners of the store.

Dillons Takes a Fresh Approach

On September 25, 2007, Dillons announced an expansion and remodeling at its 29th and Urish location which will result in a 40% increase in space, making that store 73,000 square feet in total area. Sheila Lowrie, Dillon’s spokesperson, says “the remodeled location will feature expanded selections and updated departments, created to provide busy customers with a unique one-stop shopping experience.”

Enhancements to existing departments will include a large gourmet cheese shop, an olive and antipasto bar, a fresh sushi bar and a hot soup bar. Dillons will also offer additional selections of organic products, and feature a brand new All About You beauty section and several kiosks where customers can sit down and print photos from their digital cameras.

The store will also include additional varieties and selections of garden-fresh and organic produce, frozen foods, dairy items, meats, international and specialty products and the full-service pharmacy will be enhanced and continue to feature a drive-thru window. Lowrie also says the store will have a new color scheme and focus on freshness in all departments. Although Lowrie was unable to provide a firm date for completion of the expansion, she said Dillons does plan to hire additional employees to staff the extra areas and they, too, plan to work with local officials to recruit and hire new help.

Grocery shoppers we talked to seem to have mixed reactions to the new store vs. loyalty to the location where they buy groceries now. Jeri Stonestreet said she “shops the ads for the best ‘loss leaders’ and feels pretty loyal to Dillon’s Meat Department.” Another southwest Topeka resident, Janet Palmer, said “I’ll try Hy-Vee—I’ve heard good things about their stores in other locations.”

It appears that no matter which grocery chain wins the ‘war’ for customers, it will be the residents of Topeka who are the real winners with a new Hy-Vee store and a greatly expanded Dillon’s location in the southwest part of town.