HOLDREGE — The community showed their support as the Holdrege Hy-Vee hosted its grand opening on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
A crowd of around 150 people gathered in the pre-dawn darkness in a line that stretched from the front of the Hy-Vee out to 14th Ave.
The path to Tuesday morning started back in April when Holdrege residents learned that Holdrege Market Place would be closing. Just days later, it was announced that Hy-Vee would be coming to Holdrege, according to the Phelps County Development Corporation (PCDC).
Frank Woodward, Regional Vice President with Hy-Vee said landlord, Jay Noddle of Noddle Companies in Omaha, had reached out to the company and asked if they would be interested in coming to the community.
“Noddle did not renew the lease for long-time tenant Holdrege Market Place earlier this year, instead leasing the space to Hy-Vee. The Holdrege Market Place closed in July leaving three vacant retail spaces in the plaza,” per the PCDC.
“We wouldn’t have made the decisions we made if we didn’t feel like it was in the best long-term interest of the property and therefore the community and our investors,” Noddle said. “Sometimes you have to press the restart button and that’s what happened with this property. If we weren’t committed to Holdrege, we wouldn’t have made these decisions.”
“Our investment in Holdrege continues on,” Noddle said. “We are doing everything we can to bring different and bigger and better opportunities to the marketplace.”
Woodward said when Hy-Vee is looking at a community they could potentially move in to, they look at the population and how many grocers serve the community. He said after their initial look they were, “absolutely interested,” in coming to Holdrege.
Hy-Vee got its start as a rural Midwest grocery chain and community like Holdrege was the perfect fit, Woodward said.
Renovation started six weeks ago, with dry groceries being shipped in two weeks ago, Woodward said.
The 19,000 square foot store offers a full selection of grocery items, fresh produce, a full-service meat department, Chophouse meats, a wine and spirit department, Market Grille Express, a Mealtime to Go offerings and Aisles Online grocery service.
The store is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and carries around 15,000 items.
When asked about his thoughts on the community support, Woodward said it was “incredible,” and noted people had begun lining up outside of the store at 6 a.m. Every single grocery cart had been handed out after the initial line entered the store.
Woodward said at a “meet the managers” event, over 1,000 people from Holdrege had turned out. “I can’t say how proud we are,” he said.
“Holdrege is a community where we’ve chosen not to do that (sell), rather roll up our sleeves and see what an extreme makeover results in,” Noddle said.
