WEST DES MOINES, IOWA -- Hy-Vee here is getting customers, vendors and employees past and present involved in its 75th anniversary celebration.
called Hy-Vee Occasions, published in conjunction with Better Homes & Gardens Magazine. The 120-page publication, which includes holiday recipes and party-planning ideas, is being given away free at the stores.
The magazine includes an article on another aspect of Hy-Vee's anniversary celebration -- a $75,000 kitchen makeover for a Hy-Vee customer.
Hy-Vee said it received approximately 7,000 entries to win the kitchen makeover -- essays of 100 words or less on why each customer wanted the makeover. The winner was a homemaker in Rock Island, Ill., who lives with her husband and 1-year-old son in a 100-year-old house whose kitchen, though modernized over the years, was still out of date.
The makeover was completed in August, and the magazine features a multi-page layout with before, during and after photos.
Another aspect of the anniversary celebration is the "Smiles for Education" program Hy-Vee launched in September. Over a 10-week period, the chain is donating a total of $750,000 to 100 schools in its seven-state operating area.
Hy-Vee stores have been hosting anniversary-themed parties, picnics and softball tournaments for their employees throughout the year, and the company held a golf outing for vendors last June in which all participants received a commemorative mallet putter with the chain's 75th anniversary logo etched on it.
All employees past and present will also receive a copy of a book on the company's history, "75 Years of a Helpful Smile," featuring historic photos and interviews with current and former employees.
