New Hy-Vee CEO Eyes Pet, Baby

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee Food Stores will “reassert” itself in the pet and baby categories, Randy Edeker, the retailer’s new chairman and chief executive officer, said in a published report.

As a father with two young daughters, Edeker said he has heard new moms talking about online retailers like diapers.com, competitors that didn’t exist five years ago, Edeker said in an interview in the Des Moines Register.

“We have to think different, modernize, we have to go where our customers are going,” Edeker says in the interview. “We have to study our customers’ lifestyles.”

He declined to provide details, but noted that Amazon is focused on replenishment of categories.

“There are certain products that aren’t too exciting to shop for — laundry detergent, dog food, diapers. You need them but you don’t want to go get them,” Edeker said. “Competitors are finding ways to deliver those products to customers. As an industry, we have to make sure we are serving our customers. We’ll experiment with delivering products that customers want.”