Fareway opens 1st of 3 stores planned in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday

Fareway Stores Inc. on Wednesday opened its first of three metro stores planned in West Des Moines, Iowa, the Boone-Iowa-based grocery retailer announced this week.

Located at 9080 Mills Civic Parkway, the 21,00-square-foot store features a full-service butcher counter, which it touts as “second-to-none” and grocery essentials that include locally sourced items.

“This is the first of three metro area stores opening this year, and we are excited to continue our growth in conjunction with West Des Moines, as it continues to expand,” said Fareway CEO Reynolds W. Cramer, in a statement. “We are so appreciative of both local and state officials who made this project possible and look forward to serving area residents as their go-to neighborhood grocery store.”

West Des Moines is also the headquarters of Hy-Vee, which operates more than 285 grocery stores across the Midwest. 

The new Fareway store will offer shoppers Fastlanes, a self-service checkout option, and online ordering with curbside pickup available at Shop.Fareway.com. Now through the end of March, shoppers can save $5 on their first online order by using the code, WDMFIVE, Fareway announced.  The new store will be managed by Grocery Manager Tom Bastron and Market Manager Taylor Seawel.

Local and state officials echoed positive comments regarding the grocery retailer’s expansion into West Des Moines.

“Fareway is a great Iowa company that is helping communities large and small become better places to live, one store at a time,” said Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority.

Looking to strengthen its leadership team and advance the grocery retailer’s omnichannel strategy, the grocer last month announced several corporate promotions. The executive promotions include: Aaron Irlbeck, who is now SVP of campus operations; John Cramer, who is now VP of e-commerce operations, and Chad Hickcox, who has been promoted to regional VP.

Fareway, which is a family-owned business, operates over 130 stores in seven states. The Midwest grocer also operates stand-alone meat markets and last year opened its first Fareway Meat Market in Minnesota.