Hy-Vee Brings Joe Fresh Clothing to Stores

Hy-Vee has partnered with Joe Fresh, a leading Canadian fashion retailer, to offer fashion apparel and accessories for women, men, children and babies in select grocery stores. The Joe Fresh shop-in-shop will be the first of its kind in the Midwest.

“Quality clothing, accessories, footwear and beauty will always serve as a top need for the American consumer, which is why we’ve made these solutions available to our shoppers,” said Darren Baty, EVP of nonfoods for West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee. “Hy-Vee’s goal is to provide its customers the very best in all lifestyle categories in a convenient and easy-to-shop format.”

Joe Fresh offerings will vary by location, but will be available in the following markets: Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; Lincoln, Omaha and Grand Island, Neb.; and Minneapolis and Rochester, Minn.

This isn’t the first time the grocer has partnered with a clothing retailer. In 2017, Hy-Vee began working with F&F, an international retailer with locations in Central Europe and Asia, to offer apparel in select Twin Cities and Des Moines metro stores. Likewise, Joe Fresh has experience in the grocery channel: It was founded as a private brand of the Canadian retail giant Loblaw Cos. and occupies departments in that retailer’s Superstores in addition to stand-alone units.

“At Hy-Vee, we focus on the evolving lifestyles of our customers, and we continuously look for ways to make our customers’ lives easier, healthier and happier,” Baty said. “We transitioned our fashion retail partnership to Joe Fresh to offer larger product diversity with Midwestern styles that we believe will be appealing to the Hy-Vee shopper.”

Employee-owned Hy-Vee operates more than 260 stores across eight Midwestern states, with annual sales of $10 billion.