Downtown Des Moines Hy-Vee opens

Posted Mar 5, 2017
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The beauty of living downtown is the walkability and bikeability to everything... Well everything but a grocery store.

Downtown Des Moines just got quite a bit better.

For us suburbanites, a trip to a Hy-Vee for our weekly grub is pretty darned easy. For those who live in downtown Des Moines, a full-fledged grocery store was non-existent. Not anymore. After 18 months of construction, the Hy-Vee on 4th and Court opened its doors.

The new Hy-Vee certainly has a new urban vibe. The kind you'd feel if you were in a bigger city. Lots of unique offerings and plenty of smiles in every isle. 36,000 square foot isn't exactly a small space, but to serve downtown residents with all the amenities, it had to be efficient and flow conscious. A normal Hy-Vee's size is 92,000 square foot.

The location is primo for the thousands of downtown residents and is with blocks of the downtown trails and bike lanes.

Bike-friendly?

BIKEIOWA got an invite from Jen, Hy-Vee's district VP, to come down and check out the bicycle facilities and try out their first brunch.

I met David and Tony there for a quick walk-around the building before meeting Jen and discussing our findings. It was cool to learn that Jen was an avid cyclist and is very open to future bicycle-friendly amenities.

There are 3 sets of bike racks and a fix-it station. Each set has 4 bike racks, so 12 bike racks in all. One set of racks is location near the front entrance (North-side) and the other two are on the East and West sides. We got down there at 10am and there are 4 bikes locked to the racks. When we left there were 14 bikes locked to the racks.

The Bike Fix-It Station is a nice and welcomed touch!

The sidewalks are plenty wide and spacious and leave plenty of room for parking and loading bikes without affecting pedestrian traffic..

Parking under cover? - There are no bike racks in the enclosed parking area (yet). There is room by the rear (South) entrance for another set of racks and possibly more toward the back of the parking area that could be use for employee bicycle parking or overflow parking.

Cameras are located on every corner of the building and we asked if footage was easily obtainable if something happened to a bicycle and Jen said yes. If the police are involved, the footage is available.

Cyclists are also welcome to lock their bikes to the patio railing although not sure how that will work when the patio is in use.

There is a B-cycle Station located near the main entrance. We watched it get used twice as we ate breakfast.

So is the new Hy-Vee bicycle-friendly ?? We say YES! Our only recommendation at this time would be to put another set of racks under the enclosed parking area near the South entrance side for loading in not-so-nice weather. Jen said they would gauge bike rack usage and can install more once needed.

What do you think? If you live downtown, feel free to comment below with any ideas, likes, dislike or concerns.

And the brunch? Well, we give it two thumbs up and left ubber-full and enjoyed our two trips through the buffet line. The staff was super-friendly and we encountered no issues on their first time having a brunch.

The store and Market grill was full, but the flow was well-kept and there was not an irritating hustle and bustle. We'll be back!

We also enjoy the Hy-Vee branded B-Cycles and saw 3 buses with full-wrap Hy-Vee advertising while walking the perimeter of the building.

Thanks to David Moravek, owner of AJ's on Court for the invite and introduction.

Amenities

There is a Market Grill, a Health Market, a pharmacy, a growler filling station, smoothie and juice stand, a custom soda station, bakery, liquor, fresh meats, fresh flowers, international groceries, and a Starbucks on site.

There is also a nice-sized outdoor 40 seat patio when the weather is nice.

Over 18,000 items will be kept in stock. Hy-Vee's "Aisles online" is also available.

Food eateries include Mexican, Italian, Long Island Deli, Asian Grill, Charcuterie, Hickory House, Sushi, Salad Bar, Sweet Shop and more.

There are 4 entrances.
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There are also 81 apartments above the store.