Innovation Program at Hy-Vee

We’re hosting the CART Innovation Program, presented by Retail Tomorrow again at the Hy-Vee headquarters; an event specifically curated on-site for their executive team & staff. The two day event will allow you to learn first hand about Hy-Vee stores, present in an expo format to all of Hy-Vee’s staff, and will then give you the opportunity to present for 15 minutes LIVE to their executive team to network & engage 1 on 1 and build relationships with key decision makers.

Day 1: Welcome & Hy-Vee Tour & Expo
Day 2: Innovation Program Day

15 exhibitors, the entire Hy-Vee Executive team, & 200+ Hy-vee employees; the Innovation Program at Hy-Vee is where you'll be able to bring the future of retail technology into focus all in one room.

THE HISTORY

About Hy-Vee

 

In 1930, Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg opened a small general store in Beaconsfield, Iowa. That store grew to become Hy-Vee — a company known for excellent service and reasonable prices. As an employee-owned company, Hy-Vee encourages each of its more than 84,000 employees to help guide the company. Its 88 years of outstanding success is a testament to those employees’ hard work and dedication to the vision of its founders. Today, Hy-Vee is synonymous with quality, variety, value and superior customer service. Its slogan, "A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle," expresses the foundation of the company’s operating philosophy.

Hy-Vee is a touchstone for its customers’ desire for information on diet, nutrition and wellness topics. The company’s commitment to healthy lifestyles is evidenced by its ever-growing HealthMarket departments featuring natural and organic products, the consulting services of in-store dietitians and chefs, and consumer and employee wellness programs.

With sales of $10 billion annually, Hy-Vee ranks among the top 25 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. Its more than 245 stores are located in eight Midwestern states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Distribution centers are in Chariton, Iowa, and Cherokee, Iowa, with a third perishable operation in Ankeny, Iowa. Hy-Vee’s corporate office is located in West Des Moines, Iowa.

PRESENT DAY

LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE SEEN BEFORE

Hy-Vee is one of America’s premier supermarket retailers, and they’re well-known for their focus on superior customer service, high quality products, and an emphasis on health & wellness. Hy-Vee is a leader in eCommerce, driving significant sales online, fulfilling both through traditional stores and dedicated fulfillment stores, and providing both click & collect and home delivery. They’re at the cutting edge, ready and willing to take the next step with you.

Their new Helpful Smiles Technology Center in Grimes, opened earlier this year in a plain-looking, cavernous warehouse that faces a cornfield, but it’s anything but plain! The space is designed to promote creativity and collaboration, said Matt Nannen, Senior Vice President of Digital Development and Brand Image Marketing, and is filled with work and play spaces, and other fringe benefits aimed at attracting in-demand tech workers. The corporate culture is more foosball and Starbucks than suits and ties.

The 104,000-square-foot Smiles Tech Center is part of Hy-Vee’s vision for the future, and currently houses 230 information technology, digital development and brand marketing workers with room to grow.

By Application Only

Innovation programs are by application only. We review your application and if it meets certain criteria, we further vet it with the host leadership team. If they’re interested, great! You’re invited. If the host isn’t specifically interested in your solution, we’ll let you know to move on to the next one.

Ahead of Time

You will be notified of your acceptance within about two weeks of submitting your application. Once we have the green light, we share all the logistics information, more detailed program information, and a list of the attendees to the program.

We’ll set you up with everything you need for success.

Presentation Performance: Positioning & Delivery Conversation

We appreciate that you put a great deal of time and effort into crafting your company’s message. We get it. We know that. But crafting, memorizing, and delivering at an Innovation Program is drastically different from giving any other company pitch you’ve ever given, so get ready & let’s have some fun!

As you start working on your presentation, we’ll give you the feedback from the host about your application and why you were accepted. We also will develop you as a speaker to make sure you’re able to deliver the mosts powerful presentation possible.

How do we do it?

As part of your acceptance into the program we develop you in Presentation Mastery. A program we designed specifically to deliver an effective presentation on-site and get the desired results. Not only do we give you the ins & outs of what the presentation looks like, we’ll give you insight from Hy-Vee into exactly what they’re looking for and exactly what they want to hear from you. This is about a win-win-win partnership!

Presentation Format

An Innovation Program is a showcase for you to present your company in about 15 minutes. There are 10 minutes to present and 5 minutes for Q&A. It sounds short, but don’t worry. Every solution that has joined us does it with plenty of time. This is like the trailer to a movie — if we can’t support the executives understanding what you do and how you do it in 10 minutes, a deeper dive won’t help. Of course, program materials support the executives to have your contact information and application details during the presentation as well.

Why under 15 minutes?

This short talk model works, since it only demands the audience's attention for a short period of time, decreasing the chance of minds wandering or daydreaming about lunch. In fact, some of our greatest Innovation Program talks have been as short as 5 minutes long!

After the Program

There’s Q&A after every presentation so you have a chance to hear live some of the feedback. There are also feedback forms that executives will fill out for every presentation there including: was your presentation clear, what other questions they have, if they’re interested in follow up or even moving right to a pilot. And we get you a summary of all that information within days of the event. You also will receive all the contact information of the attendees to follow up as appropriate.

Hear What’s Being Said

By Application Only

Apply to be featured at the on-site Innovation Program at Hy-Vee’s Headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. The forum helps key decision makers and decision influencers to move pilots, implementations and decisions forward faster. After being accepted you'll go through an extensive coaching process — we'll work with you on everything from your presentation deck to specific requests to make sure you're set up for the greatest success at the event.

It costs nothing to submit an application.