‘Potential new neighbor’ eyeing Ford property
A “potential new neighbor” in the supermarket world that is eyeing Farragut, Hy-Vee, Inc. out of Des Moines, Iowa, is seeking public input for consideration of opening its first store in Tennessee — and one of the first in the Southeastern United States — that is targeted to rest on a familiar piece of property.
An “Open House” meeting with Hy-Vee officials to discuss their plans will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, June 16, in Farragut Community Center Assembly Hall, 239 Jamestowne Blvd.
“As a potential new neighbor to you, we would like to invite the local neighborhood associations near the (Eddy) Ford property to an open house to review and discuss a preliminary concept plan for development,” stated an e-mail from John Brehm, Hy-Vee director for Site Planning, concerning the former Town mayor’s roughly 60 acres along Kingston Pike to the south, which is roughly one mile west of the Pike’s intersection with Campbell Station Road.
“We are in the process of preparing a plan that could be filed for consideration by the Town of Farragut,” Brehm further stated. “The open house is an opportunity to see what we are proposing, answer questions, address concerns and provide feedback to make the project successful for all.”
“We are in the preliminary phases of discussing a development plan that could be filed for consideration with the Town of Farragut. We don’t have any additional details to add at this time,” stated an e-mail from Christina Gayman, Hy-Vee assistant vice president for Communications.
An online story in the Des Moines Register newspaper by Hannah Rodriguez in December 2021 stated, “The West Des Moines-based supermarket chain intends to expand into four new states (Tennessee along with Kentucky, Alabama and Indiana) and build its third distribution center in Nashville, Tennessee, opening more than 20 new stores in the next four years.”
Specifically, “Hy-Vee intends to open two stores in the Nashville area, one in Knoxville (presumably Farragut) and one in Memphis. …”
As for information sourcing, Rodriguez’s story stated, “The Des Moines Register obtained a video of Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker announcing plans to build the Tennessee distribution facility, which would initially service seven new stores in Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky in 2023.”
The planned Nashville distribution center would “be the company’s first outside of Iowa,” Rodriguez’s story added.
