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Hy-Vee plans to open Smokey Row Coffee cafés

Midwestern grocer expands presence in restaurant arena

Russell Redman

July 23, 2019

2 Min Read
Smokey Row Coffee cafe window_Des Moines (2).PNG
Credit: Smokey Row Coffee Co.

Hy-Vee has partnered with Pleasantville, Iowa-based Smokey Row Coffee Co. to open several coffee shop/restaurants.

Plans call for the first Smokey Row location to open in mid-September on the lower level of the Hotel Charitone in Chariton, Iowa, Hy-Vee said yesterday. The café will replace the Hy-Vee Market Grille restaurant currently occupying the space.

In Chariton’s downtown area, the new Smokey Row restaurant will offer the chain’s full menu, including coffee and other beverages, breakfast, salads, soups, sandwiches, ice cream and various desserts, as well as a kids’ menu.

“We look forward to bringing our first Smokey Row location to Chariton for residents, visitors, students and workers to enjoy,” Nate Stewart, executive vice president of restaurant development and food service at Hy-Vee, said in a statement. Chariton also is home to Hy-Vee’s largest distribution center.

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Hy-Vee's first Smokey Row location will replace a Hy-Vee Market Grille restaurant in the Hotel Charitone in Chariton, Iowa.

With Smokey Row taking over the hotel’s Hy-Vee Market Grille site, the Hy-Vee Market Grille Express outlet inside the Hy-Vee supermarket in Chariton will be renovated to accommodate more food choices. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based grocer said customers also will be able to walk up to a pay station and order their breakfast, lunch or dinner items and then sit and enjoy their meal in a casual, self-service setting.

Related:Hy-Vee dishes up second Wahlburgers for Wisconsin

“The current Market Grille space in Hotel Charitone will be transformed into a fun, trendy atmosphere with a wide array of food options, as well as a comfortable place for customers to relax, connect via Wi-Fi or visit with friends,” Stewart added.

The Chariton café will mark Smokey Row’s fifth location in Iowa. Its other four restaurants are in Pleasantville, Pella, Oskaloosa and Des Moines. Along with a wide variety of coffees and teas — such as cappuccino, espresso, latte, mocha, chai and herbal teas — the Smokey Row menu includes favorites like chicken pot pie served over warm biscuits, cheeseburger chowder in a breadbowl and the Smokey Row shake.

Hy-Vee, which operates more than 260 supermarkets in eight Midwestern states, also has a franchise partnership with fast casual restaurant chain Wahlburgers. Under an agreement unveiled in 2017, Hy-Vee is slated to build, own and operate 26 Wahlburgers restaurants. The grocer also sells Wahlburgers-branded menu items at its full-service Hy-Vee Market Grille restaurants in the Des Moines area.

Most recently, Hy-Vee said it aims to open a 5,300-square-foot Wahlburgers in Milwaukee late this year. The location would mark the supermarket retailer’s second Wahlburgers in Wisconsin and fifth overall. A 6,000-square-foot Wahlburgers is set to open in Brookfield, Wis., late this summer. Hy-Vee’s first three Wahlburgers locations opened last year in Bloomington, Minn. (inside the Mall of America); West Des Moines, Iowa; and Olathe, Kan.

Related:H-E-B, Hy-Vee add restaurant locations

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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