In a twist for west metro grocery shoppers, Hy-Vee said Friday that it will take over a location in Plymouth this fall that had been a Cub Foods store until just last week.
Cub closed the store at 16705 County Road 24 on July 11. It was one of several that Cub picked up in 2014 through an acquisition of former Rainbow stores initiated by its parent company, Supervalu Inc.
Cub has another store in Plymouth, at 3550 Vicksburg Lane N., that will remain part of its chain, the largest grocer in the state at 78 stores. Cub is nearly finished remodeling that store and will have a grand reopening of it on Thursday.
Employees from the store on County Road 24 were offered jobs at other Cub locations, including the one on Vicksburg.
"We are pleased that many are continuing their employment with us at Vicksburg Lane or another Cub store location in the area," Chad Ferguson, president of Cub operations, said in a statement.
For Hy-Vee, the Iowa-based company that arrived in the metro area in 2015 with an eye on making the Twin Cities its largest market, the store on County Road 24 is a new addition to previously announced expansion plans. Hy-Vee Chief Executive Randy Edeker hinted at the change in May when he said in an interview that two potential locations will be purchased and remodeled but did not specify where.
In the metro area, Hy-Vee had earlier revealed that a new store in Robbinsdale will open late this summer and construction will begin later this year on stores in Spring Lake Park and Columbia Heights. It will start work on one of an expected two sites in Maple Grove next year. Hy-Vee has also indicated it will eventually build in Farmington or Chaska.
"We look forward to having a grocery store in Plymouth," Hy-Vee spokeswoman Tina Potthoff said. "We are pleased we can now move forward with opening a store to serve customers in that community later this fall."
Around the Twin Cities, Hy-Vee currently has stores in New Hope, Oakdale, Lakeville, Brooklyn Park, Eagan, Savage, Cottage Grove and Shakopee.
It has another 17 stores in southern Minnesota.
John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633
