Quartz Countertops in Bartlett, TN

Hy-Vee has called off construction of a new store in at least one of the southern cities it was targeting, officials there say.

The city of Bartlett, Tennessee, a Memphis suburb, says Hy-Vee has declined to move forward with the plan after putting it on hold last year. The city's planning commission is greenlighting a Crunch Fitness location on what was the part of the planned site of the 113,000-square-foot Hy-Vee store.

Hy-Vee spokesperson Tina Potthoff, asked for comment, did not directly address the status of the Memphis plan.

"Hy-Vee still owns property in Tennessee; however, right now we are focusing our expansion efforts in the state of Indiana," she wrote in an email, citing Hy-Vee's 2024 purchase of 22 Strack & Van Til grocery stores in the northwestern part of that state. "We do not have a construction timeline to share for any of the locations in Tennessee at this time."

The store was part of a planned expansion for West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee that also calls for stores in Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; and Indianapolis. It previously shelved a plan for a Knoxville, Tennessee, store, and also removed Alabama from its plans.

Bartlett Mayor David Parsons told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in August 2024, when the planned store there was put on hold, that the company had told him it was re-evaluating its expansion plans, citing high interest rates and the rising cost of construction.

In April, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that Hy-Vee said the stores it planned to build in the suburbs of Fishers and Zionsville also were on hold. It quoted Zionsville Mayor John Stehr as saying he had spoken with Hy-Vee officials and that his understanding was that escalating construction costs were the reason for the pause, though "it's still in their plans to do it."

WDRB in Louisville reported in March that construction of a Hy-Vee store planned in the suburb of Bardstown, delayed since 2020, was back on track, though no construction date had been announced. The radio station did not cite the source of its information, published in a story about the wider development of which the Hy-Vee would be a part,

Some grocery market analysts the Des Moines Register interviewed after the initial news of the expansion plan expressed skepticism, saying Hy-Vee would face stiff price competition in those markets from competitors like Ohio-based Kroger and Florida-based Publix. But other said Hy-Vee could compete well in more affluent areas, where its perceived superior quality would be more of an advantage.

Founded in Iowa in 1930 by Charles L. Hyde and David M. Vredenburg, Hy-Vee has grown to become the Des Moines metro's largest employer. It has more than 240 stores in eight states, plus the Strack & Van Til stores in Indiana.