Iowa’s largest grocery store chain plans to get even larger in 2003. Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Mitchell says the West Des Moines-based chain will be spending 190-million dollars next year on capital improvements. The plan calls for 14 new or the remodeling and expansion of existing stores, adding about a dozen liquor stores and two-dozen gas stations. Mitchell says Hy-Vee officials think it’ll help the chain and its customers to add liquor stores either beside the existing grocery store or nearby. Mitchell says the gas stations are another way to draw customers to their stores and to get more business from those customers who are already heading for the Hy-Vee.She says they use discounts on gas as a way to build excitement among customers. The chain currently has 101 stores and 27 drug stores in Iowa with dozens more stores in six other Midwestern states.
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