WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Randy Edeker is stepping down as CEO of Hy-Vee but will stay on as the company's board chairman, Hy-Vee announced Wednesday.
In a press release, Hy-Vee said Aaron Wiese will begin as Hy-Vee CEO on Oct. 1 and Jeremy Gosch remains the company's COO, "overseeing all of the retail operations for the business."
Both Wiese and Gosch will report to Edeker.
The West Des Moines-based grocery store has locations in eight states across the Midwest. Hy-Vee has announced corporate job cuts three times in recent months:
- In March, they said 102 of 121 affected employees were offered new jobs
- In April, the company bought a full-page newspaper ad to say they were looking to transition up to 500 corporate employees to retail jobs
- In May, they said another 57 jobs were cut from their IT, engineering, equipment real estate and construction departments
Edeker issued the following statement Wednesday:
"Both Aaron and Jeremy have been trusted leaders of our executive team for many years, and I am thankful for the leadership they continue to provide our great company. With this announcement, I can continue to focus on Hy-Vee’s strategy and evolution in today’s changing environment while Jeremy can focus on overseeing our stores and Aaron can focus on the day-to-day operations of the overall company."
The company reportedly spent $10 million to bring IndyCar to the Iowa Speedway for a two-race weekend July 22 through 24.
Edeker told The Associated Press, “We feel like Hy-Vee should be investing in small-town Iowa right now. We should be out helping them grow, finding something that we can be proud of and put together three or four days that will be great for the city."