Anna Stoermer’s journey at Hy-Vee is, in many ways, a reflection of the grocer’s culture of opportunity. Stoermer became one of the first women to rise from Hy-Vee’s front lines — starting as a grocery bagger — all the way to the C-suite on the retail side. Today, she serves as chief retail and merchandising officer for the $14 billion grocer.
In her current role, Stoermer’s mission is to ensure that Hy-Vee stands out by being the best place for customers to shop. This focus spans store experience, merchandising, pricing, supplier partnerships and the grocer’s expansive fresh perimeter. From food service and bakery to meat and produce, Stoermer keeps a close eye on changing consumer preferences, store design and innovation.
Over the past 18 months, she has led a companywide strategic reset. This included lowering prices on more than 15,000 items to match the lowest-price competitors, renewing Hy-Vee’s focus on fresh quality by shifting production back into stores, and launching a new brand campaign spotlighting Hy-Vee’s signature helpful smile and service culture. The result: a sharper focus on pricing, quality and service.
In the year ahead, her focus will be centered on growing e-commerce and digital.
For Stoermer, however, the most rewarding part of the job isn’t any single initiative. “It’s the amount of impact I can have on people,” she said, pointing to mentoring teams and translating employee and customer feedback into meaningful change. In a fast-moving retail landscape, that people-first mindset remains her North Star.
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