With sales of more than $4.6 billion and over 200 retail stores across seven Midwestern states, employee-owned Hy-Vee ranks among the top 15 supermarket chains in the United States. Hy-Vee started as a small general store in Beaconsfield, Iowa in 1930. Hy-Vee supermarkets are set-up to be one-stop shopping, with grocery, deli, pharmacy, florist, video and film processing departments, as well as lawn and garden centers. The company s distribution operations are based in Chariton, Iowa, where it has a 650,000-square foot state-of-the-art warehouse facility. Hy-Vee s northern division office and another large distribution center are located in Cherokee, Iowa. The company has more than 40,000 employees, and its corporate office is located in West Des Moines, Iowa. Hy-Vee operates a retail store in Columbia, Mo.