TLDR: Pass on the deli & hot food counter. Take a stand and boycott the self-checkout. Edit:…read moremanagement saw my review and reached out to me via email, offering to re-stock missing items, if it was possible via their distribution channels. MENU: Impressive array of items of all kinds. Sometimes I wish it was better organized. Why is the canola oil in one place, but the olive oil in another aisle? I suppose the modern conventions of shady marketing practices dictate that products have to scattered willy-nilly, because studies show that customers buy X% more when they're forced to wander around the store. Very frustrating. Some commonplace items are absent. (Especially seafood: frozen calamari, mussels, scallops, etc.) Occasionally, items get discontinued without rhyme or reason. We get forty different versions of apple juice, but the Old Orchard guava juice has to go. Same with L&A dark cherry juice, Talenti vanilla, mango, and on. COMPETITION: The only other grocery store worth mentioning is ALDI, which is great for specific things, even if it isn't always in stock - their frozen shellfish selection, for example, is much better than Hy-Vee. That said, 99% of the time you can get whatever you need at Hy-Vee at a price that's comparable to Wally World, without the degradation in quality. FOOD QUALITY: Let's talk about the butcher area... Way too lenient with the sell-by dates. On one occasion I got a cod fillet, only to find that it was stinking rotten when I got it home. I assumed it was a fluke, and tried again a couple weeks later, with the same result. Speaking of the fish counter, can y'all please stop screwing up the salmon? They keep removing the skin and hacking the fillets into these random-cut portions of mismatched sizes. I wonder about the quantity of food waste going on at this store. (Which makes the replacement of staff members with machines all the more sinful.) Let's also talk about the deli section. The quick service menu items are sometimes not in stock. The quality of the food is too hit and miss to bother with. Worst thing is the wide spectrum in pricing. If you get a three piece fried chicken meal with a couple of sides, it'll come to around ten bucks, which I think is reasonable. But if you buy a bucket of drumsticks, you're going to pay upwards of $2.50 a piece. A tub of crusty mashed potatoes will cost you $20. Doesn't scale properly, if you ask me. It's also annoying to pay the same price for a piddly wing that's nothing but skin and bones as you would for a decent wing with some meat on it. Likewise, the various in-house made salads and whatnot in the cold food section tend to be bland and watery. My advice: don't bother. MENU FAVORITES: Excellent selections for ice cream, wine, fruit juices, organic stuff, and pickled goods. If you enjoy cooking at home, you'll find most everything you could ask for. FRONT OF HOUSE SERVICE: My biggest complaint about Hy-Vee is the self checkout nonsense. Forcing customers to bag their own groceries under the disinterested gaze of someone paid merely to stand around until they have a system error to deal with is an appalling shame. No matter how long the line may be at the human checkout, I will always go there. Why? Because I would prefer that all the lovely staff members, like Sarah, and Dorothy, and Heather, and the beardy butcher guy, got to keep their jobs, rather than getting replaced by machines. Besides, there are no benefits to the self-checkout. There isn't enough room to cope with more than a few items, there's often a line queued for these stations anyway, and the few times I have used it resulted in a delay because of a system error. If you're reading this, and you agree with me: boycott the self-checkout. If enough of us commit, we can force them to go back to proper human cashier service. On the upside, the management does care about customers if you address a concern to one of them directly. For example, on one occasion I bought a pair of thawed catfish fillets from the butcher section, and one of them had a roughly 4-inch long, parasitic worm running diagonally through the meat tissue. I managed to get one of the higher level managers on the phone to report the problem, and he offered to replace it for me. If you have any major issue, talk to someone in management and they'll try to make it right. KITCHEN SERVICE: I get the impression that new hires are not trained well. I know, low-wage jobs have a lot of turnover, but you'd think they would get some basic form of orientation. On a day when I tried to order some of the fast food, the young gal at the register had no clue about any of it, and had to run to the back several times to get a confirmation from the guy working the fryers, only to be treated like he didn't have the time of day to give her. Sad. Poor management in that area. ATMOSPHERE: The store is generally clean, neat, and orderly, including the bathrooms.

This has to be one of the best Hy-Vee's I have ever been in. The "Smile in every aisle" slogan is…read moreperfected at this store. All smiles and friendly hi's from everyone, just a very positive feel throughout the store. But that doesn't even begin to tell how great this store is with service. I stopped to pick up some fruit for breakfast and some deli food that required no or very little preparation. I was on my way to my Grandparents and wanted to keep everything simple and Grandma out of the kitchen for the weekend. They had strawberries on sale so I decided to grab extra for some strawberry shortcakes. I could not find any shortcakes and was looking around the bakery section. One of the ladies working back there asked if she could help. After stating my request, she said they didn't have any, but came out from behind the counter to help me find some instead of just sending me to another section alone. She went over and asked one of the produce workers if they had any and they said they were unable to get any in. We found some premade strawberry shortcakes in the deli area and the bakery lady suggested getting a pound cake to make. I explained to her my circumstance and that I didn't want anything that required preparing. She then went to the back and found the shortcakes that the salad bar used to make the premade strawberry shortcakes so I purchase those. Any other store, the bakery person would have said no and sent me on to fend for myself. They would have said they didn't have any for sale and left me with nothing to buy. Instead, this employee went the extra mile and made sure I left fully satisfied. My Grandparents were happy with the various items we had from the deli all weekend and were items that they hadn't tried before. Everything was delicious and good quality. This will be a stop for me every time I am headed to the Grands as they won my business with their kindness and great service!

For those traveling through stop here for fresh baked goods by "Love at First Bite Bakery". Don't…read moreforget to select pies ready to bake in the freezer at the back of the store!! Watching your gluten? Check out the veggies and fruits! The lovely apples are perfect for snacking and you will find all sorts of other goodies! Perhaps the kids need books or car suitable activities. There are music CDs available for purchase and boxed greeting cards! During spring the hanging baskets of flowers make great gifts and in Autumn who can pass up a hostess gift of a pumpkin, a chrysanthemum and some dish towels or a hand crafted apron! What ever possible sweetener you might need you will likely find here. Baking ingredients like vanilla baking soda, even chocolate ice cream sandwich cookies are on their shelves. The Staff is well informed and involved in supporting the community via the Kiwanis Farmers Market in Kirksville and beautifying the highways by participating in Highway Clean up projects. Sandwiches can be handcrafted at the deli counter and there is plenty to fully stock your pantry and refresh spice racks! The varieties of loose leaf teas are a personal favorite of mine! Sit a spell in the outdoor furniture and talk to the staff to place an order! So much to see!

This is a truly terrific store, You must stop and see ir for yourself! You won't go away empty…read morehanded, Please ket me know if you ever open mail order for some of teas etc +++++++++

Ok I had not been to the new location yet So a couple extra…read morebucks And a bit of time extra Off to cantril Right on Hwy 2 is the new location From the outside it looks BIG Large parking lot But on the inside well.... Spacious More room to walk inside Lunch prime time maybe 12:45 ish Small serve your self and pay by the lb 12/lb plus drink think bishops with not much to choose from Pepsi products for fountain drinks And coffee Smoked chicken, meatloaf, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans They were out of noodles.... 25 bucks for two for a basic one trip thing Meatloaf was good green beans were ok Mashed potatoes were ok Chicken had a different taste might to have been oak smoked or an exotic wood.. I am spoiled as a chef lol The chicken was ok... No free ice cream they wanted a buck for cup or cone. It was ok on the food... but we drove past a few places that would to have been same price for 2x the food. Off to shopping More room for folks Hard to find some of the specials And out and out bait and switch on the Nathen's hot dog deal the add listed the plain all beef and what was in the store was the ultra spicy ones... That was my main reason for the trip as 99 cents per lb would have been good for a winter stock up item... They did have the biscuits as box of 100 for 20 bucks And bulk fish triangles for 1.99 a lb And Heinz close dated ketchup 44 oz for 2.99 So not a total bust I might be back if I get more freezer space But I do almost as good in west of Bloomfield at Hwy 2 discount

Excellent store, very clean, helpful staff and great prices. If you're anywhere near the area this…read moreis a must stop.

It's a long day when we visit Hershberger Highway 2 Discount Grocery. It's a drive of over 2 hours…read moreone way, and well worth it. For a hundred to a hundred twenty dollars spent we'll bring home boxes, (1 or 2), and coolers, (1 or 2), filled with what we find. Now a once-a-month road trip.

Tradition - when I visit family in southeast Iowa each year I enjoy taking a drive through Davis…read moreCounty to visit the Amish shops. The atmosphere of the Amish people driving horse and buggy, boys in suspenders and straw hats while girls wear their bonnets and traditional dresses, the courtesy the men show, clothing hanging on the clothesline, bare feet, fresh produce - I love it. We stopped by the grocery store to pick up baking supplies for cornbread, rhubarb jam, and butternut squash. Most products sold in the store are packed in bulk. It is such a wonderful experience to be amongst the Amish. Please be respectful.

This is such a gem for this community, as it would be for ANY town. I wish it were in Des Moines!…read more As a traveler, 2 things stand out. One, the baked goods. Two, the look and vibe. It's maintained and managed more like a big city store (though we all know examples of neglected urban grocery stores).

Fantastic healthy grocery store.. Super friendly staff. All…read moremy favorite vegan treats, great produce section, and the bulk section to get stoked about. Super clean store. Staff always helps with a smile and will even help you with your groceries out to the car. For a small town, this place is a major luxury. Much like the great Co-ops in Iowa City and Ames.. Reminds me a lot of them.. They even have a great restaurant in the back with outdoor patio seating I suggest the vegan burrito bowl!

Ok been a while Early am stop in…read more Lots of ramen Most of the sauces Both tapioca and rice flour in stock They did not have the peanut cake or sesame cake I was looking for They had the hood tuna but it was a buck a can higher than cfresh in desmoines Ok selection for ottumwa The veggies looked ok

You can find most things you can't find in regular stores very nice guest service and lots of itemsread more

Awesome selection of organic produce and snacks! I also get my grass-fed steaks and milk here. They…read moreare usually well-stocked and have a cool variety of food and drinks that you normally wouldn't find at other grocers. The Aldi Twice as Nice brand is overall pretty healthy compared to other brands that usually have a lot of preservatives. They also have some neat home goods too, I picked up a really cute wall decor piece for our guest room. Friendly cashiers too! This location is much better than the Fort Madison one as it's more up to date and carry a larger selection of products.

The staff for one, their so friendly and helpful, their always there if you ever need help. The…read moreshelfs are always nicely stocked and the floors always clean as well as the parking lot. The prices are reasonable and they have a wide selection. Whoever stocked those shelves and freezers thumbs up from me! Keep up the good work!

Great selection of products, good fresh produce, great prices, wonderful customer service.read more

I have never come out with less than 4 bags of groceries. The prices on most items are well below…read moreany traditional store. And you never know what fun food item you'll find to try!