Dive Brief:

• Fareway is moving its corporate headquarters from Boone, Iowa, to Johnston, Iowa, after 85 years, according to local news reports. 
• The regional grocer plans to begin its move at the end of May 2024, bringing around 100 Fareway employees to the city, according to a LinkedIn post from Johnston’s City Administrator Michel Pogge-Weaver.  
• The location shift comes as Fareway continues to grow its operations throughout the Midwest, having opened or announced plans for eight new store locations since the start of this year.

Dive Insight:

Fareway has run out of space to grow in Boone, CEO Reynolds Cramer told the Des Moines Register. The move to Johnston, which is located about 35 miles to the south, allows the grocer to continue its expansion plans, he said. 

The new headquarters located at 8800 N.W. 62nd Ave. in Johnston is 42,000 square feet and will serve as office space for roughly 100 employees. Fareway’s current corporate office has been split between two separate spaces for the past 12 years, and the Johnston office will allow all corporate employees to be under one roof, Cramer told the Register. 

Cramer also noted that more than 200 employees may eventually work in the Johnston office. The purchase of the building is set to be complete by early next year. 

Eighty percent of Fareway’s corporate staff is located in Polk County, which encompasses Des Moines, Cramer told the paper, and commutes for many current employees will be reduced by more than 20 minutes. The CEO also stated that recruiting new workers to the Des Moines metro area will be easier. 

Boone Mayor John Slight issued a statement Tuesday noting that, while the city is disappointed to see the grocer depart, the move is beneficial to Boone’s community for several reasons. 

“Fareway’s downtown office will become the new home for approximately 45 wholesale office employees,” which will boost the city’s downtown vitality, Slight said. And, despite the move, more than 600 employees are working at the wholesale campus and office, the mayor added. 

While Fareway’s most recent store openings and new location announcements since June have been in its home state of Iowa, the regional grocer also operates in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota. All told, it operates just over 130 locations.

Cramer plans to continue Fareway’s expansion across the Midwest, including entering the Wisconsin market and opening a second distribution center in an unspecified state, the Des Moines Register reported.

Fareway is expanding in the same markets as Hy-Vee. Early this year, Hy-Vee grew its Wisconsin footprint by opening two new locations, bringing its store count in the state to eight. The grocer also linked up with Uber earlier this month to provide grocery delivery to its customers across the Midwest.