Customers abandoned Hy-Vee long before announced closure

Todd Dorman's May 12 column got me upset on his opinion of Hy-Vee being to blame for closing the First Avenue store in Cedar Rapids.

My wife and I have been a vendor, shelving our product in stores. For 24 years we serviced those accounts weekly, so we see what goes on and talk with those people as we bring in our stock.

Over the years we have seen a lot of rural grocery stores close.

They close because the public customer base has let them down by not shopping there. They shop elsewhere — convenience stores or out of town.

We have seen the First Avenue Hy-Vee remodeled several times to appeal to the customer base only to be unsupported by the area population.

We have heard of a lot of shoplifting from the staff we converse with.

Hy-Vee has had to cut staff because of depleting revenues. The product availability is the same as other area stores and of good quality, produce, meat and general grocery items and staff.

Hy-Vee has to make a profit. You can't expect them to operate at a loss for convenience of the area residents. Blame needs to be put on those who decided not to support the First Avenue Hy-Vee.

Matthew Stewart

South Amana