Mark Fischenich: Ask Us: Hy-Vee mum on armed guards

Mark Fischenich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·4 min read

Aug. 6—Q: When I went grocery shopping Sunday, there were armed guards stationed at the entrance of Hilltop Hy-Vee. This seems like it's indicative of something fairly concerning going on in Mankato that we haven't read about. Thanks.

A: If there's something concerning going on at any of Mankato's supermarkets, no one's told Ask Us Guy. They all seem to be pretty safe and peaceful places, other than maybe the day before Thanksgiving.

So Ask Us Guy sought information from Hy-Vee's media relations people in Des Moines, leaving several messages by phone and email over the past two weeks. He forwarded the reader's question and specifically asked if there was some worrisome incident that caused the armed guards to be deployed at the Hilltop Hy-Vee.

With nothing else to do while he awaited an answer, Ask Us Guy stared at his computer screen as variations to Hy-Vee's "helpful smile in every aisle" jingle ran through his head... .

"Shop Hy-Vee. Shop Hy-Vee.

We have our own police,

So you can shop in peace."

Or maybe ... .

"Shop Hy-Vee. Shop Hy-Vee.

Buy all the stuff you eat,

From people packing heat."

And one targeted at thieves ... .

"Shoplift at Hy-Vee? Shoplift at Hy-Vee?

"You try to steal our stock,

We'll show you our Glock."

With still no response from Hy-Vee after 10 days, Ask Us Guy dug around online and found several news reports from 20 months ago about the grocery guards. Although most were from media outlets in Iowa and Missouri, there was even a story in the New York Post.

"Customers at the Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee will soon encounter armed security guards while shopping at stores in light of the recent surge in retail thefts," according to the Post story on Dec. 30, 2021. "The Iowa-based retailer unveiled plans Wednesday for the launch of a retail security team to operate at stores across eight states."

The Hy-Vee officials quoted by the Post and other news organizations at the time did not make any reference to the mass shootings that had occurred at retail stores — including a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado earlier in 2021 and at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in 2019. But they did talk of hoping to deter violence and crime, including theft.

"While the chain has not said if a specific incident prompted the initiative, Hy-Vee Vice President of Security Jamie Sipes suggested in an interview that a recent uptick in retail thefts nationwide was a factor," the Post reported. "'I think across the country, we're seeing an increase in thefts and different crimes in retail locations,' Sipes told KYTV in Missouri. 'So Hy-Vee made the decision to move forward with a forward-facing security program that includes the tools that an officer would need to keep employees and customers safe.'"

The media reports stated that Hy-Vee promised to train the guards in de-escalation techniques and that many would have law enforcement backgrounds. Along with guns, some of the guards were armed with tasers.

The story in the Post noted that Hy-Vee's decision to add security guards came at a time when 57% of retailers had reported an uptick in "organized retail crime," including the brazen smash-and-grab robberies sometimes conducted by a swarm of thieves after they organized themselves in advance on social media. Those were most common in California and tended to target high-end retailers such as Nordstrom and Louis Vuitton.

Such crimes haven't been a problem in the Mankato area, where dollar stores greatly outnumber luxury French fashion outlets. And while Ask Us Guy doesn't know exactly when the guards started working at the Hilltop Hy-Vee, it seems like it was much later than the chain's stores in Iowa and Missouri, suggesting that there was no great urgency in stationing guards at the Mankato store.

Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.