Successful Grocery Chain Uses Demographic Data to Improve Site Selection and Local Area Research

Redlands, California, May 8, 2013 --  Esri announces that Hy-Vee, a midwestern grocery store chain with more than $7.7 billion in sales and 233 retail stores, is expanding its use of the Esri mapping platform to enhance its site selection and real estate decision making. The company's adoption of location analytics to combine demographic and psychographic data brings deep spatial insight to business data. This will enable the Real Estate Department to better align capital expenditures with market opportunities.

"We are able to combine data and improve analysis to get a much clearer understanding of new and existing markets," said Andy McCann, senior vice president of Store Development. "We know how geography plays a significant role in consumers' choices and behaviors. Using location analytics, we can maximize the way we respond to and understand our customers, stores, and market presence."

A combination of Esri Business Analyst, Business Analyst Online, ArcGIS Online deployed on Microsoft Azure, and Esri Tapestry Segmentation data helps Hy-Vee Real Estate Department staff better understand and gain market share. Analysts, managers, and decision makers can perform in-depth analysis across the entire store network, in a single market, or down to an individual store. This helps Hy-Vee better identify its market potential and opportunities. In addition, by using mobile and tablet devices, field staff can share on-site observations and findings with back-office staff, ensuring quicker feedback on real estate opportunities.

"Seeing an employee-owned company like Hy-Vee become more effective and collaborative by releasing the power of location analytics is truly exciting," said Simon Thompson, director of commercial industry at Esri. "Helping Hy-Vee bring additional services, new jobs, and economic development to communities through new and redeveloped stores is a win-win. Esri celebrates Hy-Vee's continued success and growth."

For more information on how location analytics and GIS help retailers, visit esri.com/retail.

About Esri

Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.


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