Hall of Fame 2022

HALL OF fame
With a brain for business,
an intuition for decisionmaking
and a connection to
employees, Jay Marshall helped chart
the course for Hy-Vee throughout his
remarkable 39-year career. Across his
variety of roles in retail and corporate
leadership, he demonstrated time and
time again the ability to use innovation
and hard work to move a vision forward.
Marshall was a trusted and respected
leader at Hy-Vee and his contributions
are recognized across the entire
grocery industry. He retired from
his role as vice chairman and
president of Hy-Vee supply chain and
subsidiaries in December 2021.
“I was fortunate to understand this
company from the ground level
and am forever grateful for the
experiences Hy-Vee gave me,” he
says. “It is hard to leave because of the
people, but it’s important for me to
move on so other people can grow.”
ROOTS IN RETAIL DELIVER
FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES
Marshall’s Hy-Vee journey began as
a 16-year-old, part-time employee at
the Des Moines Save U More, a former
brand owned and operated by the
retailer. Two of his older siblings had
worked at the store, so he knew it would
be a good opportunity to earn money
while staying focused on school and
activities at Dowling Catholic High School.
“My parents worked hard to raise nine
children and put us all through private
Catholic education,” he explains. “Once
the kids in our family turned 16 years
old, it was a tradition to get a job and
help contribute to our close-knit family.”
Like six of his siblings, Marshall
continued his education at Creighton
University in Omaha. Along with
studying psychology and business
management, he was part of the cross
country team and Sigma Nu fraternity.
While his schedule was already
jam-packed with coursework and
extracurricular activities, he worked
mid-shift on Fridays, Saturdays and
Sundays at the Hy-Vee Council Bluffs
1 store throughout this college years.
This experience really solidified his
respect for the retailer’s culture
and commitment to employees.
“My store was really focused on keeping
me in school. They were invested
in my education even though at the
time it wasn’t in the plans for me
to continue working at Hy-Vee,” he
explains. “I remember one instance
where I needed to miss a shift because
of a group project. I hated to ask my
manager for the time off, but he quickly
responded with ‘Make sure you get an
A on the project, that’s all I care about.’”
Upon graduation, Marshall considered
a variety of full-time retail positions
with major food companies and brands.
Ultimately, he realized he really liked
what he was doing with Hy-Vee and
decided to pursue a shift management
opportunity in 1989. Over the next
decade, he moved through a variety of
store management positions in Council
Bluffs 1 & 2 stores and took on his first
store director role in Olathe, Kansas.
Thanks to the mentorship and
continued push from Olathe senior
vice president Charlie Bell, Marshall
took on the opportunity to serve as
store director for the Omaha 1 store in
1999. The move brought him and his
wife Brenda closer to family and the
leadership opportunity was a formative
experience. Beyond making thoughtful
business decisions that would
help grow the business, he always
made sure employees felt valued.
“The opportunity to lead these
stores was sobering. I took the
magnitude of the responsibility
seriously,” he says. “Not only did
I need to ensure employees had
secure, good jobs, but I also wanted to
make sure they loved being at work.”
BRAIN FOR BUSINESS AND
GUT INSTINCT SHAPE CAREER
In 2006, Marshall was promoted to
assistant vice president of operations
for the northwestern district. Based in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this role was
a bridge between retail and corporate.
He relied on a “sell not tell” strategy
to help build relationships across his
30-store region, helping store directors
execute the company vision to improve
their operations and bottom line.
His mind for business and ability to
get things done stood out in this role,
gaining the attention of top leadership at
Hy-Vee. Soon he was tapped to take on a
newly created position of vice president
of center store at the corporate
office in West Des Moines in 2008.
“No one had really studied center store
before – it was inconsistent and based
on the gut of each store director,” he
explains. “I was tasked with studying
purchase data and working with
suppliers to develop a science for center
store merchandising that could be
used consistently across all stores.”
His ability to meld instinct with hard
data paid off, helping ensure no
money was left on the table. Marshall
was continually challenged by Randy
Edeker, chairman and CEO, as well as
former chairman and CEO Ric Jurgens,
to run with ideas, study outcomes and
deliver results. His success earned him
additional layers of opportunities to
evaluate merchandising across other
departments and other strategic projects.
“The leadership looking at me gave me
confidence in navigating these new
challenges,” he says. “I trusted the
company. They believed in me and my
skills, so I believed I could do it too.”
HALL OF FAME ISSUE 2022 23