Villisca Native Joins the Hy-Vee Hall of Fame

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Jan. 31, 2020) — Villisca native Tony Taylor was named to the Hy-Vee Hall of Fame last month. Taylor, store director of the Lakeville, Minnesota, Hy-Vee store, was inducted as the 2019 Store Director of the Year at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting in December.

Hy-Vee Executive Vice President, Co-Chief Operating Officer and Chief Retail Officer Jeremy Gosch pointed to Taylor’s outstanding leadership and drive as key reasons for his being named to the Hy-Vee Hall of Fame.

“Tony is a great leader for us in the Twin Cities market,” Gosch said. “He has led two stores in the Minneapolis area with great success, especially as these stores are some of Hy-Vee’s newest in the area. He continuously drives his team to achieve higher and higher goals in both sales and profit.”

Taylor began his Hy-Vee career as a part-time checker/stocker at Red Oak in 1998. While attending college, he worked at the North Ankeny Hy-Vee as a dairy clerk and was promoted to full-time in 2000. He spent the next four years at Red Oak performing the duties of manager, perishables, and assistant store director. In 2004, Tony transferred to the Sycamore Avenue Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as manager, perishables. He then moved to the 156th & Maple Hy-Vee in Omaha as manager, perishables, and manager, store operations, and later to the Mall of the Bluffs Hy-Vee in Council Bluffs as manager, store operations. In 2011, Taylor received his first store director assignment at the Valley West Hy-Vee in West Des Moines. In 2013, Taylor became the director at Kearney, Nebraska, and in 2015 he became the director at New Hope, Minnesota. In 2018, Taylor was selected to lead the team at Lakeville.

Taylor graduated from Villisca High School and went on to further his education at Des Moines Area Community College.