DES MOINES, Iowa – Hy-Vee, which has more than 220 stores in seven Midwestern states, has awarded AT&T a $5.7 million contract to provide a secure, integrated networking solution.  The three-year contract renews and expands an existing relationship by which AT&T provides Hy-Vee a full range of networking and business continuity services.

Last month, Hy-Vee unveiled a new concept store in Sioux City, Iowa, that it calls its “grocery store of the future.” AT&T’s solution will help Hy-Vee improve inventory management systemwide, providing a near real-time picture of inventory. It also will help Hy-Vee process electronic transactions more quickly.

“AT&T has enabled Hy-Vee with a network that fulfills our communications needs to operate a grocery chain in the 21st century,” said Eric Smith, vice president of Management Information Systems. “Telecommunications ranging from a simple long-distance phone call to data transmissions that travels all the way to our suppliers are running across a secure, integrated AT&T network.”

By terms of the contract, AT&T will provide high-speed data services as the backbone for Hy-Vee’s network that links the company’s stores with its Des Moines headquarters.

AT&T also will also support Hy-Vee’s business continuity plan by deploying AT&T ACCU-Ring® Network Access Service at Hy-Vee’s headquarters building. ACCU-Ring’s self-healing capabilities help ensure financial, customer relationship management and business data can flow securely and uninterrupted among the locations. 

About Hy-Vee

Hy-Vee, Inc. (www.hyvee.com) is an employee-owned corporation operating 220 retail stores in seven Midwestern states. For the fiscal year 2004 the company posted sales in excess of $4.6 billion, ranking it among the top 15 supermarket chains and the top 30 private companies in the U.S.