Randy Edeker rose from courtesy clerk to top of Hy-Vee. Now he's leaving after 43 years

In a career that took him from part-time courtesy clerk in the Chariton store in 1981 to CEO and chairman of the board of Iowa’s largest employer, Randy Edeker will officially retire from Hy-Vee on July 31 after 43 years with the company.

Edeker was elected president of the company by stockholders in 2009 and named chairman of the board and CEO in 2012. In 2022, Edeker transitioned to executive chairman of the board, the position from which he will be retiring.

Jeremy Gosch is now Hy-Vee’s chairman of the board and CEO.

During his time at the Hy-Vee helm, Edeker transformed the grocery chain from a mid-sized regional grocer into a nearly $14 billion national retail brand with more than 570 retail business units and more than 75,000 employees, according to Hy-Vee Senior Vice President of Communications Tina Potthoff.

Potthoff said Edeker guided Hy-Vee through some the most challenging times in the company’s history, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and expanded the operation into new areas of business such as e-commerce and retail media.

“Additionally, he advanced our health care operations to new levels and served as a tireless advocate for the pharmacy profession,” Potthoff said in an email statement.

Beyond Hy-Vee, Edeker has helped lead the retail industry, chairing several boards, including the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), FMI – the Food Industry Association and Topco Associates, according to Potthoff.

Edeker has received widespread recognition for his work across the industry, including: the Sidney R. Rabb Award from FMI in 2019; named one of Mass Market Retailers’ Greatest Retailing Executives of All Time in 2020; received the Legislative Champion Award from the Iowa Pharmacy Association in 2021; and was honored with Chain Drug Review’s Lifetime Achievement Award and NACDS’s Sheldon W. Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, according to Potthoff.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Randy Edeker rose from courtesy clerk to top of Hy-Vee. Now he's leaving after 43 years