Speculation continues about potential sale of Erdmans

More than a week after speculation began that Erdmans County Market in Kasson has been sold to Hy-Vee there has still been no official confirmation from either Erdmans or Hy-Vee. Sources, however, said Tuesday afternoon that the sale would officially be announced Wednesday afternoon.
The idea that the long-time Kasson grocery might be changing ownership came when a Rochester TV station broadcast a story that Hy-Vee had purchased the store. The station said it based its information on a copy of a letter it had received that had been sent to store shareholders saying it had been sold.
Subsequent calls to company officials at both Erdmans and Hy-Vee failed to either confirm or deny the story.
Erdmans management said last week they had no comment and repeated that comment this week. Erdmans County Market has been a fixture in Kasson for 95 years.
Christina Gayman, the public relations director at Hy-Vee, responded  by email last week that “We are exploring Kasson for another retail location; however, the transaction is pending at this time. Please contact me in early August for an update.”
When contacted this week Gayman again said there were no updates to share “at this time.”
Hy-Vee is a regional supermarket chain headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. It has stores in Rochester and Owatonna as well as throughout southern Minnesota.
Hy-Vee is not the only player in the changing area grocery landscape.
Fareway Stores, headquartered in Boone, Iowa is currently building a store in Byron that is slated to open by November.