By Mike Stoll, Austin Daily Herald

Hy-Vee Inc. announced Wednesday that it is delaying plans to construct a new distribution center in Austin.

According to Tina Potthoff, vice president of communications for Hy-Vee Inc., the construction that was projected to start in 2019 will be delayed by several years as Hy-Vee re-evaluates the need for a third distribution center.

“After evaluating recent changes in consumer shopping and lifestyle behaviors, we are adjusting our growth strategy to best meet our customers’ changing wants and needs,” Potthoff said in a news release. “Over the next several years, we will continue to expand our offerings across the Midwest by constructing new smaller format stores. In addition, we are also looking at developing larger store formats, larger than our current 90,000-square-foot stores, which would complement our smaller format locations.”

The smaller stores, called Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh, are approximately 10,000 square feet in size. Hy-Vee is planning to build locations in Altoona, Iowa; and Des Moines.

“We anticipate building more of these stores across our eight-state region over the next few years,” Potthoff said.

Hy-Vee will also develop larger format stores to complement the smaller ones. Hy-Vee already has several major construction projects underway to meet the needs of its new store formats.

Potthoff said the state and city have been made aware of Hy-Vee’s decision.