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Retail industry leader to retire

Longtime retail leader and nationally recognized marketing icon Donna Tweeten has announced her retirement from Hy-Vee Inc., effective Jan. 24. In 2022, Tweeten became the first woman in Hy-Vee history to serve as the company’s president.

Tweeten has guided Hy-Vee’s brand and image strategy and helped double the size of the Iowa-based grocery chain during her tenure. Under her leadership, Hy-Vee also became the first retailer to engage in a name, image, likeness (NIL) contract with basketball star Caitlin Clark, as well as sign partnerships with Kansas City Chiefs players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and U.S Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East.

“No one has shaped the Hy-Vee brand with such skill, precision and creativity more than Donna Tweeten,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee’s chairman and CEO. “Throughout her career, Donna has served as an innovator, trailblazer and creative thinker in nearly every aspect of Hy-Vee’s operations. There’s no doubt that her influence will be felt across Hy-Vee for decades to come.”

Tweeten came to Hy-Vee with an extensive background in advertising, working for such firms as Davis Harrison Dion–Chicago, Anderson Communications and serving as the president and chief creative officer of The Meyocks Group, Hy-Vee’s agency of record.

Tweeten joined Hy-Vee in 2006 as assistant vice president, communications and was promoted to assistant vice president, marketing in 2009. In 2011, she was selected as vice president, brand image. Tweeten was promoted to vice president, marketing/communications in 2013, and in 2014, she was named senior vice president, chief marketing officer. In 2016, she was promoted to executive vice president and elected to Hy-Vee’s board of directors, and later that year she became executive vice president, chief marketing officer/chief customer officer. In 2020, she was also named chief of staff. In 2022, Tweeten transitioned to executive vice president, chief of staff, chief merchandising officer and then was promoted to executive vice president, chief of staff, chief marketing officer. In late 2022, Tweeten was promoted to her current role as president of Hy-Vee.

Tweeten has been nationally recognized for her influence in the advertising and sports marketing industries, including being named a 2024 Champion of Change by ADWEEK and receiving Ad Age’s Leading Women Forward award. This year, she also received FMI’s prestigious Esther Peterson Award for Consumer Service.

Tweeten plans to consult and continue to mentor others after her retirement from Hy-Vee.

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