Wahlburgers closes in West Des Moines as Hy-Vee ends standalone stores in the metro

Hy-Vee has permanently closed its standalone Wahlburgers at Jordan Creek Town Center, company spokesperson Tina Potthoff said in a statement.

Driving the news: The grocery company will only be opening Wahlburgers restaurants within its grocery stores from now on, Potthoff told Axios.

• Staffing challenges, combined with the "changing nature of the restaurant business" led to the closure of the Jordan Creek location. Employees were offered jobs at other stores.

Flashback: Hy-Vee opened the standalone store in 2017 and has quickly expanded the franchises since then.

• In 2020, the company announced it was converting all of its Market Grille restaurants into Wahlburgers, which is owned by Paul Wahlberg and his brothers, actors Donnie and Mark Wahlberg.
• There are currently 61 restaurants between Hy-Vee locations and the Mall of America.

What's next: The grocery company still plans on opening 20 new restaurants at its stores this year "making Hy-Vee the largest franchisee of Wahlburgers," Potthoff said.