Until now.

Last month, the Fort Dodge Hy-Vee added a wall of Claire’s products near the pharmacy, said Tim Flaherty, Fort Dodge Hy-Vee store director.

He said he had seen similar partnerships between Hy-Vee stores and Claire’s with displays on endcaps or aisles, but at the time he didn’t think it was necessary for the Fort Dodge store, as the Claire’s shop in the mall was still open.

After the mall shop closed, Flaherty was reminded of the Claire’s displays while he was visiting another Hy-Vee store.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Hy-Vee in Fort Dodge recently added a wall display of Claire’s accessories. The former Claire’s store in the Crossroads Mall is closed.

“I happened to go to Sioux City and see a 12-foot wall of it and I was like ‘I can do that,'” he said.

There was a corner near the pharmacy that never had much merchandise on it that Flaherty thought would be perfect for the Claire’s display.

“It’s gone extremely well,” he said.

When the store added the Claire’s wall, Flaherty posted about it on the store’s Facebook page.

“It was amazing, the response we got off that with people saying, ‘This is great, we have a place to buy Claire’s products,'” he said. “It’s for the young children of Fort Dodge. It’s unique trinket-type items that I think works well for everybody.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Hy-Vee in Fort Dodge recently added a wall display of Claire’s accessories. The former Claire’s store in the Crossroads Mall is closed.

With the partnership between Hy-Vee and Claire’s, Hy-Vee provides the space and Claire’s brings in the products and sets up the display, rotating items as needed.

This partnership isn’t unique to the Fort Dodge Hy-Vee, Flaherty said.

“There’s a lot of (Hy-Vee) stores that have – probably 100 or so stores – that have Claire’s line in their stores,” he said.

Claire’s products are perfect for kids, Flaherty said.

“It’s neat, trinket, small fun little items for kids,” he said. “If you have to go to a friend’s birthday and you don’t know what to get them, you buy a couple things and you have a nice little gift.”