As part of our continuing 2026 Men of Impact series, it is our honor & privilege to introduce you to Manhattan Hyvee's newest Store Director, Matt McMurray.
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Matt McMurray
Store Director, Manhattan Hy-Vee
For Matt McMurray, returning to Manhattan as store director of Hy-Vee Store 1398 feels like a full-circle moment. Originally from Hutchinson, Kansas, McMurray came to Manhattan for school, built early roots in the community, and eventually began a Hy-Vee career that took him through catering, restaurant management, frozen foods, store operations, perishables and leadership roles across Nebraska and Iowa. Now back in the Little Apple, McMurray says his goal is simple: make Manhattan Hy-Vee stronger, more profitable and a place he can proudly call home for a long time.
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Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas. I went to Hutch High, graduated from there, went to Hutch JUCO for about a year, and then came up to K-State to finish my college career.
What did you study at K-State?
I went for social sciences. Honestly, I really didn’t know what I was going to do with it at the time. While I was in college, I worked at AJ’s Pizza for about four years, and I was also a ticket manager over at the Junction City Generals. I worked at Comfort Suites Hotel, too. That was actually where I did a lot of my homework, so I didn’t have to do much outside of work.
After that, I became the assistant club pro over at Manhattan Country Club. My son was between about six months and a year old at the time, and I started realizing the golf industry was going to take a while to really be successful in. That’s when I saw an ad for a catering manager at Hy-Vee and thought, “All right, I’ll give it a shot.”
So Hy-Vee was not originally part of the plan?
No, not at all. At that point, I was just trying to make ends meet. I wasn’t making a whole lot at the country club, and I was still a couple years away from getting my cue card and professional status in golf. I had a young kid, and the Hy-Vee position paid considerably more than what I was making at the time.
So I decided to do it for my family and put golf to the side. Funny enough, I ended up playing way more golf working at Hy-Vee than I ever did working at the golf course. At the course, you’re there sunup to sundown. When I was a frozen manager, I would work 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then go play golf almost every day.
What was your first role at Hy-Vee?
I came in as catering manager while the restaurant was being built. Once the restaurant opened, I became the restaurant manager and did that for about a year. Then my wife, who is from Omaha, said, “Let’s relocate up there.”
I asked my director at the time where I should go work in Omaha, and he told me to call Mitch Streit at CB2. I called him, did a phone interview, and he said he could give me an assistant manager job when I got there.
Then, on my first day, he said, “Matt, I know I said I was going to make you assistant manager, but I’m going to throw you a curveball. I need a frozen manager more right now.” So I went back to the frozen department, looked at it, and realized pretty quickly that he definitely needed a frozen manager.
What was that department like when you took it over?
It was a six-pallet freezer, and you can stack pallets double high, so technically it could hold 72 pallets. But when I got there, you couldn’t even walk in the door. When I was done, there was a half pallet of back stock, and you could spin the high loader around in circles in there.
I did that for about three years. Three out of the four quarters my last year, I got Frozen Department of the Quarter, and then I ended up getting Frozen Department of the Year as well.
That sounds like a major turnaround.
It was. That experience really taught me a lot about systems, organization and making sure every piece of the operation is working the way it should. From there, I wanted to keep moving up.
I went to Omaha 6, where I was manager of store operations for about three years. Then I moved into perishables and did that for about a year and a half. After that, I got my first actual store in Plattsmouth, where I was store manager for around 18 months.
Eventually, when Hy-Vee moved away from district directors and created standalone store directors, I landed at CB1 in Council Bluffs. I was there about eight months before I got the store director position here in Manhattan.
What was it like working in the frozen department?
After a while, you get used to it. But the first year I moved to Omaha, it was January 7, and it didn’t get above seven degrees until February 7. So my first month there, it was below seven degrees outside, and I was going to work in a freezer.
Sometimes the freezer actually felt warmer than outside because of the wind chill. A big grocery store freezer is usually around negative 10 to negative 20 degrees. If I had to be in there for a long time, I’d wear gloves and coveralls. There were times when the curtains would break, humidity would get in, moisture would freeze on the walls, and I’d spend eight hours in there scraping ice.
I’m an outdoorsman and a hunter, so I had plenty of heavy clothes. I’d be in there with a stocking cap, gloves and full coveralls, just cleaning it up.
With your background in catering, restaurants, frozen, operations and perishables, how has that prepared you to lead a store?
It has helped a lot because I’ve been able to see so many different parts of the business. In a grocery store, every department matters, and they all operate differently. Catering and the restaurant side taught me service and food execution. Frozen taught me discipline and organization. Operations taught me how to look at the whole store. Perishables taught me how important freshness and rotation are.
That range of experience gives me a better understanding of what our employees are dealing with and what our customers expect.
How does a grocery store keep so much fresh product on the shelves?
It’s a first-in, first-out mentality. You have to make sure you’re cycling product properly. In produce, you’re checking things every couple of hours and making sure you always have the freshest product out there.
In the meat department, you’re paying attention to dates and making sure the product that came in first is the product that goes out first. Anything else stays in the back until it rotates in properly.
With grocery and frozen, you can put product on the shelf and it’s good for quite some time. But on the perishable side, you’re checking it daily, multiple times a day, to make sure you always have the best product on the shelf for the customer.
Is that one of the biggest challenges of running a grocery store?
Yes, it is one of the main things. But Hy-Vee has been doing this for a long time, and we have really good systems in place. The key is staying on top of it. Freshness is not something you check once and forget about. It takes constant attention.
Now that you are back in Manhattan, what are your goals for Store 1398?
I want to up the profitability and make it a place where I can stay for a long, long time. I love it here. I already lived here for 10 years, and I’m a huge K-State fan. I love the area.
Manhattan has good golf courses, good fishing, and hunting land close by. For me, it’s kind of the perfect circle.
What would you tell someone who has never shopped at Hy-Vee before?
Service. We have the best employees out there, and everyone treats you like gold. That’s what separates Hy-Vee.
What is your favorite thing about Manhattan?
The people. I’ve lived in L.A., Omaha and bigger areas, and I just love how people treat each other here. People are polite. They’re nice. I get along with everybody.
Any final word for the people of Manhattan?
We appreciate your business.
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Find Manhattan Hy-Vee at 601 N. 3rd Pl.