Take a tour of Iowa's newest Hy-Vee near Coralville, North Liberty

Jan Nichols was beyond excited to show off her shiny new Hy-Vee.

Nichols, the store director at Iowa's newest Hy-Vee, located at 3285 Crosspark Road, in Coralville, was preparing for the new store to open at 6 a.m. Tuesday in the northern reaches of Coralville, mere feet away from North Liberty's southern border.

"We're the same, ol' Hy-Vee — we're going to take care of you," Nichols said during a tour of the new Hy-Vee on Monday. "The other Hy-Vees just don't have what we have. They don't have this open concept. They don't have the growler station. They don't have the Basin."

"We're bringing so much new stuff to the area."

The first thing customers will notice when walking into the new 83,500-square-foot Hy-Vee is what Nichols called its "open design," which consists of fewer physical aisles and clutter, and more room for customers.

"The overall feel is just different," Nichols said. "It's big, it's wide and it will stay big and wide. I'm not a clutter-bug type person."

Two aspects of the store stand out as Nichols' favorites. One is the growler station, where customers can fill their own growler of local beers on tap from the store's wine and spirits room. "We're the first ones to have it," Nichols said.

Though they can use the glass jugs, customers can also can the local brews of their choosing. Breweries on tap include Big Grove, Backpocket, Firetrucker, Peace Tree and more.

Nichols' other favorite is "the Basin," a 2,100-square-foot beauty department filled with soaps, bath bombs, beauty supplies and more.

The southern section of the store is dedicated mostly to the store's dine-in or carry-out food section.

With several sections dedicated to making meals to-go or for dine-in,  two are brand new to Johnson County Hy-Vees: Mia Pizza, which makes fire-baked pizzas that cook in about six minutes, and a Hibachi grill, which serves made-to-order food. There are also nearly 40 tables or booths.

That section of the store also includes a full Starbucks, a bar with 24 taps — 22 serve craft beer, Nichols said — and Market Grill kiosks where customers can order burgers, fried wontons and more and then have the food brought out to them when its ready.

Other unique characteristics of the store include its selection of dry-aged beef, a large patisserie section of desserts, a 16-foot-long case of specialty butters — "No one else in the company has this," Nichols said — and a section where people can get their hearing tested.

The new location has been a long time coming for the area. Hy-Vee purchased the land in 2010 and opened a gas station on the property in 2016.

Though it's located in Coralville, the new Hy-Vee will largely service North Liberty, a community that has grown drastically in size over the past 10 years. Nichols, who grew up in the area and graduated from the University of Iowa, saw North Liberty grow firsthand, saying her best friend lived on Penn Street in the 1990s. From there, she saw the city expand dramatically beyond its Penn Street roots.

"The community really wanted and needed something like this," Nichols said. "They wanted a Hy-Vee, but also something new. We did that."

Another way the new location will show local pride: They are one of only two retailers that sell Liberty High School apparel. Nichols added eight percent of sales of the gear will go back to the school's booster club.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.