WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Midwestern grocer Hy-Vee Inc. sees growth opportunities to the south and east.

The retailer has confirmed plans to expand into the Indianapolis; Nashville; and Louisville, Ky., markets as part of the next phase of its expansion plan. The Des Moines Register reported last month that Hy-Vee plans to expand into four new states with more than 20 new stores by 2025. Hy-Vee last entered a new state in 2009, when it expanded into Wisconsin.

Citing a video by Hy-Vee chairman and chief executive officer Randy Edeker that the newspaper said was posted on Zipline, the retailer’s internal communications platform for employees, The Des Moines Register said Hy-Vee plans to build a new distribution center in Nashville to support its expansion into Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama over the next four years. The first stores are slated to open in 2023 in the Nashville metropolitan area, according to the report, which said those outlets will be followed by ones in Huntsville, Ala.; Louisville, Ky.; and Indianapolis.

“This is the growth for the next 25 years for Hy-Vee in this territory,” Edeker reportedly said on the video. “If we can build out 50 stores in this market, we estimate that is $6 billion [in sales]. But overnight we’re going to go from a regional company to a national company. As we build our third DC in the Nashville market you will see us turn more into a national presence.”

Hy-Vee currently operates more than 285 stores in eight Midwestern states: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.