Bakery! The crusty breads like baguettes and round sourdough loaves are some of the best in the Madison area. Other stuff like pastries and sliced breads are just ok.
Cheese counter! It's big, pretty, and used to have a great selection of cheese. Now, closer inspection will reveal that it's many different brands of a few cheese types, none of which are local. Cheese lovers should go to Whole Foods, where the cheese counter is half the size but double the selection.
Produce! Hyvee is the least likely grocer to force you to buy organic. Almost all produce is present as both conventional and organic. Produce quality is average.
International foods! The selection is steadily getting better, but it can be outrageously overpriced. They have fresh lemongrass! How many grocers have got that!? Actually, A-Mart on Odana does at 1/8th of Hyvee's price.
Service! Hyvee wants to be The Friendly Store. They coach their staff to greet and assist every customer. Well, Hyvee is very heavily staffed, and if you have a lot of shopping to do, you can be approached a good 20-30 times. The hurricane of insincere chit-chat becomes downright harassment after a while, and they can get pissy with you if you don't answer. I have been known to do evasive maneuvers so I don't have to talk to the son of a bitch! I suggest that Hyvee puts a basket of "leave me alone" flags by the entrance that customers can pick up and carry around. There are a few employees who are genuinely very friendly, and encounters with them are much different, and pretty pleasant.
Why three stars when I've been so critical? They now have the best selection and prices in Fitchburg, as Pick N' Save have been going steadily downhill since they quit being Copps. I loved Copps. R.I.P.
Advanced Tip! Lots of people know that you can buy liquor in the normal part of the store, but regular cashiers can be terrible at getting the security tags off. Well, if you go to the bottle that you want, squat down and look way in the back of the inventory, and you can often find some with no tag.