David Letterman surprises shoppers by bagging groceries at Iowa Hy-Vee supermarket

Late-night legend David Letterman is Hy-Vee’s latest hire.

The talk show host flew into Des Moines for this weekend's Hy-Vee IndyCar Race at Iowa Speedway in Newton through Sunday. He stopped by the supermarket chain’s Gateway Drive location in Grimes.

Letterman co-owns the No. 45 race car driven by Christian Lundgaard and sponsored by Hy-Vee through the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team.

Letterman spent about an hour at the store after hopping off a flight at the Des Moines International Airport. An entourage of employees followed closely behind Letterman as customers interrupted to chat and pose for photos.

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"This is my first time in a Hy-Vee store. We don't have them where I live and I've known of them through the racing team, but what I've known of them is the tip of the iceberg," he said. "So I walk in here and it's the world of the future."

Letterman's signature sarcasm was on display during the hour-long jaunt weaving through grocery store aisles.

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How Letterman helped out and caused chaos at Hy-Vee in Grimes

Letterman filmed a series of skits with two store employees, Caden Grimes and Elyse McIlhon. They played with a gumball machine, bagged groceries in the self-checkout area and organized soup cans. Then, Letterman even opened a can of lukewarm Campbell's soup and fed it to himself with a pair of tongs before feeding it to Grimes.

Jann Haller of Omaha heard from a family member that Letterman was at the store.

"Our nephew just flew in with his family from Pennsylvania and he came through here on his way from the airport to my niece's house and he sent a picture and goes, 'I'm at the Grimes Hy-Vee and David Letterman is here,'" she said.

Haller said she misses his show and added that the experience made her day.

"We had to come this way and we were like, 'We're going to stop in and see what's going on,' and he was still here," she said. "We were super excited."

The day spent with Letterman was a 20-year full circle moment for Grimes.

"When my mom was pregnant with me, she actually went to 'The David Letterman Show' and so I kind of have been to his show," the University of Iowa junior said.

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Letterman said he is enjoying his time in Iowa so far.

“I don’t like traveling at my age. It’s stressful and things could happen, but I get here, and I don’t want to leave," he told the Des Moines Register.

On his way out of the Grimes grocery store, he had one last joke for a crowd of onlookers.

"Store's closed!"

Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Instagram or reach out at jstahl@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa shoppers surprised by late-night legend David Letterman in Grimes