Plainfield Meijer

[tamias6]

It could be worse. Meijer could have moved to another location leaving it's current store on Plainfield as an empty white elephant. Yes Meijer is a Big Box store but atleast with just a few exceptions they have not left empty buildings behind to build bigger and better at another location like Wal-Mart and some other Big Boxes do on a regular bases. Look how many times Meijer locations like the 28th street/ k'zoo store and the Alpine Store for instance have been renovated in the past. Every Meijer store I've been to had at some point in its history gotten some degree of updating as far as I can tell, even the existing Plainfeild store. If Meijer where just like Wal-Mart or even Target, Grand Rapids would have been filled with empty big boxes a long time ago.

One more thing, remember K-Mart leaving emty stores behind at most of there GR locations and how long they sat and rotted before newer tenants finnally took them over. Now imagine that area of Plainfield having a 200,000 sq, ft. behemoth rotting for 10 to fifteen years before somthing would be done.

Personally, I give brownie points to Meijer for wanting to stick around.

It looks like it's going to be the same old big box fluff that usually is built in that area. This time further back from the street.

I still dont get where anyone thinks this is going to cause a "renaissance" in that area. Why on earth would you attract anything more than the strip mall garbage, that is the North Kent area, just because Meijer(s) built a new store?

When they build it up to the street, with parking in the rear, then it'll be news.

[walker]

It could be worse. Meijer could have ...

Personally, I give brownie points to Meijer for wanting to stick around.

[JimInGR]

It could be worse. Meijer could have moved to another location leaving it's current store on Plainfield as an empty white elephant. Yes Meijer is a Big Box store but at least with just a few exceptions they have not left empty buildings behind to build bigger and better at another location like Wal-Mart and some other Big Boxes do on a regular bases. Look how many times Meijer locations like the 28th street/ k'zoo store and the Alpine Store for instance have been renovated in the past. Every Meijer store I've been to had at some point in its history gotten some degree of updating as far as I can tell, even the existing Plainfield store. If Meijer where just like Wal-Mart or even Target, Grand Rapids would have been filled with empty big boxes a long time ago.

[highwayguy]

The only one I can think of that they built a new one and left the old one behind is the Grand Haven store. I'm not sure what happened to the old store. This was some years back, so hopefully Grand Haven has done something with the land by now.

[mgreven]

The Grand Haven site sat empty for quite a while but has now been redeveloped. I'm not sure if they tore down the old building or redeveloped the existing one.

[FilmMaker]

It looks like it's going to be the same old big box fluff that usually is built in that area. This time further back from the street.

I still dont get where anyone thinks this is going to cause a "renaissance" in that area. Why on earth would you attract anything more than the strip mall garbage, that is the North Kent area, just because Meijer(s) built a new store?

When they build it up to the street, with parking in the rear, then it'll be news.

[NorthCoast]

In stark contrast we have Spartan Stores, who have clearly abandoned the corridor in their quest to place a store every 3 miles along East Belt Line. Instead of finding ways to better utilize their existing stores or seeking ways to continue serving the communities surrounding their former Northtown and Northland Drive locations, they've chosen to just walk away and pursue development where there currently exists none (and if successful, accelerating suburban sprawl in the process). I find this sort of strategy far more offensive than Meijer investing in our metro's existing neighborhoods.

[GRDadof3]

You can't blame Spartan Stores for market conditions. Businesses ultimate do not choose an area's growth habits, people do. I think consumers need to start taking some responsibility in being at fault for sprawl. It may be hard to believe but there are simply people who do not wish to live in an urban environment. Those are the people who have chosen to live and pay for the right to live in the outlying townships. If you are expecting businesses to be at the forefront of socio-economic change, you are going to wait a long time. Businesses will do what ever the market dictates that which is feasible to do. Secondly, where have these inner urban governments been the past 40 years. They as much as anyone are to blame for letting corridors like Plainfield become the way it has become due to either lack of leadership or just misguided policy.

Meijer is hardly the good guy here. Its great they invested in the Plainfield site redevelopment, I have nothing against that but what about the new exurb Meijer they plan to build in places like Jamestown/Hudsonville? That area was nothing but a field. Talk about promoting sprawl. Another thing to remember about Spartan that its retail operations are not old at all. Up until 1999 they were soley a distributor. Most of the stores Spartan has were inherited via buyouts of smaller chains like Family Fare, Prevo's, Great Day, Glen's, Aschraft, and D&W. Its not like they built those buildings 20 years ago and are now abandoning them. In the case of Northland they have decided to expand and improve their operations. Building an entirely new building is not cheap, I'm sure if would've been feasible to do they would've just altered the existing store but there are a lot of financial and logistical factors to be considered which probably was the reason to build a new. D&W Northtown proved in its later years that the area was no longer able to support a store of that particular nitch. Spartan knew that and I'm sure they were aware also of Meijer's plans to re-construct their Plainfield store which made keeping the store open not a good financial move. In the case of the proposed D&W on East Beltline there actually is not a single Spartan store through that particular stretch of roadway although Gaslight and Breton are not too far away. If the company is willing to invest the money into opening the store I would have to believe they have faith that the market will support it and that the Lifestyle Center will be a big boom for business. Its up to the local governments to ultimately control the sprawl which may or may not pop up around it.

[NorthCoast]

Businesses may not be expected to be at the forefront of socioeconomic change, but they also don't always have to take the "path-of-least-resistance" to aiding in a community downfall. There are countless examples of businesses making decisions that may not necessarily reflect well on their current quarterly report, but bode well for being a good corporate citizen. I too have mentioned here that the Meijer store in Jamestown Twp is a sprawl-driver as well, but investing in refurbishing current stores is a great move on their part. I think they have 17 current stores that they have slated to be renovated.

[tamias6]

I'm not blaming the places like Meijer, Target, or any Big Boxes, past and present, for sprawl. They are just a symptom of a more undderlaying problem that materialized after WWII ended and the Interstate system was built. It's natural for people to want to own there own home and land. The inetstates and the automobile provided access to affordable realestate in the outskirts of metro areas and in rural areas. Being that the "American Dream" is drilled into the skulls of every American. It was natural that the people would make a mass exodus out of the city in favor of cheap affordable homes. Well bussinesses followed. They had to in order to stay in bussiness. Thus gave rise to suberbia. In short I blame the Interstate Highways, the automobile, and above all the American Dream mindset for causeing the out of control sprawl we have to live with today. As long as Americans are able to have access to affordable realestate and thus satify their American Dream, bussinesses will follow them in their wake.

[Veloise]

I'm not blaming the places like Meijer, Target, or any Big Boxes, past and present, for sprawl. They are just a symptom of a more undderlaying problem that materialized after WWII ended and the Interstate system was built. It's natural for people to want to own there own home and land. The inetstates and the automobile provided access to affordable realestate in the outskirts of metro areas and in rural areas. Being that the "American Dream" is drilled into the skulls of every American. It was natural that the people would make a mass exodus out of the city in favor of cheap affordable homes. Well bussinesses followed. They had to in order to stay in bussiness. Thus gave rise to suberbia. In short I blame the Interstate Highways, the automobile, and above all the American Dream mindset for causeing the out of control sprawl we have to live with today. As long as Americans are able to have access to affordable realestate and thus satify their American Dream, bussinesses will follow them in their wake.

[FilmMaker]

Agreed, businesses do have the opportunity to make decisions that are socially responsible. I hate to be cycnical but unless those decisions are backed by consumer dollars I frankly don't see it happening. I don't like it but thats the way it is. Yes, Meijer is refurbishing 17 new stores and I'm pretty sure they built every single one of them.

They are abandoning the store because of its lack of physical growth potential both in terms of square footage of layout possibilities. Having worked in a grocery store I can tell you that their operation is not as simple as it seems. The traditional supermarket character has changed so much during the past 20 years. Most of this in response to competition from places like Meijer. You use to go to a grocery store and expect to get only food. Now if you go to a grocery store and they don't have a gas station, car wash, drive-thru pharmacy, and starbucks you are dissapointed. Many of the stores that Spartan owns and I reiterate once again, inherited, weren't built with these concepts in mind. Many grocery stores built in the 60's and 70's are just not condusive to these improvements.

The only reason Meijer has been successful is because they are a sprawl lord. When they build a store they will buy dozens of smaller lots around them and leave them vacant. Eventually they use them to make improvements on their exsiting store, expand parking, or sell them off to drive-thru establishments and strip malls to make a profit.

[Raildudes dad]

a Meijer's respect for these concerns now means there will be no drive-thru eateries or any other retail development that would harm the vitality of downtown Rockford or any other nearby "destination" retail concentrations.

This and the fact that Spartan has clearly not done all their homework regarding upcoming growth in the Coit area underscores their inability to act in a socially responsible or financially wise manner.

[tamias6]

^ There has been ample opportunities for Meijer to pull a very ugly Wal-Mart tactic, that is to build just outside the city limits just to bypass resistance from city planners, communities, and nimby's defending the location they first intend then propose to build on. Maybe on occasions that's happened. But thus far I have not heard of such cases. If Meijer was doing this "build in the next town" tactic, I don't beleive the Knapp Corner Meijer, which encountered very heavy resistance from the community, would not be where its at today and the Alpine store would have been replaced by a location north of 4 Mile Road. Oh and Meijer had one hell of a fight with the State and a tangle of red tape from Walker to build the Standale store which draged on for years. If Meijer were just like Wal-Mart, I think the Allendale area of Ottowa Co. would have been the receipiant of the Standale store.

[Raildudes dad]

^ There has been ample opportunities for Meijer to pull a very ugly Wal-Mart tactic, that is to build just outside the city limits just to bypass resistance from city planners, communities, and nimby's defending the location they first intend then propose to build on. Maybe on occasions that's happened. But thus far I have not heard of such cases. If Meijer was doing this "build in the next town" tactic, I don't beleive the Knapp Corner Meijer, which encountered very heavy resistance from the community, would not be where its at today and the Alpine store would have been replaced by a location north of 4 Mile Road. Oh and Meijer had one hell of a fight with the State and a tangle of red tape from Walker to build the Standale store which draged on for years. If Meijer were just like Wal-Mart, I think the Allendale area of Ottowa Co. would have been the receipiant of the Standale store.

[NorthCoast]

I know they are a local company and everything but sometimes I just don't understand the amount of love Meijer gets around here. Maybe its just because I'm not from this area originally but I just don't get it.

[tamias6]

You know because Meijer did not choose to build on the East Belt Line and Bradford the GR area ended up with something better in the long run. That is the Meijer Gardens. As for the Knapp Corner Meijer, I do agree there was some soar political tastes left in peoples mouths when the City of GR was talked into Annexing that spit of land. I remember the fight to keep Meijer out of that location making it on local news. One would figure that it was Wal-Mart trying to bully their way into Small Town America there was that much resistance. But what's funny, is when I went to the Knapp Corner store about two weeks after it opened, it was packed and I bet that a majority of the people shopping there were those that were against it. Meijer is not with out a few faults. But those faults don't even register when compared to the dasdardly acts Wal-Mart as committed. So it could be far worst.

Speaking of Wal-Mart I'm starting hear rumors that a Wally-World has got there eyes on a EBL location in the Knapp Corner Area.

Anyway...

Now for the Standale store. Meijer had to flip some of the bill to make the needed impovements to the Wilson and Lake Michigan intersection and ultilities to get the State's O.K. to start building the store. If not, the State would have said "NO". So I think it was a happy medium between all parties involved. You are right that Walker was more receptive to Meijer building in Standale. But that was because Wal-Mart was looking into building in that area as well and what better way to keep Wal-Mart out than to bring in its chief competitor first.

"Fight Fire with Fire. That's what I always say"

~Bug Bunny

Meijers is somewhat "nice" since they are headquartered here. As for Knapp's Corners, that store was supposed to go at EBL & Bradford (current home of the Gardens). When the township rezoned the property, the voters over turned it w/ a referendum. The City then annexed the site of Knapps' Corners & Celebration Cinema and allowed those developments which were contrary to the EBL zoning overlay which was developed by the 2 townships & the city planners The residents on Leffingwell north of the Skill Center driveway are in the township. Their backyards butt up against the City (Meijers property). They were deliberately left out because the residents in the annexed area had to agree to the annexation. The residents that owned the property on the EBL and Seitsma (orchards) petitioned to annex to the city. They voted yes, the City of GR voted yes and the township watched their property & tax base go bye bye without any say in it. Meijers just didn't stumble on to that property by accidsent

As for Standale, Walker wanted that developement on that corner. They and MDOT just wanted the infrastructure in place to support the development and traffic it would generate. Meijers trys to minimze their expenditures but just like at Knapps Corners, & Rockford, paying for the utilities and roads is a cost of doing business. If you want your permits, you have to pay the fiddler.

[Raildudes dad]

You know because Meijer did not choose to build on the East Belt Line and Bradford the GR area ended up with something better in the long run. That is the Meijer Gardens. As for the Knapp Corner Meijer, I do agree there was some soar political tastes left in peoples mouths when the City of GR was talked into Annexing that spit of land. I remember the fight to keep Meijer out of that location making it on local news. One would figure that it was Wal-Mart trying to bully their way into Small Town America there was that much resistance. But what's funny, is when I went to the Knapp Corner store about two weeks after it opened, it was packed and I bet that a majority of the people shopping there were those that were against it. Meijer is not with out a few faults. But those faults don't even register when compared to the dasdardly acts Wal-Mart as committed. So it could be far worst.

Speaking of Wal-Mart I'm starting hear rumors that a Wally-World has got there eyes on a EBL location in the Knapp Corner Area.

Anyway...

Now for the Standale store. Meijer had to flip some of the bill to make the needed impovements to the Wilson and Lake Michigan intersection and ultilities to get the State's O.K. to start building the store. If not, the State would have said "NO". So I think it was a happy medium between all parties involved. You are right that Walker was more receptive to Meijer building in Standale. But that was because Wal-Mart was looking into building in that area as well and what better way to keep Wal-Mart out than to bring in its chief competitor first.

"Fight Fire with Fire. That's what I always say"

~Bug Bunny

Many here in the GR area are fond of Meijer for many reasons. Out of the number of Big Boxes here, Meijer for the most part has sound business practices and is overall a fairly good corporate citizen. It has made mistakes from tume to time. But nobody is perfect either. Another plus is the fact that Meijer is a family owned and operated company which frees them from having to satisfy hungry investors. This affords them to made some very bold and cunning bussiness decisions, the biggest of which was the building of the 28th St. and Kalamazoo store, the first place ever to combine a supermarket and a discount retail store to create a one stop shopping experience. Meijer is also free to experiment with store formats and try new ideas to stay ahead of their competitors. For customers Meijer offers products of good quality at fair prices. But the strongest atribute is the supermarket section of their stores. With over sixty years of being the grocery business backing them up, Meijer does have a leg up over their competitors when it comes to their offerings. That's what brings people around here back to their stores time and time again. But the most important point is the Meijer Family themselves. They are very hard working people and have countless times given back to there comunity, the biggest examples being the Meijer Heart Center at Spectrum Health and the Fred Meijer Gardens on the East Belt Line.

[Rizzo]

I know they are a local company and everything but sometimes I just don't understand the amount of love Meijer gets around here. Maybe its just because I'm not from this area originally but I just don't get it.

[NorthCoast]

I think it has to do with Meijer being a local company and it pretty much catering to what its customers demand -- prices, services, and cleanliness. Meijer gets our love because it has dominated our market for decades. To a lesser extent shopping at Meijer is an extension of hometown pride and money has a good chance at staying here (whether or not that's true is beyond me.)

[tamias6]

So the Meyor walker also works with Meijer. That I did not know.

Anyway what I like most about Meijer is the history of company. Considering that Hindrik Meijer started the company in the middle of the depression and all of the bumps in the road some of which nearly put them out of business, I think Meijer has earned its place in the corporate world. However unlike Alticore, Wal-Mart, and many other big corporations, the power and sucess Meijer Inc. have earned did not go to the family's heads. Hindrik Meijer still carried his barber tools and gave friends and family members hair cuts up until the day he passed away. Fred himself still wears clothing purchased from a Meijer store instead of wearing $5000 suits imported from Italy or somthing. As long as Meijer remain's family owned and operated and the power of success doesn't go to their head's it will remain a desent coprorate citizen.

With assets worth an estimated 12 billion dollars and growing, Meijer is a big corporation. There is no denying that. Like any business, regardless of size and scope, the pen and calculator somtimes has the last word which has resulted in some ruffled feathers upon a few occasions, GR's annexation of the Knapp Corner location to make way for that store and Meijer's very tight reigns on sharing utilities with other developments at the US131 and 10 Mile road location being more well known examples. But dispite its few faults, Meijer is overall a good coaarporate citizen.

But those that have complained about the few faults on Meijer's track record needs to take this into consideration esp. in today's cut-throat grocery and retail world. Meijer not only is competing with other locals for our retail and food dollars. Most of all Meijer Inc. is locked in mortal combat with Wal-Mart, the largest and most powerful company on the face of the Earth, a ruthless and heartless corporation that mercillessly crushes, pulverizes, and obliterates any competitor standing in their way. The stakes are very high indeed. So there is bound for a few noses to get bloodied as Meijer and its competitors slug it out.

Don't get me wrong. I got to Fred's store before others. I rarely go to Walmart, almost never Spartan. Fred is an outstanding person - he could have put a gazillion houses in GR Twp but he gave us the gardens The DeVos / Van Andel families drive in big limos w/ bodyguards. Fred & Lena drive in their Oldsmobile (used to until his health issues) and pass out ice cream coupons in the stores No multiple multi million $$$$$$$$ homes - same house he lived in 40 years ago. As far as I'm concerned - it's Meijers all the way. But they still are a big calculating corporation.

As for MDOT, they couldn't deny Meijer access to M-45 or M-11. Walker held the cards to get Meijer to step up to the plate. Walker & Meijer both wanted that store there. They worked together to make it a good development. Meijer is the largest taxpayer in Walker. Walker's not going to bite the hand that feeds it. If you didn't know, the Mayor is VP of legal at Meijer and Fred's personal attorney. He's a good guy too.

[JimInGR]

Don't get me wrong. I got to Fred's store before others. I rarely go to Walmart, almost never Spartan. Fred is an outstanding person - he could have put a gazillion houses in GR Twp but he gave us the gardens The DeVos / Van Andel families drive in big limos w/ bodyguards. Fred & Lena drive in their Oldsmobile (used to until his health issues) and pass out ice cream coupons in the stores No multiple multi million $$$$$$$$ homes - same house he lived in 40 years ago. As far as I'm concerned - it's Meijers all the way. But they still are a big calculating corporation.

[Raildudes dad]

I can tell you first hand that Dick Devos doesn't drive around in a limo. I met him just last week when he was stopping by at Quixtar. It was just him and his Buick.

[blueradon]

Walmart on EBL? That would just ruin the entire beltline as far as quality

But does it really surprise anyone that they want to be there? But not on Knapp's corner...and you darn well know people will be throwing a huge ordeal about that one.

[Rizzo]

My point was the contrast in the families lifestyles. The DeVos/VanAndel families have / utilize drivers / body guards (not that I blame them). I know this to be the case because I've had to deal with them on a couple occasions. It doesn't get much lower key than Fred passing out Purple Cow coupons at Knapp Corner's