Meijer

[suydam]

????

61.5 mi

[tamias6]

Thanks for the links Veloise. Now I can see Acme's side of the equation as well as Meijer's side. I think it was only natural for the two to start butting heads as new urbanist master plans and typical big boxes don't exactly mix very well.

Meijer could play a massive "Ace in the hole" if they decided to turn the Acme conflict into a prime opportunity to develop an urban version of its super center format. Not only it would end this drawn out conflict and finally give the Traverse City area a much needed second store. It could give Meijer exactly the right store prototype to penetrate deep into the heart of the lucrative Chicago Metro area to which Meijer has been waging an all-out assault upon. It would also allow Meijer to compete for urbanized market share with Target and Wal-Mart which already have versions of their store prototypes optimized for densely urbanized environments.

Much good information within these links:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=a...township+meijer

[not from TC; Google is everywhere]

[tamias6]

On Aug 11. the supervisor of Acme's planning board resigned due to health issues and the ongoing Meijer/Acme conflict.

Record Eagle Article

[Rybak 187]

Here are some pics of the Meijer store on the wset side of Bay City on Wilder Road near I-75.

Edited August 17, 2007 by Rybak 187

[jbr12]

Distances are vastly expanded up north....where else are you going to go but TC if you live in, say, Kalkaska?

Its amazing how people see distances differently after growing up in Boyne City (~75-90 minutes from TC) and now living in Grand Rapids. We had no problem hoping in a car and driving to TC for a day of shopping. We'd make a saturday of it, hit up all the big box retail and go home... maybe once a month. Traverse City draws on an incredibly wide district for shoppers. Everytime we went to TC, we made sure to hit up Meijer...

[Timize]

Meijer is getting some bad publicity from Digg users today...

http://digg.com/world_news/Hartland_grad_s...ost_her_her_job

Is it me or are 95% of the comments on that page really immature?

[suydam]

Is it me or are 95% of the comments on that page really immature?

I agree...in fact it's to the point where I don't bother even reading the threads. Digg is a great place to get some news though. I find the little iGoogle content box to be a very useful addition to my google home page. Nowhere near as useful as GR Press RSS feeds mind you!

PS (off topic) - Is the "Similar Topics" box at the bottom of the page new? I've never noticed that before!

Edited August 17, 2007 by suydam

[snoogit]

Meijer is getting some bad publicity from Digg users today...

http://digg.com/world_news/Hartland_grad_s...ost_her_her_job

Is it me or are 95% of the comments on that page really immature?

Thats Digg for ya.

[tamias6]

Cascade Meijer renovation update:

The ever unpredictable Meijer unveiled yet another unexpected twist at its Flagship store today. What was presumed to be an interior only renovation has now spilled out onto the exterior. When approaching the store, one will notice that the retail entrance is being crowned with a new 4 foot high parapet. The grocery entrance will soon follow as equipment and supplies are staged in a sectioned off area in front of it.. Judging by new parapet's shape, it will mimic the cornice work adorning the fake building facades that make up the center portion of the store front. Speaking of fake building facades, an additional fake building facade is being built around the large plate glass window between the retail entrance and the pharmacy drive up window. The result of this unexpected exterior work will help bring much needed focus onto the entrances while giving the entire front facade a more balanced look.

After entering the store via the Grocery entrance, one will immediately notice large ceiling banners depicting the new store layout. The caption below the diagram, reads "Fresher. Easier. Meijer-er." Additional ceiling banners show renderings of what some of the new dept. will look like.

Next, the new deli and bakery are shaping up quite nicely. Though still vialed in plastic once can still get a glimpse of what the area will look like by peeking through holes in the plastic. With a sherbet colored curved wall serving as a back drop and highlighted serpentine shaped brushed aluminum bands suspended from the ceiling, this area will look absolutely stellar when complete.

While the new deli and bakery are fast taking shape, the new Meat and Seafoods Dept. has been built up to the finishing stages at the south west corner of the store. Situated in a shallow alcove, the new Meat and Seafoods Dept. will be accentuated by French gray field tiles livened up by cobalt blue accent tiles. Some beautiful glass enclosed display cabinets will provide excellent and very high end product presentation to the meats and seafoods. Another month or so worth of work is still needed to complete the new Meant and Seafood Dept. However a temporary location as been setup next to the final location.

Along the unfinished sidewall, just to the north of the new Meat and Seafoods Dept. is the massive new cooler for Milk and Eggs which will serve as a base for the new Dairy dept. Being closer to the front of the store, the new dairy dept. will definitely make for a huge time saver.

Heading to the back of the grocery section one will notice the old milk and egg cooler in the process of being demolished to make way for parts of a new soft drinks dept. Just beware that the area surrounding the old cooler smells of formaldehyde. So anyone sensitive to harsh chemicals, steer clear of this area until demolition of the old cooler is complete.

Moving east along the back of the store to the new furniture dept. one will clearly notice that construction work is occurring inside the adjacent restrooms. The shrieking grinding sound of power saws cutting into material was emanating from inside both the men's and women's restrooms.

Heading into e4 is best described as journeying into the aftermath of a tornado. The entire department is in complete and utter disarray as renovation work is in full force in this area. A new service counter located front and center of the dept. is fast taking shape. Also a new eight feet deep by twenty feet wide alcove has been carved into e4's north wall. According to renderings of the new e4 on display, this alcove will accommodate several new video game kiosks enabling customers to demo the latest video games.

Heading south along the retail section's action alley towards HBC one will notice that many of the departments located in the central area of the store are fast nearing completion. These include many of the clothing departments, a new "family fitness" dept. located directly across the action alley from seasonal, as well as a new and greatly expanded book and magazine dept.

Meanwhile HBC has received many of its new aisles. Two of which, located front and center of the department, are special curved shaped aisles that feature very high end beauty creams. I believe these two curved shaped aisles will be further highlight by large decorative curved shaped department signege predominately suspended from the ceiling. While HBC is getting some special treatment the pharmacy itself has been closed off and a temporary pharmacy hastily constructed. A new partition has been built next to the large plate glass window to form the new pharmacy's waiting area.

Moving towards the checkouts one will notice the retail entrance's new cart room complete and in operation.

As for the checkout lanes themselves. The cabinets housing the conveyor belts, scanners, and bagging carousel seem to be all new units.

After checking out and heading along the front promenade, one will notice that the new customer service desk is complete while just to its west a new alcove has been constructed to accommodate the penny horses and the salt bags.

Allot has happen at the Cascade Meijer since my last visit. Many of the new prototype's elements are in place. Even though this renovation still has quite a ways to go, I must say I'm thoroughly impress at what I've seen thus far. So much so that I dare say that the nearby Target, Wal-Mart, and even the stores of Woodland Mall had better be very scared puppies right now because Meijer's flagship store is well on its way to becoming by far the finest Meijer store ever conceived ...and yes also Meijer-er.

Here's some shots of the exterior work currently under way today.

The retail entrance receiving its new parapet and a new fake building facade being added around the plate glass window.

Shot with DSC-P200 at 2007-08-16

A detail shot of the retail entrance's new parapet. One of the flaws of this store's appearance was that the entrances were drowned out by the fake building facades. The new parapets that are being added to the entrances will correct this problem.

Shot with DSC-P200 at 2007-08-16

A new center service entry door carefully graphed into one of the fake building facades.

Shot with DSC-P200 at 2007-08-16

Equipment being staged in front of the grocery entrance in preps to add its parapet.

Shot with DSC-P200 at 2007-08-16

A Look back at the retail entrance.

Shot with DSC-P200 at 2007-08-16

[Rybak 187]

The facade or that store is definitely more elaborate then the Hampton Township one.

[suydam]

Is that really their Flagship store (re: tamias6's post above)?

[Veloise]

...

A new center service entry door carefully graphed into one of the fake building facades.

...

mmmmmm...faux old-time streetlamps. (Looks so nice adjacent to the acres of paved parking.)

[Rybak 187]

Here is another future Meijer store this one in West Lafayette, IN.

[tamias6]

It's really Fred's go-to testbed store which places it in the position of getting first dibs on most of Meijer's latest ideas and innovations from something as minor as a new product offering all the way up to something as earthshaking as a new store prototype like what's happening right now. Because of this and the fact its managed like a swiss watch (from a customer's point of view), it is often regarded as the Flagship store.

Is that really their Flagship store (re: tamias6's post above)?

Edited August 21, 2007 by tamias6

[ericlw]

That's also the emptiest Meijer Parking lot Ive seen... was it Christmas?

Try 2am to 4am at the Meijer in Lowell I work there 3rd shift, it was dead Sunday night into Monday morning. Rain probably didnt help either.

[Veloise]

Thanks for the links Veloise. Now I can see Acme's side of the equation as well as Meijer's side. I think it was only natural for the two to start butting heads as new urbanist master plans and typical big boxes don't exactly mix very well.

Meijer could play a massive "Ace in the hole" if they decided to turn the Acme conflict into a prime opportunity to develop an urban version of its super center format. Not only it would end this drawn out conflict and finally give the Traverse City area a much needed second store. It could give Meijer exactly the right store prototype to penetrate deep into the heart of the lucrative Chicago Metro area to which Meijer has been waging an all-out assault upon. It would also allow Meijer to compete for urbanized market share with Target and Wal-Mart which already have versions of their store prototypes optimized for densely urbanized environments.

Here's a piece about traffic issues in TC and environs.

http://mlui.org/growthmanagement/fullartic...sp?fileid=17178

[tamias6]

That article pretty much verifies my dislike of traveling through Traverse City. US-31 through that city make Alpine Ave. look like a quiet two lane road outside of Kalkaska.

Here's a piece about traffic issues in TC and environs.

http://mlui.org/growthmanagement/fullartic...sp?fileid=17178

[tamias6]

According to this article, we will not be seeing anymore 200,000+ sq. foot Meijer stores constructed. From this point forth Meijer intends to build stores sized to a scant 156,000 sq. ft. with the ability to be expanded to 192,000 sq. ft. when the need arises. What this means is that new Meijer stores will be only slightly larger than the 28th street and Kalamazoo store and grow to the size of the Rivertown Crossing store when expanded.

Even though this is the end of the line for 200,000+ sq. ft. Meijer stores, I would not count constructing any new stores of that size completely dead. Square footage has fluctuated wildly through out Meijer's history since the opening of the first Thrifty Acres. Some years Meijer builds very small stores like the former Ionia Store while in other years building behemoths the size of the Cascade and Knapp Corner locations. So who knows. A few years from now Meijer may turn around and build a batch of 300,000 sq. ft. monsters.

Edited August 22, 2007 by tamias6

[Rybak 187]

They have had so many different sizes and styles of stores. But that is part of their constant tinkering with their supercenter model.

[Veloise]

They have had so many different sizes and styles of stores. But that is part of their constant tinkering with their supercenter model.

Quite a few years ago, Fred had a much wider selection of stuff, particularly in the hardware areas. Used to be they sold PVC pipe, lumber, even toilets. I would think that reducing the selection of merch to what sells best for each market also means a smaller retail space, and less storage needed for back-stock that is no longer displayed out front.

Perhaps inventory turns have been improved as well (plumbing has a long shelf life) and combined with computerized inventory, this reduced the need for all the acreage.

Fred seems to allow quite a bit of variety across the product lines. Whenever I drop by Standale, I'm amazed by all the Laker stuff. The stores in Lansing look kindof Spartan (heh heh) and there are other regional tweaks. (A colleague, big OSU fan, needed a get-well gift. I found a Woody Hayes cap in Toledo.) I always get a kick out of the way the store directors go with the flow and bring high-impulse items up front. (If there's a snowstorm, every entrance is decorated with shovels and salt. During the Big Blackout of '03, they moved flashlights, batteries, coolers, other essentials to the primo locations. And so on.)

[tamias6]

^ Agreed. The Plainfield Ave. store has a ton of organic products while the Alpine Ave. store has more of the traditional food staples.

[Veloise]

Speaking of inventory turns...the Cascade store has the aforementioned Grand Hotel products at thrift shop prices.

I'm not kidding. Those $20 flip-flops are now down to a very reasonable $2.00. Striped polo shirts (were those $40 originally??) also $2.00. Wide range of sizes and colors.

You'd think Fred would retain a focus group to help explain why this effort was such a Bad Idea.

[check my feet next meet-up...will be wearing my cushy GH Lance-band lemon yellow flip-flops]

[Rybak 187]

Yes, someone told that years ago the Saginaw Meijer stores had lumber yards at them.

[tamias6]

Back in the 70's a huge Meijer store in Lansing sold Major Appliances for a short time. Meijer even toyed with adding to its stores tire and lube shops similar to those found at Wal-Mart stores. However negotiations with auto mechanic unions went south. So Meijer abandoned the idea.

Yes, someone told that years ago the Saginaw Meijer stores had lumber yards at them.

[Rybak 187]

They also had the Soure Club concept that was like Sam's.