Meijer

[MuskeMI]

Better yet Meijer could expand the nearby Traverse City store. After all the whole point of the proposed Acme store is to relieve the severely overcrowded Traverse City store with additional retail space. That could be achieved without dealing with t

It's not that easy. As a former TC resident & Meijer employee, I can certify the need for an additional store or expansion. But the current location has no room for growth. The parking lot is already the smallest Meijer lot I've ever seen - even outside of the holiday shopping season parking is at a premium at this store. I agree with you that they might as well just pass on the Acme struggle and look for land elsewhere - or build a multi-level parking structure!

[Veloise]

A while back, someone asked if M@C's faux vintage streetlights were functional. Yep.

The parking lot looked like there was room for about five more cars, but perhaps each shopper brought two vehicles. Inside was not busy at all. (And M@C has Working Hands creme!)

[Rybak 187]

Here is an update on the potential Meijer store in Flat Rock.

[tamias6]

It's not that easy. As a former TC resident & Meijer employee, I can certify the need for an additional store or expansion. But the current location has no room for growth. The parking lot is already the smallest Meijer lot I've ever seen - even outside of the holiday shopping season parking is at a premium at this store. I agree with you that they might as well just pass on the Acme struggle and look for land elsewhere - or build a multi-level parking structure!

Unless something was built on the empty land just off the north side of the Traverse City Meijer store since the image below was recorded onto Google Earth or that land has already been spoken for in some way, Meijer should have plenty of room to grow.

[TiburonJT]

Unless something was built on the empty land just off the north side of the Traverse City Meijer store since the image below was recorded onto Google Earth or that land has already been spoken for in some way, Meijer should have plenty of room to grow.

That area is mostly wetlands owned by Meijer. That will not be developed. The TC store is already the largest in the chain, and almost too big imo. Meijer needs an additional location, not a bigger store.

[TiburonJT]

Personally I think the Record Eagle is using this article to paint Meijer as an evil corporate bad guy hell bent on destroying Acme Twp. But anyway according to this article one of the Twp. Board members won a 3 million dollar lawsuit against Meijer for attempts to force him out of office to make way for the new store for the area. IMO, this kind of corporate strong arming sounds completely out of Meijer's character. So I hope Meijer is able to appeal. But even though there is a strong need for a store in that area I'm beginning to wonder is it would be in Meijer's best interest to cease further efforts to build in Acme. I don't think its worth the PR risk esp. when Meijer could simply build somewhere outside of the Twp.

I'm not sure if it would make sense for Meijer or if there will be a retail development by Turtle Creek, which is being considered, but that is a location farther East on 72 could be an option. However, it seems an Acme Twp. store would be a better location. I remember when I lived on the East side of town I could either go to Kmart or Tom's or drive a long distance to other stores, which can be a pain particularly in the summer.

[tamias6]

That area is mostly wetlands owned by Meijer. That will not be developed. The TC store is already the largest in the chain, and almost too big imo. Meijer needs an additional location, not a bigger store.

At a little over 250,000 sq. ft. the Traverse City meijer is indeed one of the largest stores in the chain. Also since the empty land is wetland, that would certainly hem Meijer in. I think half that store's problem is the shape of the building. The north end which use to be an, old department store, has a very odd shape making for a bit of a haphazard layout on that end of the store. Meanwhile the at only 325' deep the Traverse city Meijer is quite shallow. Other Meijer stores range from 375' to 450' in depth. The shallowness is not much of a problem for the retail section but it most certainly is in the grocery section. I think their are only 14 aisles vs. a standard store's 16. Also the location of the bakery makes for very camped conditions in the produce area. Lastly other than a new sign, the store has not been retrofitted to the latest store prototype which can better handle busy crowds. Even though your right in that square footage can't be added. I think a reconfiguration to a better layout would help the Traverse cty store. I'm currently working on a Sketchup model to see what can be done.

Still since Meijer can't add more square footage to the Traverse City store, you are correct in that Meijer needs a second store in the area in the long run. Maybe that's why Meijer is not backing down in its struggle to build in Acme. I just wish the Record Eagle wasn't so one sided and give equal and fair coverage to Acme and Meijer.

[blueradon]

I'm so darn mad. I was working on an urban meijer concept this morning and was in a hurry to bring the dog back inside after making a couple screen shots and I didn't save the sketchup file and now it's no more

I at least managed to get 2 screen shots before I left the program...I was in quite early stages from anything concrete - but here is what I ended up with before I lost it

[tamias6]

I'm so darn mad. I was working on an urban meijer concept this morning and was in a hurry to bring the dog back inside after making a couple screen shots and I didn't save the sketchup file and now it's no more

I at least managed to get 2 screen shots before I left the program...I was in quite early stages from anything concrete - but here is what I ended up with before I lost it

I like it. That would make a good DT Meijer on the Area 51 block south of the VAA

[blueradon]

Thanks - I'm going to try and work on another one -- hopefully I can get it done before Tin Man comes on tonight

[Rybak 187]

This is the site plan for the the proposed Flat Rock Meijer store from the Monroe News:

[Rybak 187]

Here is a potential Meijer store. This one in Anson, IN.

Here is an update on the Anson store. It sounds like it may go in another direction direction with the exterior of the stores.

Meijer has gotten the approval for the new store in Anson. Article

[Rybak 187]

From the Great Lakes Roads forum - Petoskey - here we come. http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/...news/news01.txt

Meijer has gotten the first approval. Article

[tamias6]

Meijer has gotten the first approval. Article

Great news. One more hurtle to go.

[tamias6]

That area is mostly wetlands owned by Meijer. That will not be developed. The TC store is already the largest in the chain, and almost too big imo. Meijer needs an additional location, not a bigger store.

After doing this sketchup file, I found out it could be possible increase the size of the Traverse City Meijer by a notable margin without doing extensive reconfiguration to the site or touching the wetlands. By reconfiguring the north end of the building and a couple of small additions to the bump-outs on the south of the building I've increased the size of the building from 256,000 sq. ft. to 270,000 sq. ft. An extra 14,000 sq. ft. should be enough to relieve the crowds in the Traverse City store.

So let's begin...

View of the store front from the NE corner of the property.

The store front from the SE portion of the property

A closer look at the entrances and main sign

An overhead view of the reconfigured garden center. Reconfiguring this end of the building yielded much of the additional space gained.

A few of the south end of the building. By increasing the size of the appendage containing the meat counters and refrigeration plants and reconfiguring the loading docks would give the grocery section much needed space.

Overhead shot of site Before & After...

Before

After

[Rybak 187]

It looks good, but I wonder if that would leave enough loading docks.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Rybak 187

[Veloise]

After doing this sketchup file, I found out it could be possible increase the size of the Traverse City Meijer by a notable margin without doing extensive reconfiguration to the site or touching the wetlands. By reconfiguring the north end of the building and a couple of small additions to the bump-outs on the south of the building I've increased the size of the building from 256,000 sq. ft. to 270,000 sq. ft. An extra 14,000 sq. ft. should be enough to relieve the crowds in the Traverse City store.

...

Before

After

Fred should pay you a commission, too.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Veloise

[blueradon]

Hard Work + Comission =

[tamias6]

It looks good, but I wonder if that would leave enough loading docks.

Most definitely. Much of the south end of my model follows the same lines of the existing store. That gave me enough room to add 11 loading docks. In addition, I've left 3 existing loading docks, located on the north west corner of the building, intact. That makes for a total of 14 loading docks. A standard Meijer store designed under the current prototype needs only 6 to 8 loading docks depending on size.

The 3 existing NW loading docks left intact.

The south end loading docks.

[blueradon]

I wish Meijer could do something like this

Fat chance, right?c

But this is exactly the kind of parking lot design that Meijer needs to have - wide sidewalks between parking spots - although instead of the landscape there should be little ramps to get your cart down to your car thus eliminating (or reducing) the need for people to push carts behind cars with the risk of getting hit - or getting your car banged up.

And then every so many spots have an accessible ramp to place your cart

It's all about pedestrianalism folks. (my new word of the day)

Edited December 11, 2007 by blueradon

[tamias6]

...

Fat chance, right?c

....

Currently yes on the fat chance bit. One objective of the current store prototype is to strip store architecture to the bare essentials in bid to cut construction costs. This is why most Meijer stores built after 2003 look very sparten. However I don't think this period of building plane Jane stores won't last very long. First, besides traffic and environmental concerns being the major driving forces of community resistance against incoming big box stores, an increasing number of communities are holding developers of big box stores to higher architectural standards. This demand seems to be very strong. So much so, that even the mighty Wal-Mart as basically gave up on its standard blue and gray box and has opted to hire local architects to design store exteriors to fit the architectural character of communities they built in. Meijer too is starting to feel the effects of this demand as the appearance of stores built withing the past year and a half look a bit better than stores such as the Ionia store. The most notable example of this i can think of is the North Feild Twp. store in which a court order forced Meijer to drop its standard design for a design similar to the much better looking Birch Run store under construction Also there is the Acme Twp. saga in which the Twp. and Meijer are locked in a battle of attrition over conflicts of a proposed store and the township's recently ratified new urbanist master plan. These and other incidences of resistance Meijer is running into due to architecture have got to be the subject of conversation in the boardroom. Since Wal-Mart as already improved the appearance of their stores to meet demands posed by communities, I bet it won't be too long before Meijer follows suit if it wants to continue its aggressive growth plan to have 400 stores by 2020.

[Eridony]

Tamias, I thought you'd like to know that Muskegon's oldest Meijer (and the dirtiest store in the chain) has just received the OK from the City of Norton Shores to renovate the store and add a gas station. This will be a pretty big process since they will be demolishing 40% of the current structure. I woked at this store when I was in high school and they have been talking about redoing this place since then. I'm glad it's finally going to happen, the store is in bad shape right now.

Planners OK Meijer Overhaul Proposal

[tamias6]

Tamias, I thought you'd like to know that Muskegon's oldest Meijer (and the dirtiest store in the chain) has just received the OK from the City of Norton Shores to renovate the store and add a gas station. This will be a pretty big process since they will be demolishing 40% of the current structure. I woked at this store when I was in high school and they have been talking about redoing this place since then. I'm glad it's finally going to happen, the store is in bad shape right now.

Planners OK Meijer Overhaul Proposal

Thanks for the heads up on this article. It seems to give more details about the model than previous articles I've read. It should be very interesting to see how Meijer is going to keep the store open with 40 percent of the building being demolished. According to this article, Meijer dd not disclose the cost of the remodel. But here's some idea if what the costs maybe. The Alpine Ave. store renovation which consisted of a 20,000 square foot addition, relocation of store entrances, and reconfiguration of the grocery and retail sections, cost Meijer an estimated 16 million dollars. The Muskegon store remodel is more extensive so I'm going to say it will cost Meijer about 18-20 million dollars.

[Eridony]

Thanks for the heads up on this article. It seems to give more details about the model than previous articles I've read. It should be very interesting to see how Meijer is going to keep the store open with 40 percent of the building being demolished. According to this article, Meijer dd not disclose the cost of the remodel. But here's some idea if what the costs maybe. The Alpine Ave. store renovation which consisted of a 20,000 square foot addition, relocation of store entrances, and reconfiguration of the grocery and retail sections, cost Meijer an estimated 16 million dollars. The Muskegon store remodel is more extensive so I'm going to say it will cost Meijer about 18-20 million dollars.

Oh it will certainly cost more then the Alpine store because not only are they tearing down so much, they will be building new sections and relocating the entrances. Right now the store has two main entrances in the "front" facing Norton and a main entrance in the back, soon all entrances will be facing Henry. I wonder if the 40% they are tearing down will be on the Henry side to make way for more parking in front of the new entrances, then they would build the new sections where the entrances are now. The square footage in the article also seems off, when I started there they said the store size was something like 225,000 square feet, I wonder if they didn't include the mezanine level in the article. I also wonder if the new store will still have that level.

[blueradon]

Wonder if Meijer is going to try and do the M@C layout - if they do - chances are that it's going to be implemented in future if not all stores.