Meijer

[Rybak 187]

The exterior of the Petoskey Meijer looks a lot like the exterior of the Meijer store that is going up in Birch Run.

[tamias6]

Judge presiding over the Meijer/Acme Twp. legal war rules in favor of Meijer halting prosecution attempts to bring on criminal investigations of campaign financing law violations.

Article

Edited April 16, 2008 by tamias6

[blueradon]

Just a quick question - I'm not experienced when it comes to cost of construction products - but if Meijer were to take their entire front of the store and make it all glass - would anyone believe that would cost more than the blank wall that they put up...or even multiple skylights?

I still to this day will never understand why they can't do an all glass front to bring in natural light.

[jbr12]

Glass is much more expensive than a blank wall in the initial construction cost, especially curtain wall glass that is seen in the entrance vestibules.

Beyond the additional initial construction cost expense, the amount of light that comes in will cause a substantial increase in cooling costs during the summer, especially when the store is oriented so the main entrance to facing south. (I realize there are ways to mitigate the cooling costs, but those cost extra money as well)

[tamias6]

Just a quick question - I'm not experienced when it comes to cost of construction products - but if Meijer were to take their entire front of the store and make it all glass - would anyone believe that would cost more than the blank wall that they put up...or even multiple skylights?

I still to this day will never understand why they can't do an all glass front to bring in natural light.

Meijer has indeed done copious amounts of glass on store fronts in its previous store prototypes such as the Knapp Corner Meijer and several locations in Ohio. But jbr12 is right. Tons of glass cost tons of $$. The thing to remember when it comes to constructing and operating a retail space such as Meijer esp. in todays cut throat Wal-Mart economy you want to do so in a way that maximizes profit per square foot. The only to to that is to keep architecture to a minimum and keep the building energy efficient as possible meaning little or no windows.

Speaking of lack of windows besides conserving energy, there is another reason why big box stores lacks all but maybe a few windows. Next time you visit Meijer notice how you feel like you've stepped into a completely different world separate from the outside. This is so because the marketing agencies, graphic designers, and corporate heads go to enormous lengths to control every respect of the shopping experience down to the very last detail, even the background music playing over the stores PA system is carefully selected to enhance the shopping experience and entice customers to part with there hard earned money. The most effective way to gain complete control of the shopping experience is to omit windows from the store to visually and mentally cut customers off from the outside world and force them to see what the retailers want customers to see. This sounds like mind games. But this is one of many tools retailers used to make a buck.

Edited April 17, 2008 by tamias6

[Veloise]

...big box stores lack all but maybe a few windows.... you feel like you've stepped into a completely different world separate from the outside... the marketing agencies, graphic designers, and corporate heads go to enormous lengths to control every respect of the shopping experience ... to enhance the shopping experience and entice customers to part with their hard-earned money....to visually and mentally cut customers off from the outside world and force them to see what the retailers want customers to see. ...

Just like in a casino! You aren't there to enjoy natural lighting, which varies throughout the day and year. Open your wallet!

[Cyburbia]

Considering that this is the Meijer thread, I thought I'd ask a question that has been sitting in the back of my head for a while.

In the Cleveland area, I've heard several people tell what sounds like an urban legend about Meijer's plans for the area. There were options on sites, and architects and builders at the ready, but they backed out because they feared stores in the area would become unionized. True? False? What's the real reason why Meijer hasn't made that final leap into the Cleveland market?

For the planners among us: is Meier easy to work with? Are they as bad as Walgreens -- "Stock plan or nothing!" -- or will they be flexible? In communities with strict architectural regulations, will they conform to the regs kicking, dragging and screaming?

Edited April 17, 2008 by Cyburbia

[MuskeMI]

AFAIK all Meijer's are unionized in Michigan except for the Traverse City store.

[jbr12]

Just a quick question - I'm not experienced when it comes to cost of construction products - but if Meijer were to take their entire front of the store and make it all glass - would anyone believe that would cost more than the blank wall that they put up...or even multiple skylights?

I still to this day will never understand why they can't do an all glass front to bring in natural light.

As a follow up....

Using RSMeans Data (National accepted standard) a Block/Brick Wall similar to the exterior wall at Meijer is around $24 / square foot (Material & Labor)

Using price estimates from a recent job, Curtain Wall (similar to the vestibules) is around $35 / square foot.

Thats a substantial amount of money when spread across a huge front wall... Especially when the middle of that wall is backed by hair salons, photo booths and banks and the Meijer floor itself wouldn't see much light

[tamias6]

Just like in a casino! You aren't there to enjoy natural lighting, which varies throughout the day and year. Open your wallet!

Precisely, the interior layout of Casinos and those of retail are based on the same premise. In the case of Casinos the objective of planners and designers is to lure patrons to the slot machines, and play a round or two of Black Jack.

AFAIK all Meijer's are unionized in Michigan except for the Traverse City store.

Many of Meijer's Indiana stores are not unionize due to the state's laws regulating big retail.

[Veloise]

Considering that this is the Meijer thread, I thought I'd ask a question that has been sitting in the back of my head for a while.

In the Cleveland area, I've heard several people tell what sounds like an urban legend about Meijer's plans for the area. There were options on sites, and architects and builders at the ready, but they backed out because they feared stores in the area would become unionized. True? False? What's the real reason why Meijer hasn't made that final leap into the Cleveland market?

For the planners among us: is Meier easy to work with? Are they as bad as Walgreens -- "Stock plan or nothing!" -- or will they be flexible? In communities with strict architectural regulations, will they conform to the regs kicking, dragging and screaming?

Dan, what are you doing on here?!? For a minute I thought I'd clicked the wrong link! (UPers, Cyburbia is the urban planning forum, where those working in the field exchange ideas and comments...bragged about by M'skis in the "jobs in planning" thread.)

To help answer your question...elsewhere in this thread are some comments about Meijer in other "south of the border" communities, notably Dayton, Cinti, and Columbus. Also, look for the continuing discussion regarding the Acme Twp proposal (lawsuit, big dust-uo over campaign contributions).

I would suspect that Fred hasn't made it to the 330 due to distance from the Walker or south Telegraph warehouses. They'd need probably three stores to open in a close time frame to make it truly worth their while. (Your closest one is at I-280 near the turnpike.)

Edited April 17, 2008 by Veloise

[Cyburbia]

Dan, what are you doing on here?!? For a minute I thought I'd clicked the wrong link! (UPers, Cyburbia is the urban planning forum, where those working in the field exchange ideas and comments...bragged about by M'skis in the "jobs in planning" thread.)

OT: I focus most of my attention towards Cyburbia, but I like to wander around and check out other sites from time to time.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Cyburbia

[tamias6]

Considering that this is the Meijer thread, I thought I'd ask a question that has been sitting in the back of my head for a while.

In the Cleveland area, I've heard several people tell what sounds like an urban legend about Meijer's plans for the area. There were options on sites, and architects and builders at the ready, but they backed out because they feared stores in the area would become unionized. True? False? What's the real reason why Meijer hasn't made that final leap into the Cleveland market?

For the planners among us: is Meier easy to work with? Are they as bad as Walgreens -- "Stock plan or nothing!" -- or will they be flexible? In communities with strict architectural regulations, will they conform to the regs kicking, dragging and screaming?

Conflicts between big retail and city planners should be no real sunrise. Even Meijer's case. When building a big box store the retailer wants to do it as cost effectively as possible. That means no windows, minimal architectural embellishments, giant asphalt seas devoid of landscape, and so forth. On the other hand city planners want incoming developments, big box retail included, to conform to ways that serve the interest of the city such as extra landscaping, use of architectural embellishments which adds to the cost of establishing a new store. In the case of the Meijer/ Acme soap opera, Meijer wants to build a store that is cost effective and works for them but the city of Acme wants Meijer to conform to their New Urbanist master plan which means extensive changes to their store prototype which would cost money in and eat into their profits. In short big box retail wants to cut corners to make a profit while city planners want quality and something that works for the city. So comes the conflict between retail and city planners.

[Rybak 187]

Here is an article about Meijer cancelling their Northeast Ohio expansion.

[tamias6]

Here is an article about Meijer cancelling their Northeast Ohio expansion.

Wow! That's too bad they not going to pursue NW Ohio. My Uncle lives in the area and the only place he and his wife can shop at is a lousy Wal-Mart supercenter. I know Meijer would do well in the area. But I think the Acme Twp. hoopla may have K.O.ed their ambitions a bit. There were quite a number of communities down there putting up allot of resistance. So Meijer heads may have thought one Acme Twp. is enough.

[highwayguy]

Wow! That's too bad they not going to pursue NW Ohio. My Uncle lives in the area and the only place he and his wife can shop at is a lousy Wal-Mart supercenter. I know Meijer would do well in the area. But I think the Acme Twp. hoopla may have K.O.ed their ambitions a bit. There were quite a number of communities down there putting up allot of resistance. So Meijer heads may have thought one Acme Twp. is enough.

I'm sure the Acme Township mess had nothing to do with the decision, since the article is from 1995.

From the article:

Meijer had purchased property in many of the cities where it sought to locate. But eventually the difficulty it faced in acquiring and rezoning property in a few areas doomed it for the region as a whole.

Zimmerman said that once a few sites became impossible, that left the company without enough market penetration to pursue the others.

"We hate to bring one store into a region and leave it by itself," he said.

He then goes on to say that Meijer has not closed the door on Northeast Ohio, stating, "we'll keep our eyes on the area."

Meijer has changed a lot in the last 13 years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an expansion into the Cleveland area within the next 5-10 years.

[blueradon]

Produce is starting to pick up HORRAY!

I got some AWESOME watermelon this past weekend...and corn on the cob is back!

A bit off-topic -- but does anyone know when the fulton st farmers market begins? I'm planning to make some trips down there this summer so I can get some (hopefully) cheaper prices on food.

[fotoman311]

Produce is starting to pick up HORRAY!

I got some AWESOME watermelon this past weekend...and corn on the cob is back!

A bit off-topic -- but does anyone know when the fulton st farmers market begins? I'm planning to make some trips down there this summer so I can get some (hopefully) cheaper prices on food.

I thought it was the first Saturday in May, which is approaching fast. But, their new website says they are open now: http://www.fultonstreetmarket.org/

[pcdoctor]

Not sure if there is anyone here that goes over towards the muskegon area, but wanted to know if they started remodeling yet over at the meijer store on Norton avenue? In the meijer ads on the back of the retail section, it says that it's garden center isn't available. I knew that they were supposed to start remodeling this year.

[GRCityPlanner]

I thought it was the first Saturday in May, which is approaching fast. But, their new website says they are open now: http://www.fultonstreetmarket.org/

Midtown just told me that the market will open on May 3rd... i'm not sure why their website says otherwise.

[blueradon]

Midtown just told me that the market will open on May 3rd... i'm not sure why their website says otherwise.

Maybe they are open so other people can call in and ask them when they're going to open?

[Sailor]

Midtown just told me that the market will open on May 3rd... i'm not sure why their website says otherwise.

I noticed that on their web site back in March and e-mailed to ask about it, with no reply. Hmm.

[blueradon]

I've been wondering what Meijer has been thinking with the D&W landing a location on Michigan - basically the only full-sized grocery store closest to downtown. I wonder if Meijer is even considering entering the urban market, and making GR a test location for such a store. Perhaps they could purchase or lease a vacant building downtown and convert it into just a grocery store and see how it is well received.

I had the strangest dream last night that Meijer built a supercenter on that 16 acre city lot south of 131 along the river - with a huge blank wall facing the river. Scared me to death

But they at least had parking on top of the building and on neighboring properties.

[tamias6]

I've been wondering what Meijer has been thinking with the D&W landing a location on Michigan - basically the only full-sized grocery store closest to downtown. I wonder if Meijer is even considering entering the urban market, and making GR a test location for such a store. Perhaps they could purchase or lease a vacant building downtown and convert it into just a grocery store and see how it is well received.

I had the strangest dream last night that Meijer built a supercenter on that 16 acre city lot south of 131 along the river - with a huge blank wall facing the river. Scared me to death

But they at least had parking on top of the building and on neighboring properties.

Ouch! As much as I like Meijer, I hope that land doesn't become one. Although I'd like to see a multistory DT Meijer on one of the blocks south of the VanAndel Arena.

[snoogit]

http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/20...after_spor.html

Anyone else find the actions of the US Sportsman's Alliance to be completely out of line with this case?

Meijer was going to do a good deed, by sponsoring the Humane society, and the USSA raises enough of a fit to quash the whole thing. Makes me sick.