Meijer

[pcdoctor]

Looking at the picture of the retail entrance, it looks like that entrance could be open within the next few days or so if it's not already open.  I however don't like the fact that it's not a super high ceiling when I compare it to how high the roof is.  Looking at the space to the south of the new retail entrance, Is that going to be the customer service desk when done?  Nice to see it coming along even though there's still a ton of work that needs to be done.

[codeGR]

It does look like that'll be the customer service area. They moved the Coinstar and Redbox machines in there. The retail entrance is further along now, obviously. I suppose it could open this week or next. The grocery entrance looks to be a couple weeks behind.

[codeGR]

The general merchandise entrance is now open. The temporary entrance is also still open.

[codeGR]

Here's a photo inside the new entrance. You can see the old exterior brick.

[pcdoctor]

So there's the main cart storage area and then the secondary cart storage area for carts that have baby seats and those other type of seats?  I'm now wondering if the grocery entrance is going to be built in a similar matter where the cart storage areas are in the vestibule itself like they are in the new retail entry?

[ChevalierNoir]

Fun post from the SVP of retail operations at Meijer. I didn't realize they would wait to choose the color to paint the brick until this point.

[pcdoctor]

What app was this screenshot from?

[Pattmost20]

2 hours ago, pcdoctor said:

What app was this screenshot from?

Instagram 

[codeGR]

The grocery entrance opened late last week:

And the cart storage:

They are now working on the exterior where the temporary entrance was. Also, the grocery department is nearly finished. Looking pretty nice.

[pcdoctor]

Were you able to get pictures of other interior parts and even some up to date exterior areas?

[codeGR]

Here are some photos from Tuesday:

Interior:

Temporary location for cereal aisle

[pcdoctor]

Wow looking nice.  Thank you for all those pictures.  If I read that right, there are going to be 26 grocery Aisles?  How can they fit that many Aisles in?  Also, did frozen foods move or are they still in the same spot?  What used to be where the dairy cases were that held milk?  And finally, did they build restrooms in the front of the store and if so, where are they located?

Edited June 19, 2019 by pcdoctor

[codeGR]

The reason there are so many grocery aisles is that the aisles are split in half, kind of like Knapps corner. The frozen foods are generally in the same area, although slightly moved towards the east just a little bit. Where the dairy is now used to be backstage. It's roughly where the meat counter and the lunch meat were. They have not opened a restroom at the front of the store, although I wouldn't be surprised if they're still going to work on that. They're building the new nail salon.

[pcdoctor]

Any new updates from the Clyde Park Meijer?  I know they gotta be getting close to being done with that store since the grand reopening ceremony is sometime near the end of the month.

Also are the bakery and deli signs illuminated in neon lighting?

Edited July 5, 2019 by pcdoctor

[tamias6]

Wow! The Clyde Park store is really coming out really nice.  The interior seems like it will look every bit as good as the Knapp Corner store.

[pcdoctor]

So yesterday I had the chance to make a visit to the Plainfield Meijer store.  I had not been in the new store since it had been built.  I will have to say that it looked pretty similar to the Alpine store for the most part except for a few things such as the fact that frozen foods are up in the front of the store, and the area where bikes are store, the store is pushed out a bit towards the southwest direction.  I found it to be odd but interesting, and the other thing I noticed too is that the Subway in that store is still open.  It still has the Rockwell prototype that is slowly being phased away from it's stores.  Not sure of when that location will be getting remodeled.  It is also on a smaller side too.  It's only a 192,000 sq ft store.

[ChevalierNoir]

52 minutes ago, pcdoctor said:

It is also on a smaller side too.  It's only a 192,000 sq ft store.

The new prototype that Meijer is using going forward is only 150,000 square feet. Hudsonville, and all 5 stores opened this year are that size. 

[pcdoctor]

At 150,000 sq ft, are they not stocking as many items?

[ChevalierNoir]

16 hours ago, pcdoctor said:

At 150,000 sq ft, are they not stocking as many items?

From my experience, grocery was the same size but softlines and general merchandise shrunk down somewhat. It's all laid out a little differently but it seems to be more efficient  overall. I assume that the back rooms are smaller in the newer stores too.

[pcdoctor]

The Clyde Park Meijer store will hold its grand reopening ceremony on July 27th from 11am-3pm.  Free food and other fun activities. 

[codeGR]

Here is the information on the re-grand opening this Saturday: https://www.meijer.com/remodel/wyoming-michigan.html

[pcdoctor]

For those of you who shop at the Meijer store on Alpine Ave on a regular basis, you will remember that a few years ago, it received a refresh remodel which updated all of the lighting and signage throughout the store.  The center portion of the store was also overhauled.  When it comes to the the side aisles and the grocery section, other than it's signage being updated, they were not touched at all during the last remodel.  So I'm thinking that the store won't be remodeled for another 10 years or so right?

WRONG!

A couple of weeks ago, I found out on Todd at Meijer's instagram page that he said this:  "Thank you to all the team members at our Alpine Ave store in Grand Rapids Michigan for their dedication to excellent customer service! We can’t wait to see the results of your remodel ! I love the amount of pride that you have as a team! Keep up the great work."  When I saw this, I was thinking to myself that the store was remodeled three years ago and that they only do remodels every 10 years or so.  So today I'm at the Alpine meijer store and many of their team members are wearing shirts that say something like you will see in the picture.  I asked one of them what they are planning to do and she did say that she didn't know everything they were going to do, but said that the pets department would be moved to where the electronics is at and that the beer and wine area in the grocery section would be getting overhauled as well.

So what I believe is that this remodel is going to focus on the edges the side aisles and departments that were not touched as well as the grocery section.  We could expect the ceiling to be painted gray like they do in new stores these days.  Also, the checkout lanes may become similar to what they are at the newly remodeled Clyde Park store.  Speaking of the Clyde Park store, I was there recently and I really liked how the store looked.  I like it a lot better than Alpine.  Hopefully the remodel of Alpine will make it so that it will look similar to the Clyde Park store in some ways.

The one thing I did notice when I was at the Alpine store is that the action alley floor separating the grocery and general merchandise section starting at Aisle 13 and going all the way up to Aisle 18 looked like it had recently been replaced.  There were some tape markings on it as well.

If anyone has heard anything else, please let us know.

Edited February 21, 2020 by pcdoctor

[ChevalierNoir]

I don't have much info on the Alpine store but understand several departments will be touched and will have completely revamped checkout lanes. We must be mindful that it is the closest store to the corporate office so while it's not a flagship it will always have inportant sets of eyeballs on it.

In related news, keep an eye out on the Jenison store this year. I am being told that they will get a major remodel like the Clyde Park store got last year.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Meijer Remodeling Update for February 25, 2020:

Either the floors in the east/west action alley as well as the floors in the north/south rear action alley have been replaced, or the blue tile that was on the side of them was ripped out and replaced with white tiles.  The floors look too white to be new tiles.

Next, they are starting to clear out the electronics department.  It will be the home to the new Pets department similar to how the pets department at the Clyde Park store looks like.  I suspect that by the end of the week, most, if not all of the electronics department will be cleared out.  As of right now, I didn't find a temporary place as to where electronics are stored until the new department is built.

Moving down to the current pet department.  One will noticed that all of the aquariums have been emptied out and were getting ready to be dismantled.  There was a guy cleaning them out, so I was not able to get a picture.

Finally, where the electronics department, pets department and the beer and wine areas are at, every current department has signs stating what departments will be in those spots once completed.

From what I know, Obviously the HBC section will stay where it is, seasonal will stay where it's at, toys I'm not sure, Stationary and Office will more than likely move next to the new electronics department which will probably be located where the current automative and/or hardware departments are located, and books would be on the other side of the electronics department.  As for what would go in the current pets department and where the automotive, paint, plumbing/electrical, sporting goods and the toys departments would be located, that I'm not sure of.

Also, I'm not sure if the ceiling will be painted gray or not.

As for the center portion of the store where clothing, jewelry, home, etc...is located, those departments I suspect will remain in their current locations since that part of the store was remodeled three years ago.

As for the grocery section, other than the beer/wine area getting overhauled, I don't expect it to change much.

And finally, the checkout lane area is going to be overhauled.  There will be self checkout lanes designed specifically for mobile checkout.  As for the self-checkout lanes, it's not clear on if they will look similar to the Clyde Park store.  We'll just have to wait and see.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Meijer Remodeling Update for February 26, 2020:

Only changes to report for today are that more shelves are starting to empty out in the electronics department.  It's still about 60% stocked with stuff.  However, the shelf that you see in the picture on my previous post has been filled with storage containers.  I didn't take a picture of it though.  Also the TV's are coming down from the south wall slowly but surely.  It's a bit messy back there.

Finally, it does appear that the floors in the retail actionway going east/west as well as the floors in the north/south actionway have indeed been replaced.  Those floors look shinier compared to the floors in the aisles.