Meijer Expands Store Concept with Plans to Open Six Small Urban Stores by 2021
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – With the likes of big box retailers, including Target and Walmart, rolling out smaller format concepts over the years, more and more are hopping on the bandwagon to meet changing consumer needs and shopping patterns. While a supercenter concept has been associated with Meijer’s brand for the last fifty years, the retailer is now working on small format urban locations, set to launch by 2021.
Meijer’s smaller format stores will not be branded Meijer, but, instead, will have a name reflective of their neighborhoods as a means to emphasize fresh, local produce and locally-sourced products like prepared gourmet meals.
“It’s a proof of concept, so we’ll get a few open and see how they do,” said Mike Kinstle, Vice President of Real Estate, according to M Live. “That will determine how aggressively we want to open future ones after that. Ultimately, we hope this is successful enough where it can go all the places where we can’t get in and build a supercenter. We want this to be a complement to the supercenter format.”
According to M Live, the retailer has already identified locations across its six-state footprint where the smaller format would be a good fit. Currently, Meijer plans to open its first 40,000-square-foot urban store in Grand Rapids. The retailer also has eyes on breaking ground in Detroit, set to open in 2019, and plans to start development on four additional locations, set to open by 2021.
The retailer currently operates 235 150,000-square-foot supercenter stores across Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin, many of which need at least 15 acres of land to operate.
“It’s very hard to find that kind of land in an urban environment,” Kinstle said, explaining the motive behind adopting a smaller concept. “At the same time, you’ve got people moving back into those urban environments. So, in an effort to be able to serve that customer base, we’ve come up with a grocer concept that will allow us to do that. So that’s the genesis of that decision.”
The urban market formats will also operate autonomously from the chain, with Store Directors taking the reins of finding local products to stock shelves with in order to give each location its own flavor and neighborhood character.
Will Meijer’s new store format help it compete with bigger grocery retail names like Target and Walmart? AndNowUKnow will continue to report as the story unfolds.
