Meijer Made Mini: Meijer Grocery #680, Lake Orion, Mich. (#12)

Despite being best known for their massive, Walmart-esque superstores, the Midwest's massive merchandise Mecca has experimented with smaller formats a couple of times over the years.

The early 2010s brought Meijer Marketplace, a ~100,000 sq ft grocery-focused concept tested at a handful of Chicagoland locations. Despite their smaller size and narrowed focus, these had a similar big-box environment to a typical Meijer, and a small general merchandise selection. The experiment didn't last; most of the locations closed (a rarity for Meijer) before the decade was out, and only one, in Orland Park, Ill., remains in operation today.

Meijer's definitely had better fortunes with their individually-named "markets," a considerably smaller grocery store format designed-and-built for urban areas. They've opened four across Michigan since 2018, and seem eager to continue expansion, as a fifth is currently under construction in Cleveland (plus that oddball "Fresh Thyme" in St. Louis). With them, they did an impressive job adapting to a ~40,000 sq ft space, proving that they can, in fact, successfully operate smaller stores. (The Detroit-area and Lansing locations will be covered in future posts.)

For their third modern foray into smaller grocery stores, Meijer Grocery, the company targeted a size in between the prior two. As the name implies, it's similar in format to a typical grocery store, spanning roughly 75,000 square feet, dedicated mostly to food and pharmaceuticals. The concept was revealed in September 2022, with two exurban Metro Detroit sites announced for the inaugural stores: 24 Mile and Hayes in Macomb Township, and Lapeer and Clarkston Roads in Orion Township just south of Lake Orion. Both were new construction, with the Orion store rising on the site of a demolished Kmart.

Both opened as scheduled on January 26, 2023.

I arrived at the Orion store as the sun began to set on opening day. At first glance, I was struck by how closely the store matched the renderings Meijer published with the announcement.

(courtesy PRNewswire)

The glass atrium on the corner reminds me vaguely of LiDL's early stores in the States. In it, employees were handing out reusable bags as opening-day giveaways, flanked by flowers and a cart corral to the left, and produce and the customer service desk to the right. Sandy lurked in the corner.

This is said to be Henrik Meijer's first receipt.

Proceeding into the produce and deli departments, the decor follows a similar theme to the newer "Imagine" decor used in the full-line supercenters, though with more gray tones and some lighter-colored panels. From what I can tell, most of the designs used here are exclusive to Meijer Grocery.

The color scheme continues around the corner, where meat coolers flank a massive selection of wine. A few faux wood accents and old photographs adorn the wall, sprucing up the black-and-white environment.

Taken directly from Imagine, however, are the aisle and shelf markers.

It's sort of odd seeing Meijer's usual vast selection of household merchandise condensed to just a couple of aisles.

In typical Meijer fashion, the pet department was expansive; while it lacked the fish tanks of the chain's full-line stores, it was above-and-beyond what you'd find in a Kroger or similar competitor.

If you want to watch animals from behind glass, however, the pharmacy provides a similar experience: massive windows on its corner allow passers-by a view inside (which might be questionable from a patient privacy perspective...). The pharmacy area's decor has a few common designs with Imagine, though also has a few unique touches, notably the faux plant texture on the health and wellness sign. 

Price scanner signs on this side of the store resemble the usual round checkout lane signs from Imagine, which don't appear in this store.

As you might expect from such a modern store, the checkouts were mostly automated: only four staffed registers stand alongside eleven full self-checkouts and four of Meijer's new shop-and-scan express kiosks.

Shop-and-scan is heavily emphasized throughout; the carts (which are black, not the usual Meijer blue) feature cellphone holders, adorned with the Meijer logo.

In what seems to be a Meijer first, this store includes a dedicated order pickup entrance, located to the left of the main entrance.

To the right is a separate bottle return room, by far the most bland part of the store.

I bought a pair of the new Meijer Grocery tote bags as souvenirs; only the generic ones, however, as they seemed to have already sold out of the Lake Orion-specific design by the evening.

All told, the new store's modern design was stunning, and it seems to make for a pleasant shopping experience. I hope we'll see more of Meijer Grocery in the near future - I suspect the concept was created in part for expansion into new markets; perhaps the chain's oft-speculated eventual entry into Minneapolis would begin with these.

Thanks for shopping Oakland County Retail!
Next weekend will see a doubleheader, with two posts covering the recent closures of Oakland County Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.