I saw a great photo of the original Logan Center on the Historical Society's Facebook page, it had two supermarkets two departments stores and many smaller stores. I don't think that huge parking lot was ever full even back then.
Over on S Cedar, they are building a new "dollar store" with the steel frame being put up so far. Another dollar store is underwhelming but it is good to see a new building being put up in that area.
So to follow up on our earlier discussion of small format urban Meijer stores... it looks like Meijer has plans to open up 6 of these over the next few years:
The first two are going up in Grand Rapids and Detroit, and they haven't announced where the other locations will be. These stores reduce their footprint by eliminating clothing and shoe sections, while primarily keeping most of the grocery and pharmacy side.
Within the above article, there is a link to an additional article that details how Meijer tried this experiment in the Chicago area starting ~2010, and recently decided to shutter 3 of the 4 small footprint stores mentioned in the article:
Curiously, the locations that are getting closed down are Berwyn, Melrose Park, and Niles, while the Orland Park store is staying open, for now. I really can't see the rationale for even trying the small format stores in these sites, as all of these locations, with the exception of Niles, are car-friendly suburbs with plenty of nearby big-box competition... and even Niles, which is a small town, has easy, nearby access to larger stores in South Bend. Perhaps this second phase of small format store testing will stick to more urban areas, where restricted driving/parking options and greater walkability make a smaller Meijer more appealling and competitive...
The Detroit one was announced a few months ago. It'll be on Jefferson just east of downtown.
To be clear, it's my understanding that the small-format and urban concepts are different. I believe the urban concept Meijiers are nearly half the site of the small-format, so this is a new experiment.
Thanks for the photos Mich! After more carefully reading the first article, I think you're right - the "small format" Meijers are the ones that reduce retail relative to grocery/pharmacy for a ~ 90K sqft (versus ~150K for a supercenter) footprint, while maintaining "Meijer" branding. In contrast, the "urban small format" stores will be ~40K sqft, almost exclusively sell fresh produce and groceries, and will have a different name tailored to its locality...
"The stores will be devoted to fresh foods and locally sourced products along with a staple of Meijer branded products."
Anyone what's going up at the northwest corner of Cedar and Willard a block south of Greenlawn? I'd passed this site many times in the last months, but didn't really notice anything beyond some materials on this empty corner until today when I see an almost-finished building on-site. It almost looks like a Dollar General if I had to guess.
My first thought was how the form-based code would have never allowed this kind of development at this corner. Unlike the neighboring building which is built to the sidewalk, this is your typical suburban parking-lot-out-front/building-set-back design that looks a bit out of place given the rest of the development along this stretch of Cedar, which usually has parking on the side or the businesses or in back.
In the form-based code, the northwest corner of Cedar and Willard is zoned MX-3 Mixed Use District Center. This require that on a corner lot like this that the first 20 feet on each street face be built along the frontage of the lot, and that on any lot with this zoning that the building must be built to the property line or 15 feet from the street curb, whichever is greater.
Comments
I saw a great photo of the original Logan Center on the Historical Society's Facebook page, it had two supermarkets two departments stores and many smaller stores. I don't think that huge parking lot was ever full even back then.
Over on S Cedar, they are building a new "dollar store" with the steel frame being put up so far. Another dollar store is underwhelming but it is good to see a new building being put up in that area.
So to follow up on our earlier discussion of small format urban Meijer stores... it looks like Meijer has plans to open up 6 of these over the next few years:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/03/meijer_to_open_6_small_urban_s.html#incart_m-rpt-2
The first two are going up in Grand Rapids and Detroit, and they haven't announced where the other locations will be. These stores reduce their footprint by eliminating clothing and shoe sections, while primarily keeping most of the grocery and pharmacy side.
Within the above article, there is a link to an additional article that details how Meijer tried this experiment in the Chicago area starting ~2010, and recently decided to shutter 3 of the 4 small footprint stores mentioned in the article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/03/meijer_closing_2_small-format.html
Curiously, the locations that are getting closed down are Berwyn, Melrose Park, and Niles, while the Orland Park store is staying open, for now. I really can't see the rationale for even trying the small format stores in these sites, as all of these locations, with the exception of Niles, are car-friendly suburbs with plenty of nearby big-box competition... and even Niles, which is a small town, has easy, nearby access to larger stores in South Bend. Perhaps this second phase of small format store testing will stick to more urban areas, where restricted driving/parking options and greater walkability make a smaller Meijer more appealling and competitive...
The Detroit one was announced a few months ago. It'll be on Jefferson just east of downtown.
To be clear, it's my understanding that the small-format and urban concepts are different. I believe the urban concept Meijiers are nearly half the site of the small-format, so this is a new experiment.
Thanks for the photos Mich! After more carefully reading the first article, I think you're right - the "small format" Meijers are the ones that reduce retail relative to grocery/pharmacy for a ~ 90K sqft (versus ~150K for a supercenter) footprint, while maintaining "Meijer" branding. In contrast, the "urban small format" stores will be ~40K sqft, almost exclusively sell fresh produce and groceries, and will have a different name tailored to its locality...
"The stores will be devoted to fresh foods and locally sourced products along with a staple of Meijer branded products."
The Niles mentioned in the article is in Illinois, It is a near northwest suburb of Chicago.
I could see this exact building on the Lake Trust block!
Thanks for catching my mistake LAN. I really botched the details of the original article! Next time, I'll have more coffee before posting...
It is easy to confuse. Do not worry. A smaller format grocery would be a nice addition to central Lansing.
Anyone what's going up at the northwest corner of Cedar and Willard a block south of Greenlawn? I'd passed this site many times in the last months, but didn't really notice anything beyond some materials on this empty corner until today when I see an almost-finished building on-site. It almost looks like a Dollar General if I had to guess.
My first thought was how the form-based code would have never allowed this kind of development at this corner. Unlike the neighboring building which is built to the sidewalk, this is your typical suburban parking-lot-out-front/building-set-back design that looks a bit out of place given the rest of the development along this stretch of Cedar, which usually has parking on the side or the businesses or in back.
In the form-based code, the northwest corner of Cedar and Willard is zoned MX-3 Mixed Use District Center. This require that on a corner lot like this that the first 20 feet on each street face be built along the frontage of the lot, and that on any lot with this zoning that the building must be built to the property line or 15 feet from the street curb, whichever is greater.