01/13/2025
The beginnings of Meijer’s
From even before it was Thrifty Acres!
We don't talk a lot about Meijer here, the Michigan-based supercenter chain that's been growing pretty quick across the Midwest. But they've got quite the history as a pioneer in combining general merchandise and food, and this one comes from their early days as a solely food retailer in Western Michigan.
This really cool 1950s pylon-era store was in Grand Rapids, their homebase, and appears to have been located at the corner of Michigan and Fuller St.
In 1962, they'd open the first Thrifty Acres, a 180,000 square feet store that would sell food and general merchandise under one roof. They built it with 6 inch floors so that if it failed, it could be easily converted into a car dealership. It didn't.
Meijer now operates 259 supercenters and supermarkets throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin and has been flirting with potentially moving into the St. Louis and Pittsburgh regions as they've expanded more recently into the Milwaukee and Cleveland areas.
It's my understanding the horse known as Sandy, much like we featured at the Conyngham, PA Gould's Market in the middle of the store is a common fixture within Meijer stores to this day, especially in their home state of Michigan.
