Story posted Wednesday, July 1, 2009
'Smaller' Meijer To Fill Golf Road Vacancy
Big box retailer Meijer has picked Niles to try a new format for its stores with a new location expected to open early next year in the village.
The store could create as many as 150 new jobs in Niles and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2010. Company officials called it a "pilot store" and said it is part of a new, smaller format to move the retail chain into urban centers.
Company spokesman Frank Guglielmi said the store will be 102,000 square feet, about half the size of a typical Meijer store, and will focus more on grocery products than general merchandise.
The store will be located at 9000 W. Golf Road in the Golf Glen Mart Plaza.
Village Manager George Van Geem said the store would be taking over a space formerly held by Value City Furniture.
The 75-year-old company operates 189 "super centers" in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, generally "ringing" major urban centers in the suburbs.
The new smaller store model will serve Meijer's desire to begin the move from "outer ring" communities to more high-density urban centers.
Niles fits well as a model for that transition given its close proximity to Chicago, said Guglielmi.
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