Meijer plans trio of new store openings out of state

By Abby Poirier

Supercenter retailer Meijer Inc. plans to open three new stores this month, expanding its footprint across the upper Midwest.

Meijer announced opening dates for new supercenter stores in Elkhart, Ind. and Warren and Wooster, both in Ohio.

The new 159,000-square-foot Elkhart location is slated to open May 11 and will be the 42nd Meijer store in Indiana. The retailer first moved into Indiana in 1994 with a location in Mishawaka and now employs 10,000 workers across the state.

Maureen Mitchell, vice president of the Indiana-Kentucky region for Meijer, said the company is committed to investing in the northern Indiana area, where it has 11 existing store locations.

“We know that value and convenience are key for our customers, and the new store will provide both for Elkhart residents,” Mitchell said in a statement.

The company’s pair of Ohio locations will also take the 159,000-square-foot supercenter format. Both stores are slated to open May 16, and will increase the retailer’s footprint in the state to 52 stores. Meijer opened its first Ohio stores in 1981, the company’s first locations outside of Michigan.

Meijer now employs more than 11,000 people in the Buckeye State.

All three new locations will be located alongside Meijer Express gas stations and will offer staples including groceries, fresh produce, bakery goods, fresh florals, meats and a deli. Other departments will include a garden center, pharmacy, pets, electronics, toys, sports and apparel.

In January, the company opened two smaller-format “Meijer Grocery” branded stores in southeast Michigan in Macomb and Orion townships.

The Meijer Grocery design features 75,000- to 90,000-squarefoot stores with parking wrapped around a single corner entrance. Originally founded in Greenville in 1934, Meijer now operates 501 supercenters, Meijer Grocery, neighborhood markets and Express locations across a six-state footprint in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The retailer generated $20.5 billion in revenue in 2022, according to estimates from Forbes.