In the News

Shoppers streamed into Meijer's Bridge Street Market Wednesday morning, marking the grand opening of the Walker-based retailer's new, small-format neighborhood grocery store on Grand Rapids' West Side. Inside, they found many of the staples that line the grocery-aisle shelves at Meijer's popular supercenters - milk, eggs, bread, cereal fresh fruits and vegetables, and meat and deli products.

Wednesday marked the grand opening for the Bridge Street Market on Grand Rapids’ west side. The Meijer store, located at 613 Bridge Street NW, is a new kind of store for Meijer and for the area near downtown Grand Rapids, serving a different clientele and a different purpose.

With an average store size of around 200,000 square feet, Meijer has made its name in retail by thinking big. But in order to keep growing, it’s going to try shrinking down — way down. Today marks the opening of the first Bridge Street Market, Meijer’s 37,000-square-foot grocery store located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, mere miles from the company’s headquarters. The store features a variety of fresh foods, a bakery, full-service meat and seafood counters, a coffee shop and 2,000 grocery items ranging from Meijer store brands to locally sourced options.

Jessie Sullivan, Jack Sullivan and Jay Hanson make their own pixie sticks while attending the Meijer welcome back to school event, Meijer Mania, on Friday. Other activities included a planking challenge, photo booth, cookie challenge, raffle and more. At right, Northern Michigan University sophomore Devin Steinhaus, left, and junior Matt Swiec attempt to get a cookie in their mouth without using their hands during Meijer Mania. Event goers could participate in games such as these to win tickets to be entered into a raffle. (Journal photos by Trinity Carey)

Simply Give donation cards purchased at the Meijer store in Grand Haven Township will help local families. Love in Action has partnered with Meijer for the program. Customers can purchase $10 donation cards that will be converted into Meijer food gift cards given to a local food pantry. Simply Give cards purchased between now and Sept. 15 will benefit Love in Action food pantries.

Meijer was the first to bring home delivery to Michigan, now it's available at Meijer super centers in six states, offering 11 million households the flexibility to shop anytime, anywhere. The shopping experience is all about convenience, having a personalized shopper hand-select and deliver the order within a few hours.

Samaritan House has partnered with Meijer in order to provide hunger relief to families who depend on its food pantry donation program, Simply Give. "Samaritan House relies on the Simply Give Campaign throughout the year to stock our pantry shelves and to feed hungry families in our community," said Kathy Wojcik, executive director of Samaritan House, which is a community service organization. "We are indebted to Meijer for enabling us to pursue our mission of relieving hunger among the most vulnerable in northwestern Macomb County."

Shawn Colley from Meijer stopped by to show off some of the hottest looks for kids heading back to school.

There are a lot food options to pack in your student's lunch boxes this school year, but not all of those options are healthy or provide the fuel kids need to keep up their energy levels. Meijer is providing families with recipes that will sustain students so they can just concentrate on learning instead of a hungry stomach.

Bridge Street Market, a neighborhood grocery store on the city's Northwest Side created by Meijer, is slated to open Aug. 29, officials from the Walker-based retailer announced Monday morning. The 37,000-square-foot store, located at the corner of Bridge Street and Seward Avenue, will boast an array of fresh and prepared foods, including fresh meat and deli products, as well as 2,000 local, artisan groceries and national brands.

Michigan-based retailer Meijer now carries its own clothing line. The company said Tuesday that it launched its own fashion brand called Ophelia Roe to “help women feel their best at work.” The clothing line includes sizes small through 3X and is available at Meijer’s 241 stores.

Meijer is stepping into the office fashion business. Walker-based Meijer said yesterday it introduced Ophelia Roe, a Meijer-exclusive, “fashion-forward” clothing line bridging the gap between casual denim and formal business-wear for women.

The idea of back to school shopping can seem overwhelming, from having to choose between different school supplies and school outfits. Fortunately, Meijer has quite a few tips and tricks to make this year’s shopping easier for you.

Meijer is coming to downtown Grand Rapids, but under a different name. The Midwest grocery store chain is expanding its reach into downtown neighborhoods with its smallest urban store in the area later this summer, The Bridge Street Market. Bridge Street Market is a new neighborhood market – not a supercenter – opening later this summer by Meijer that will focus on bringing fresh products and value to a variety of customers who live and work nearby.

The Meijer Seafood Buying Team, which travels the world seeking the freshest and most sustainably caught seafood, recently took time off from their duties to plant 760 mangrove trees during a visit to the Phetchaburi province of Thailand. The team participated in the half-day Mangrove reforestation activity in an effort to honor and give back to the local community.

As students and teachers prepare to go back to school next month, Meijer has announced a deal to give back to the teachers who give so much: a 10% discount to all teachers for school or home office purchases. Meijer announced the discount on Monday and said the 10% off deal is valid all the way through September 30. The offer is also good at all of Meijer's stores.

Ready or not, back-to-school shopping is in full swing, and Meijer is helping with savings for teachers. The superstore is giving teachers a 10 percent discount throughout the back-to-school shopping season, which ends Sept. 30.

The Manistee Meijer made a “Simply Give” donation of $4820 to Love INC of Manistee, to fill their food pantry needs. This was the spring Simply Give recipient, and another organization will be selected for the fall and holiday program.

A locally based retailer’s hunger-relief program generated over $3.5 million in giving this spring. Meijer’s spring Simply Give campaign set a record for donations for food pantries throughout the Midwest, making it the most successful Simply Give campaign since the program’s inception.

If you’re looking to save money, shopping smarter at the grocery store is a great way to start. Whether it’s picking up these best-value items at Aldi or learning how to shop at Costco without a membership (yes, it’s true!) there are a few tiny changes you can make to overhaul your budget. To be honest, I was never one for store loyalty until I realized how much I began saving at Meijer. After calculating how much I saved, I was able to treat my family to a vacation in London! While you might not pinch enough pennies to get those tickets overnight, you can save a ton with these tips.

Meijer has announced a new sustainability initiative. Walker-based Meijer plans to transition the interior lighting of all its stores to LED by 2021. The company expects the change will reduce its lighting electrical use by as much as 50 percent annually.

When Bridge Street Market opens later this summer, it will offer customers a lot of value and a lot of local products. Store manager Ken Bair shared the progress thus far with My West Michigan. One of the local products to be featured is Cultured Love. Cultured Love was founded in 2014 by Jodie and Paul Krumpe and operates in and around Grand Rapids, MI. The company that makes different flavors of sauerkraut grew out of their passion for and curiosity about the intersections between food, nutrition and well-being. Their interest in "food as medicine" expanded when several family members contracted Lyme Disease. This led Jodie to research chronic illness and the value that good food can add to a person's health. They realized there was a lack of healing foods available to them and their families and decided to create a solution.

A local Meijer proudly presented a check for nearly $60,000 after a spring campaign brought the generosity of the West Michigan community together in an effort to put food on their neighbor's tables. The Oshtemo Meijer presented Friday Groceries, a local food pantry, with a check for $59,800 after the spring Simply Give campaign. The program, which runs throughout all Midwest Meijers and works closely with customers, team members and food pantry partners, set a record after raising more than $3.5 million in donations for community food pantry partners.

The new Meijer location in Hudsonville opened its doors Thursday. The new 155,000 square-foot Meijer supercenter, located at 4075 32nd Avenue near I-196 in Hudsonville, opened at 7 a.m. Thursday. The store, which is open 24 hours a day, will provide multiple ways to shop. It will offer the new shop-and-scan technology and the home delivery service. The pharmacy will feature a drive-thru pick up and the company's free prescription program.

Meijer will open the doors to its newest supercenter, at 4075 32nd Avenue in Jamestown Township, at 7 a.m. Thursday. The 155,000-square-foot store will sell fresh produce, groceries and other merchandise, and will feature a full-service pharmacy.