Alpine Meijer To Get New Face

[tamias6]

Despite the small pets being located on the back wall in a many other Meijer stores, I think the small pets are in their final location at the north east corner of the new pet department.. The large cobalt colored display unit they are housed in feature cages on three sides of the display and a prep sink which explains why they ran new plumbing to that location last week. Also defining the immediate area is a special aqua green floor tile. On the back wall where the old pharmacy use to be and where I thought small pets were going to be located, workers and Meijer employees are currently installing more shelving.

Pets will be moved to where the pharmacy used to be, which isn't too bad.

I was kind of bummed Meijer didn't purchase the abandoned UFW Hall.

[pcdoctor]

Do you mean that they are building a new hanging wall again? I didn't want that back!

[tamias6]

Yes a new overhang is indeed materializing. However this new one is nowhere near as pronounced as the one it replaces. It only extends about 24 inches from the main wall and terminates at the northwest corner of the sales floor. Also the bottom plain of this new over hang is about a foot higher than the old one. Thus none of the feel of openness is lost. Once the walls and ceiling are painted and new lighting installed, the overhang will barely be noticeable.

Do you mean that they are building a new hanging wall again? I didn't want that back!

[tamias6]

Constructions Update:

First we begin outside. The new Cinder block walls on the NE corner of the building have been built out. The garage door opening in that section as also been restored. Moving south down the front of the store to where the new grocery entry is to be built, a second hole in the wall has appeared next to the first hole while six or so of the plate glass windows in the mezzanine directly above have been removed exposing the interior to the elements. Next, the location of the new retail entry is in the mist of having concrete for its foundation poured.

Going inside though the existing Grocery entry one will abruptly encounter that the beautiful colors of the floral dept. have been replaced by all out construction. Looking directing ahead from the just inside the entry, one will notice that the partition defining the north end of the Promenade has been demolished. In its place are temporary plywood knee walls to guide the public though the construction into the the rest of the store. Moving further in to where the greeter stands and gazing downward at the floor just on the other side of the knee walls, there are tranches cut into the floor exposing the raw earth below. These trenches are either for embedded utilities or to make room for foundations for future walls. Remaining in place but looking northward to where the pets and seasonal dept. were once located, construction is proceeding at a frenzied pace under the veil of plastic sheeting shrouding that area to keep dust down.

Let us now head to the north concourse and proceed westward until we are in front of Bottle returns at the back of the sales floor. Turning our attention northward will reveal that the very last aisle of the grocery section has been closed and workers preparing the remove the diary coolers. Looking southward in the opposite direction one shall find that all fixtures of the new pet department are in place and about 60 % stocked.

A venture down the rear concourse heading towards E4 will be suddenly cut short as the southern most 50 feet of that concourse has been sectioned off. Inside this area the floor has been striped of its old tile and awaiting new tile work. Navigating around this sectioned off area and entering E4 one will also encounter an 8' foot square area sectioned off as several pieces of defective floor tile where in the process of being replaced.

Heading eastward up the slowly emerging new south concourse, one shall find some of the house ware dept in place as well as a new furniture dept along with a new floral dept accompanying the gift wrapping and greeting cards aisles. In a space between the floral and and furniture dept. additional new aisles are being installed. I'm not certain what these additional aisles are to be quite yet. But perhaps these new aisles are to be new homes for books and magazines.

Now let us conclude our visit and head back to the existing grocery entry to exit the store. But first let's stop at the southern end of the plywood temporary wall enclosing the construction area of the new grocery entry. Taking a peek into that area via a plastic covered gap one will notice workers busily roughing in new walls defining the new entry foyer, restrooms, and the location of a new stair well along with portions of the sit down area of the new deli.

Finally one will notice that a brand new pick colored penny horse now accompanies the existing brown colored one in front of the former Pac n' Ship location. Meijer just would not be Meijer without the penny horse rides.

[EDIT] Image Shack seems to be more cooperative after a session of severe tongue lashing.

A view of the Store front from the parking lot. Notice the missing glass in the windows of the second floor.

The NE Corner's new walls are up

The Big Bad Fork Left waiting for a load at the new grocery entrance location

Cement truck driver and female worker planning next stages of the current concrete pour at the retail entry.

Hmmm.... It appears the garden center is open. Why did I miss this??

[pcdoctor]

You could try editing your post later to see if it does you any better, or add more pictures later.

Another important update I want to bring to all, and I'm suprised that tamias6 missed. The new garden center is now open for business! However, there isn't much in there, but I was able to go into the garden center from the store. You can also get into it through the gates outside as well. I'll tell you, it's a pretty big garden center.

Judging by how the front of the store will now look. Starting at the new grocery entry. To the right of that once you walk in will be the cart storage area in the produce. Now I believe the restrooms will be right to your left when you walk in the doors, but not quite fully inside yet. Once in and to your left would be the new stairwell. The first business to your left would be the new vision center set to open eventually, then there will be the chase bank, then you will be at the center entrance, then the guest services desk to your left, then the south stairwell, then the elevator, then the new walk in medical center currently under construction, and then the retail entry with the cart storage area being on the left side.

As for the retail entry, it could maybe be sometime in April that it opens up, and for the grocery, you would be very lucky if that opens up late April, but I'm leaning more so for May on that.

As for the housewares, I think some maybe in permanent places while others may still be in their temporarily places yet. Shelving still looks out of alignment yet in the area. But of course, there's a lot of areas where they need to replace the floor yet.

They also need to replace the floor from just south of the automotive dept all the way to the grocery section on the retail side, and all those isles where bedding and stuff is, and then in the other main isle between the bedding and clothes departments. I predict that it will still maybe a few weeks to a month until that is done.

But the news is that pretty much the whole back area of the store is nearly done. I wasn't in the main concourse part, but in the back going from north to south, and I don't know if there is room for them to put a paint counter in there.

After knowing now that there's the one little area sectioned off in the e4 dept for tile that was bad, it's making me wonder if there are a lot of tiles that are going to be that way in the store? Compared to the old pets department, I think the new pets department is bigger and is going to have a whole lot of items that the old pets department didn't have.

I'm also wondering if anyone has any pictures of the Meijer store before construction began?

[tamias6]

I wish I had my Digital Cam with me before construction started. However I've shopped at the store to have a pretty good memory of what it looked like before the renovation.

This is a sketchup file of what the building looked like before the renovation.

I used the new logo instead of the old old as I'm still trying to trace down a solid enough image to trace.

You could try editing your post later to see if it does you any better, or add more pictures later.

Another important update I want to bring to all, and I'm suprised that tamias6 missed. The new garden center is now open for business! However, there isn't much in there, but I was able to go into the garden center from the store. You can also get into it through the gates outside as well. I'll tell you, it's a pretty big garden center.

Judging by how the front of the store will now look. Starting at the new grocery entry. To the right of that once you walk in will be the cart storage area in the produce. Now I believe the restrooms will be right to your left when you walk in the doors, but not quite fully inside yet. Once in and to your left would be the new stairwell. The first business to your left would be the new vision center set to open eventually, then there will be the chase bank, then you will be at the center entrance, then the guest services desk to your left, then the south stairwell, then the elevator, then the new walk in medical center currently under construction, and then the retail entry with the cart storage area being on the left side.

As for the retail entry, it could maybe be sometime in April that it opens up, and for the grocery, you would be very lucky if that opens up late April, but I'm leaning more so for May on that.

As for the housewares, I think some maybe in permanent places while others may still be in their temporarily places yet. Shelving still looks out of alignment yet in the area. But of course, there's a lot of areas where they need to replace the floor yet.

They also need to replace the floor from just south of the automotive dept all the way to the grocery section on the retail side, and all those isles where bedding and stuff is, and then in the other main isle between the bedding and clothes departments. I predict that it will still maybe a few weeks to a month until that is done.

But the news is that pretty much the whole back area of the store is nearly done. I wasn't in the main concourse part, but in the back going from north to south, and I don't know if there is room for them to put a paint counter in there.

After knowing now that there's the one little area sectioned off in the e4 dept for tile that was bad, it's making me wonder if there are a lot of tiles that are going to be that way in the store? Compared to the old pets department, I think the new pets department is bigger and is going to have a whole lot of items that the old pets department didn't have.

I'm also wondering if anyone has any pictures of the Meijer store before construction began?

[tamias6]

Construction Update:

Today's biggest development is at the new grocery entry. Allot more Demolition to make way for the new entry is fast spilling out of the two holes in the wall. Thus far, the front facade and portion of the roof have been destroyed leaving a roughly 20' wide by 6' deep chasm directly above the location of the new entry. Below, under the awning minor concrete work was under way to finish off modifications to the building's foundation to accept the new entry.

Entering the store via the existing grocery entry. One will find that the former floral dept in its entirety has been shrouded in plastic. Within construction activity is blazing at white hot speeds. There must have been over twenty workers within that construction area moving at at a break neck pace. Taking a moment to get a good hard look through the blurry plastic one can make out that new walls for portions of the new deli and about half of the new bakery are being framed up.

Moving to the back of the grocery section, one will find that a new and very sleek looking dairy cooler has already replaced the old coolers and already about 30% stocked. This new cooler features a rather nice looking jet black finish similar the lacker finish on a grand piano while the interior lining and adjustable shelving is of a white semi gloss finish. The products already stock are brightly illuminated by the cooler's under- mount florescent lighting. Overall this new cooler will be very conducive to very good product presentation.

Moving along to the back concourse, one will find the new pet dept. about 2/3 to 3/4 stocked. Also on the back wall three large poster sized graphics for the pet dept. have been installed. Looking eastward from the back concourse, sections of old flooring skirting the rear of men's clothing, shoe dept, and the temporary location of books and magazines, is sectioned off and striped of old tile. A coat of an adhesive mastic was spread on the affected sections of floor and drying. Normally such a mastic coating is allowed to dry until tacky to the touch before tile work begins. So by the time I make this post, the laying of new tiles will likely have already begun. Moving further down the back concourse toward E4 one will find that yesterday's tile work cutting off that section of the concourse is complete.

Lastly, Moving to the new shelving going in place just to the west of the new floral dept, its becoming more clear that these fixtures may be for a new book and magazine area.

Now for some pictures.

Facade over new grocery entry area is in the mist of demolition

Closer look at the facade demolition

[pcdoctor]

Maybe it will be later in April or early in May when that new grocery entry opens up. The only thing I wonder is how long it would take to build that outside looking sloping roof. I'm not sure if they also want to finish up the restrooms and stairwell first too.

[tamias6]

I'm betting on the new grocery entry being first to reach completion as workers probably have a very strong desire to close off and demo the existing grocery entry ASAP so work on the new deli can really get under way.

[pcdoctor]

Today's Very Disappointing Visit to the Alpine Meijer:

We were there about 6:30 or so, did our shopping no problem, but when it came to checkout time, that's where it went bad! We waited in like for about 20 minutes or so before we approached the checkout counter! There were only 4 regular checkout lanes open and very long lines. This was at about 7PM. That's the first part of the complaint that I have there.

The 2nd Part of the Complaint:

Mom wanted cigerattes, a certain kind of cigerattes. Well for the 2nd week in a row now, they were out of those type of cigerattes. Both the cartons and packs. The cashier's name who is Coretta was very slow, pokey, and was kinda attitudy as well. Not even friendly at all. We do not like our grocery bags to be heavy and sure enough, she was making them heavy. Customers behind us were getting impatient, I was getting impatient, and a lot of them were talking about how they are now hating all the changes meijer is making and wished that they never would have happened. People are upset that you have to wait in a regular tobacco checkout lane just to get cigerattes, you used to be able to go up to the tobacco counter to get cigerattes. With lottery in the Customer Service line now, makes for long waits at times. To me, it seems like your waiting longer now for just cigerattes, lottery, stuff like that that you never used to wait too much longer on. That's what I now hate about this whole meijer construction thing. Oh and it seemed like it was quite cold in that store everywhere you were too.

Those were my rants about today's visit.

Construction Update:

Looks like new flooring recently went down where some of the towels and stuff were once located. That's the area right near the back concourse and the other main concourse on the retail side near groceries. Where the books are located, I think they are in their permanent place where part of the clothing dept used to be.

Moving to the dairy isle. Cooler is now installed and 100% stocked. Meanwhile, another cooler appeared right between Aisles 12 and 13.

At the front of the store. Now they boarded up the retail entry area. You can no longer see through it. And you can see outside light from the grocery entry if your inside.

Outside by the exhisting grocery entry, some masonary work has begun. They were doing some work to the bricks. Where the pharmacy Drive-thru window is located, it looks like they are either painting the walls white or putting up new masonary. It will eventually be painted.

Well that's all I've got.

[Veloise]

...

Mom wanted cigerattes, a certain kind of cigerattes. Well for the 2nd week in a row now, they were out of those type of cigerattes. Both the cartons and packs. ... People are upset that you have to wait in a regular tobacco checkout lane just to get cigerattes, you used to be able to go up to the tobacco counter to get cigerattes. With lottery in the Customer Service line now, makes for long waits at times. To me, it seems like your waiting longer now for just cigerattes, lottery, stuff like that that you never used to wait too much longer on. ...

[pcdoctor]

"You shouldn't smoke."

--Dave Stohler in the movie Breaking Away, late 70's

[tamias6]

Hey PCdoc,

On my last visit to the Alpine Store a couple of days ago, the family car broke down in the parking lot and we were stuck out there for a couple of hours trying to fix the problem. This happened at the worst possible time as we had just bought a cart full of perishables, things like ice cream, milk, biscuits , etc. With help hours away and very warm weather, we knew that everything except for a couple of boxes of cereal were a lost cause. So out of desperation to save our food, we took all of it back to the store and explained our predicament, the store manager herself took our cart and stored it in one of the back room coolers until we got our car up and running again and able to get home . Honestly, I was blown away at how the Alpine Meijer helped us. No other retailer would have done that. If the Alpine store wants loyal customers they just found one....me.

As for the checkouts, normally I find them to be very fast. Maybe it the time of day has something to do with it. My shopping is done during early to mid afternoons. The only things that slows the Alpine Store's cashiers are the annoying super picky coupon moms complaining about not getting some obscure discount on an equally obscure item and the picky person that insist on paper instead of plastic (even though the plastic bags used by most grocers including Meijer are bio-degradable just like paper.) If these type of people are ahead of you in line, find another checkout lane.

I do admit that the customer service desk has slowed down a bit making for longer wait times but I don't know of any Meijer store with speedy customer service desks anyway. Even with that, when I used the customer service desk this last time, I only spent about five minutes in line which had about six people ahead of me. Anyway how often does one use customer service? For me is about once a months tops. Of course I don't buy lotto tickets due to my views on gambling nor do I smoke which eliminates the need to use the tobacco sales lanes. However I know what you've gone though. I too had the occasional flub up with Meijer. But nobody's perfect, not even Meijer.

[beergeek]

Foundation occurring at new Grocery Entry

[pcdoctor]

Hey PCdoc,

On my last visit to the Alpine Store a couple of days ago, the family car broke down in the parking lot and we were stuck out there for a couple of hours trying to fix the problem. This happened at the worst possible time as we had just bought a cart full of perishables, things like ice cream, milk, biscuits , etc. With help hours away and very warm weather, we knew that everything except for a couple of boxes of cereal were a lost cause. So out of desperation to save our food, we took all of it back to the store and explained our predicament, the store manager herself took our cart and stored it in one of the back room coolers until we got our car up and running again and able to get home . Honestly, I was blown away at how the Alpine Meijer helped us. No other retailer would have done that. If the Alpine store wants loyal customers they just found one....me.

As for the checkouts, normally I find them to be very fast. Maybe it the time of day has something to do with it. My shopping is done during early to mid afternoons. The only things that slows the Alpine Store's cashiers are the annoying super picky coupon moms complaining about not getting some obscure discount on an equally obscure item and the picky person that insist on paper instead of plastic (even though the plastic bags used by most grocers including Meijer are bio-degradable just like paper.) If these type of people are ahead of you in line, find another checkout lane.

I do admit that the customer service desk has slowed down a bit making for longer wait times but I don't know of any Meijer store with speedy customer service desks anyway. Even with that, when I used the customer service desk this last time, I only spent about five minutes in line which had about six people ahead of me. Anyway how often does one use customer service? For me is about once a months tops. Of course I don't buy lotto tickets due to my views on gambling nor do I smoke which eliminates the need to use the tobacco sales lanes. However I know what you've gone though. I too had the occasional flub up with Meijer. But nobody's perfect, not even Meijer.

[tamias6]

We where in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was some kind of safety switch that doesn't allow the car to start if the gear is not in park. Fortunately I was able to get it started by turning the ignition to the "on" position, taking the stick shift out of park and putting it back in park, and then starting the motor. I think that switch is acting squirrelly as the car has done this before.

You know I saw a cadillac at the bottom of the driveway the other day I was there with it's hood up. I think it was like a brownish/tanish car and there were like 4 people or so out there. Was that by any chance you? Also, I think it's the older people who don't really like change at meijer. I don't mind it so much except for the longer lines at the customer service/tobacco lanes. To wait in the customer service line on weekends is probabily the worst as it is busier than. By the way, what broke down on the car?

[tamias6]

Construction Update:

First things first. Demolition to make way for the new grocery entrance is complete leaving a gaping wound in the face and body of the building about 28 feet wide and more than 30 feet deep. The area just to the north of this chasm, has been ransacked by even more demolition. In all this section of the store front looks like a war zone. Also a 50 feet stretch of the front drive in front of new grocery entrance area is sectioned off to provide workers enough room for their equipment, machinery, and tools. But like a phoenix rising form the ashes, construction of the new grocery entrance is well underway. Already the north wall of the entrance has risen above the roof line. Both it and the new Retail Entrance will rise nearly ten feet above the existing building's roof line. Customers will be welcomed into the store via foyers featuring full hight vaunted ceilings soaring approximately 35 feet over head at the highest point. As in brand new Meijer stores the entry foyers will be flooded with natural light thanks to a floor -to- ceiling glass curtain walls, enclosing the entrances.

Meanwhile a section of the front awning from the existing Grocery entrance northward is being demolished by a hand full of workers and a bobcat. This is a sign that construction work on the new front facade will soon get underway.

Heading inside the store, a small section of flooring just to the south of the new Kitchenware and small appliances dept is having its old tile replaced by new tiles. Also receiving new tiles is the west half of the new south concourse. Once that is done the new south concourse will be complete.

Now for some pictures:

New Grocery Entrance Under Construction

Workers building the new grocery entrance's north wall.

Workers taking down the north section of the front awning.

New Retail Entrance Awaiting More Work

[pcdoctor]

Wow lots of construction updates this week by you. I don't think I've seen so many updates posted from you in a one week period.

[tamias6]

Its Dedication I guess.

But really, Construction is going at unbelievable speeds right now. An example would to check out the shot of the grocery entrance in today's update and then the Youtube video I made for yesterday's post. The north wall of the grocery entrance went up in less than twenty four hours! Maybe its because I'm not a brick mason. But I find a wall of that size going up that quickly flat out mind boggling. The rest of the construction areas are moving along at a break neck pace as well. So its down to the point that construction updates need to be posted about every other day in order to maintain continuity to the level of detail I'm seeking unless activity slows down again.

Oh yeah. Demolition of the vacated Outlet Store over at the Plainfield Ave. Meijer has signaled the start of construction there so I've started a thread for that. Though I won't be able to cover that store as much as the Alpine Meijer since its a bit of drive for me to get to. So I'll need help from those who use that store to make it thorough as this thread.

Plainfield Ave. Meijer

Wow lots of construction updates this week by you. I don't think I've seen so many updates posted from you in a one week period.

[pcdoctor]

I just heard a rumor that the Frozen Foods department could be gone for over 1 month. The reasoning for it is because I was told that the new frozen food shelves would not be there on time. This could be quite bad. Hopefully this isn't true.

[tamias6]

Is frozen food closed right now?

Surely Meijer would not let construction workers remove frozen foods until everything needed to built the new frozen foods aisles are at hand. The other thing is that Meijer's latest store format calls for frozen foods to be located in the first 2 aisles of the grocery section instead of the middle aisles as they are in the Alpine Store. Therefore frozen foods should remain open until the new frozen foods aisles are finished. The only time frozen foods would be completely unavailable is during the couple of days it would take to move stock.

I also clearly remember about 10 years ago when Meijer did some cosmetic updates and mechanical upgrades to the Alpine Store. They replaced all the coolers of the frozen food aisles with the white colored ones we see now. That process only took about two weeks and was done section by section so at least 3/4 of the frozen foods remained open at all times.

I just heard a rumor that the Frozen Foods department could be gone for over 1 month. The reasoning for it is because I was told that the new frozen food shelves would not be there on time. This could be quite bad. Hopefully this isn't true.

[pcdoctor]

Well this information came from a worker there, but then was eventually told that it really isn't reliable information and just a rumor. But I think frozen foods hasn't been touched yet. I don't think I will have a chance to get over to the Alpine meijer this week due to my work schedule.

[tamias6]

Construction Update:

Outside, more demolition to make way for the new retail entrance has taken place. A section of the front facade directly above have been striped to the bare studs. Like the new grocery entrance, demolition will carve a 25 foot wide by 30 deep chasm into the building itself to make room for the new retail entrance.

Meanwhile at the grocery entrance, its north wall is complete and now towers about 10' above the existing building's roof behind the facade. Added to this, the entrance's south wall is a little over 50% complete. Further to the north beyond the existing grocery entrance. all but a small sliver of the front awning has been demolished.

Moving inside via the existing grocery entrance, one will see that new coolers for displaying things like specialty cheeses, potatoes salads, and other deli related items have appeared just on the other side of the plastic sheeting behind the greeter. Next new floor tiles have appeared in front of the north concourse. In addition, one will notice that construction occurring in the NE area of the sales floor is encroaching into the eastern most portions of the produce dept. Workers, in these areas extending like fingers into the produce dept., are in the mist of patching up sections of flooring removed to make way for embedded utilities and infrastructure. Next all the wall over hangs except for a ten foot wide section over the meat dept. have been removed giving the area between the deli and meat cabinets a strong sense of airiness and space.

Next, most of the rear concourse has been sectioned off and is undergoing installation of new floor tiles. Workers here are moving very fast. So in one to two days the west concourse will be done. Also one will notice that the new south concourse is now complete. Once the rear concourse is finished along with finishing touches to stocking of products, the interior from the north concourse south and from the checkout lanes west will be finished. This will leave the front of the store and the grocery section left to do when it comes to interior work.

Now for some Pictures.

Custom fabricated Trusses for the new grocery and retail entrances' eye brow roof staged at the north end of the property and companying mobile crane awaiting for some action.

More work going on around the recently bricked up former entrance to old garden center.

All but a last bit of front awning north of the existing grocery entrance demolished.

New Grocery Entrance's north wall towering over the rest of the building

A Peek inside the new Grocery Entry. Notice the south wall almost to the roof line behind the facade. Its only half done.

More Demolition to make way for the new Retail Entrance. Anybody wondering where the old Meijer Signs are...

....one of these dumpsters at the north end of the property make for a good answer

[Veloise]

...

More Demolition to make way for the new Retail Entrance. Anybody wondering where the old Meijer Signs are...

....one of these dumpsters at the north end of the property make for a good answer

[pcdoctor]

I thought that awning/canopy was going to remain, but be painted blue??