Meijer

[pcdoctor]

I wasn't at the Alpine Meijer today, but from what I was told, where electronics was in the SW corner of the corner is now completely gone.  Bits and pieces are scattered around throughout the store.  Not sure of what else is different.  Also don't know when I will be making it back to the store.

[Allison Slater]

Downtown Market/Meijer now supports MPerks

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Update for March 7, 2020:

As I mentioned the other day, the now former electronics section was completely sectioned off.  Today when I was there, that area was still sectioned off.  Tile in parts of that area appears to have been replaced, but it doesn't look like the way it was done at the Clyde Park Meijer store.  You can tell in the pictures of what tile is old tile vs what tile is new tile.  There is quite a difference in the way the tile looks.  Where the new tile was laid, new shelving is sitting on it.  Also where the TV's and books were located, you could see the blue color that used to be on the walls in the past when the department was known as the e4 department.  You'll notice it in the pictures.  Stuff that was located back in the former electronics department is temporarily located in the rear action concourse of the store.  Because the electronics department is torn out, all photo services are temporarily unavailable until the new electronics department is constructed.  Not sure when that will be at this point.  Also, where the former electronics department was located, there's a sign saying that electronics is coming soon, but it won't be in that spot.  I also don't think it will be in the spot where the current pet department is located.

Where the current school and office department is located, it appears that printer ink is currently being housed there, but I don't think that's the permanent location for it.

The first few aisles on the left side of the sporting goods department have had their bottom shelves cleared out.  This is in indication that either new shelving is going to be installed there soon or the department will move entirely to a different area of the store.

Finally at the current pets department, there doesn't appear to be any new changes there that I noticed.  But I did notice that pet related items are temporarily being stored in the action way between the pets department and where the grocery aisles are located. 

So the work that needs to be done now for the new pets department is that the rest of the flooring needs to be replaced, walls painted, signage updated, aquariums installed, shelves installed and stocked.  I anticipate that this will take all of next week to get done.

Other than that, nothing else appeared to be different from what I saw.  In the meantime, here's some pictures:

 

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Update for March 10, 2020:

As I entered the store via the grocery entrance, next to where the handicapped carts are stored is a sign stating where departments are currently located.  The sign indicated that electronics was located in the back portion of the store and that sporting goods were located over by where school and office would be at.  In some ways that's true, but what they couldn't do with the temporary map is state where exactly the departments are  It's very close though.  

So let's begin with the area that was once the electronics department and will be home to the new pets department.  In my last post, I had mentioned that some of the old tile from the now former electronics area had yet to be replaced.  Since that visit, it has since been replaced.  Where the TV's once were, there is new shelving in it's place, however the wall that the shelving is up against never received paint.  How I can tell is that right about the new shelving is still a blue strip from when the department was formally known as the e4 department.  Additionally, more shelving is beginning to fill the space of the future pets department.  Also, the new department is beginning to receive stock,  Some bird related products can now be found in the new area.  It's located right next to the existing school and office department.

The now former sporting goods spot has been cleared away of it's stock and had most of it's tiled floor replaced.  Most of the sporting goods items are temporarily located in the south action way of the store.  I still don't know what's going to move there as of yet.

Also you will notice in the pictures that the signage and graphics of the former departments is still up.  They also are not using temporary department signs like they did in 2017.

That is all I noticed for today while I was there.  I don't know when I'll make it back to the store again.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for 3/11/2020:

A few things did change since my visit yesterday.  First off, as I was walking towards the new department, the main seasonal aisles near the garden center entrance were sectioned off.  Overnight, they received new floor tile.  As I was leaving the store, the aisles had since been reopened.

Moving to the new pets department.  The bird aisle is about 80% stocked with merchandise.  The existing bird aisles were completely cleared out.  Also, more stock from the existing pets department was making it's move towards the new pets department.

As you recall, yesterday I mentioned that the signage still had not been removed.  Well they had removed most of it between the time I was there yesterday and the time I was there today.  The last 3-4 letters of the sporting goods sign had yet to be removed from the back wall.

I now have conformation of where some departments are going to be.  The former sporting goods department is now going to be home to the new school and office department, the automotive department is going to be home to the new electronics department and the hardware department is going to be home to the new books and magazines department.  As for where the other departments are going to go, it remains unknown.  

Other than that, that's all I know.

Please note that I may not be making as many trips to Meijer because of the coronavirus threat.  I'm only going out if I absolutely have to at this point.  So for those who shop at this Meijer often, feel free to chime in on updates you may notice.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for 3/13/2020:

Beginning outside today.  On the south side of the grocery entrance, they were doing some work to the canopy and the surrounding area.  It looked like they were doing some patch work of damage that occurred or something else.  Not only that, there was a lot of loose paper laying around.

Heading inside, as I was walking down the front promenade of the store, I looked up at the balcony where the mezzanine floor is and what was the railing at the balcony edge was being studded and walled in.  I don't know why they are doing this as I see no point.  They aren't thinking about ripping out the mezzanine floor are they?

The now former pets department by the bottle return room has been completely emptied of stock.  All of the stock has moved down to the new pets department where Electronics was once located.  I am also happy to report that the new pets department is now open and was about 70-75% stocked.  The Aquariums have not made the move down to their new home yet though.

The school and office department has begun it's move over to it's new home which once housed the sporting goods department.  As soon as possibly tomorrow, that existing school and office department will have been completely cleared out.  I still don't know what's going there as of yet though.

Other than that, that's about all I know other than the fact that many of the shelves throughout the store are empty because of concerns over the coronavirus.

[tamias6]

On 3/13/2020 at 6:17 PM, pcdoctor said:

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for 3/13/2020:

Beginning outside today.  On the south side of the grocery entrance, they were doing some work to the canopy and the surrounding area.  It looked like they were doing some patch work of damage that occurred or something else.  Not only that, there was a lot of loose paper laying around.

Heading inside, as I was walking down the front promenade of the store, I looked up at the balcony where the mezzanine floor is and what was the railing at the balcony edge was being studded and walled in.  I don't know why they are doing this as I see no point.  They aren't thinking about ripping out the mezzanine floor are they?

The now former pets department by the bottle return room has been completely emptied of stock.  All of the stock has moved down to the new pets department where Electronics was once located.  I am also happy to report that the new pets department is now open and was about 70-75% stocked.  The Aquariums have not made the move down to their new home yet though.

The school and office department has begun it's move over to it's new home which once housed the sporting goods department.  As soon as possibly tomorrow, that existing school and office department will have been completely cleared out.  I still don't know what's going there as of yet though.

Other than that, that's about all I know other than the fact that many of the shelves throughout the store are empty because of concerns over the coronavirus.

I've seen the new pet department at the  Alpine Meijer a couple of days ago. Seems like what's going on is they are bringing elements of the renovated 54th and Clyde Park store to the Alpine location.  

As for the mezzanine, I have noticed it being walled off above the costumer service desk. I would miss the mezzanine if it all gets walled off. To me it added allot of charm and character to the store. But if it's no longer condusive Meijer's current direction then I guess that's the way it goes. As long as Meijer continues to be a good store I'm all for whatever Meijer does.  Change is the the only constant with Meijer and I think that's the biggest reason they have always been a good place to shop. 

[pcdoctor]

15 hours ago, tamias6 said:

I've seen the new pet department at the  Alpine Meijer a couple of days ago. Seems like what's going on is they are bringing elements of the renovated 54th and Clyde Park store to the Alpine location.  

As for the mezzanine, I have noticed it being walled off above the costumer service desk. I would miss the mezzanine if it all gets walled off. To me it added allot of charm and character to the store. But if it's no longer condusive Meijer's current direction then I guess that's the way it goes. As long as Meijer continues to be a good store I'm all for whatever Meijer does.  Change is the the only constant with Meijer and I think that's the biggest reason they have always been a good place to shop. 

I feel like Meijer is making this mandatory in all of it's stores.  It's just a matter of when all of the stores receive this update.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for March 21, 2020:

Since it has been a little over a week that I last been to the store, I was expecting to see quite a bit of progress.  There was some, but not as much as I had hoped for.  With the COV-19 outbreak happening, things seemed to have slowed down a bit.

Beginning up front.  The railing at the edge of the mezzanine level has been completely dry walled over and mudded in.  I don't think the wall will be closed entirely.  It will soon be receiving paint or wallpaper of some sort and will list the department names.

Heading to the old School and Office department.  One will notice that it's sign is still hanging there, but School & Office has since moved to it's new location which is now the former sporting goods department.  The former school and office department is now home to the new sporting goods department.  However, the flooring in that section was not replaced and you can tell.  I think the construction crew for flooring might be on suspension due to the COV-19 Outbreak.

The new pets department which was formally the electronics department has made a bit more progress.  All product has been moved over there, but there are still some bare shelves over by where cat litter would be located.  I don't think it's a matter of it's not been stocked.  People might be buying out all the cat litter because of this outbreak.  The aquariums have finally been moved over to the new pets department and are in place, but they have yet to be installed.

The former sporting goods department to the north of pets is now home to school and office.  It was most of the way stocked with product.  I'd say about 90-95%.  To the right of that, the new electronics department is starting to make an appearance in that spot.  Unless they plan to tear out another aisle or two to the north of that which is still the automotive department, it's going to be a rather small electronics department in my opinion.  The automotive departments have yet to be cleared out to make way for either another Aisle or two for the electronics department, or the books and magazines aisle.

The old pets department has empty shelving still.  I couldn't tell whether or not the floor tile had been replaced yet or not.  But one thing I did notice is that the 4 or 5 LED lights that hung in the electrical aisle have moved from it's old spot and are not hanging at the edge that separates the former pets department and the grocery action way.  This tells me that the electrical department will be the first aisle or two of the general merchandise section.

I'm now thinking that the existing departments from automotive to the north will shift down some to the north.  Some moving around is expected like electrical as an instance.

Finally, the wall beginning from the former school and office department going all the way to the former pets department has had the lettering and graphics removed and so far, it's been patched in with mud.  It has yet to receive paint and it's new signage.  When that will happens remains unknown at this point.

Overall with this COV-19 outbreak happening, I anticipate it's going to be rather slow for the time being.  Also, I'm not going out unless I absolutely have to.  If there's anyone that visits meijer on a regular basis and wants to post updates, feel free to do so.

Not construction related, but they are taking this COVID-19 pandemic seriously.  They are sanitizing carts like crazy, they want people to practice social distancing which I know is easier said than done, they are cleaning as much as possible, and they are now closing at night.  Hours are 8AM-10PM every day.  Senior citizens and at risk people are given special access from 7AM-8AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays and paramedics and anyone working in that field are given access on Mondays and Wednesdays same time.  I made an edit on google maps to reflect the temporary hours but they won't change it.

[getemngo]

4 hours ago, pcdoctor said:

 Unless they plan to tear out another aisle or two to the north of that which is still the automotive department, it's going to be a rather small electronics department in my opinion.

I've noticed that electronics does tend to be small and not very prominent in recently remodeled stores with the big pet department. It's quite a change from the giant E4 section in the corner that we've been used to for so long. But then, electronics doesn't bring in very much profit. There's a reason Kmart was phasing it out even before their bankruptcy.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for April 3, 2020:

This won't be very detailed as I was in a rush while there.  Beginning up front.  The overhang wall above the barber shop, service desk, etc...has been panted and is awaiting it's signs.

In my last update, I mentioned that the former school and office department was housing sporting goods items and that I thought it would be the permanent place for that location.  WRONG!  It was just a temporary place to store some sporting goods gear.  The aisles had been cleared of stock and were getting ready for construction.  My prediction is that automotive will go in that spot.  

The new pets department looked to be mostly completed.  Aquariums are in place and the walls have been somewhat painted, but because I was in a rush, I didn't have time to look at the full details.

The new electronics department looks to have received another aisle or two.  TV's have not been hung on the back wall as of yet, but there appears to be a place ready for them.  I still believe that Books and Magazines will be on the right side of electronics.  The former automotive department will be home to the new sporting goods department.  It was in the process of being stocked.  Also, the floors had been replaced in those aisles.  As far as I could tell, most of the flooring in the back aisles had been replaced.  Moving to the right of the new sporting goods department, some aisles were still clear, but I believe that paint will be in one area, plumbing in the next and the edge of the general merchandise section boarding the grocery action way is now home to the new electrical department.

All of the flooring in the main action way between the grocery section and the general merchandise section has been replaced.

With all the COVID-19 stuff going on, the department, meat and seafood counters as well as deli are all temporarily closed until further notice.  The bottle return room is also closed until further notice and the store is doing everything it can to protect it's customers and employees from this outbreak.

Finally, I was informed by another employee that the checkout lane reconfiguration will not be happening during this outbreak.  At this time, they need every lane they can have available for the time being.  That's all I seemed to notice

[tamias6]

The last time I was in the Alpine Meijer which was 4 days ago, I noticed that all the checkout lanes with cashiers had clear plexiglass panels installed in front of where the cashiers stand separating customers from cashiers. I believe these are referred to as sneeze guards in response to the COVID19 crisis. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by tamias6

[Allison Slater]

On 4/5/2020 at 3:44 PM, tamias6 said:

The last time I was in the Alpine Meijer which was 4 days ago, I noticed that all the checkout lanes with cashiers had clear plexiglass panels installed in front of where the cashiers stand separating customers from cashiers. I believe these are referred to as sneeze guards in response to the COVID19 crisis. 

They've installed these at Knapp and Grandville locations also.

[tamias6]

Had to pick up some things at the Alpine Meijer. Looks like pet supplies are is completed. Electronics is done with the exception of TVs needing needing to be hung on the back wall. Also new signage and graphics are going up along the perimeter walls.

 

Upfront the mezzanine rails are all replaced with a knee wall running the full length of the mezzanine. New signage for the customer service desk  were being applied to the knee wall.  Also were the ice coolers are  a mysterious door has appeared. It looks temporary because it's a residential grade door hastily hung into and equally haphazard opening cut into the wall. 

Moving  to the Covid19 crisis, the Alpine Meijer now has two greeters posted at the grocery entrance instead of the usual single greeter. Their is also an employee on cart cleaning details by the cart corals.  In addition, the social distancing  X'es in and around the check out lanes have been all replaced by blue and white foot print decals placed 6' feet from one another.   

Heading outside to wrap things up, the building's repainting is nearly complete. The body of the building now takes on a more a monochromatic color scheme of warm gray tones. Brown stripes on each side of the store sign are all that remains of the story's previous colors. If I recall right, this is the third paint job the Alpine Meijer has received since its major 16 million dollar  renovation over a decade ago. 

 

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave Meijer Remodeling Updates for April 22, 2020:

It really has been that long since I've been to the store which is why you haven't seen posts from me.  But anyways I finally went and the first thing I noticed as I arrived to the store was the fact that the exterior of the building had been painted a grayish white color.  I personally do not like the colors they chose.

Heading inside via the grocery entrance.  Looking above the entry door, the welcome to your Alpine Meijer sign was removed and above was a new brick like wall design.  I'm sure a welcome sign of some sort will be making an appearance soon.

As Tamias had mentioned, the wall is now completed and had signage of the different tenants and the customer service department up.  Between the elevator and the retail entrance, there used to be a tenant in that space back in the day.  For the last few years it was walled over with a door going into the space.  I noticed that a hole had been cut out and looking at the space closely, it will be the handicap cart storage room once completed.

Heading towards the back of the store on the retail section, the area that used to be the school and office section is now home to the books and magazines section.  I found this to be unexpected as I was under the impression that these days the books and magazines department would be located next to electronics.  Either way, the department is in that spot and was fully stocked.

The pets department is fully complete with it's signage of cats, dogs, pets, etc... and is also fully stocked.  The aquariums were in place and had water in them, but no fish as of right now.

The new school and office department in the former sporting goods department was fully stocked.  Electronics is done for the most part.  They still haven't hung display TV's yet.  The new counter for the electronics department appears smaller than the old one was.  Also on the north side, they could still add more product above in my opinion.  North of that department appeared to be sporting goods followed by automotive, paint, and plumbing and electrical departments if memory serves me correct.  

Signage for most of these departments has been installed.  If you noticed, they opted to use the same signage that has been used in the store since 2017 which means that the signage won't be upgraded.  They may still replace flooring in the aisles that didn't get moved around, but other than that, the remodel of the retail section is basically completed.

At this point, I'm not sure of when and if both the beer and wine section will be overhauled as well as when the checkout lanes will be reconfigured.  The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely put a damper on things.

As for the other departments such as the deli, meat and seafood departments.  Some days one department might be open, other days it might be closed.  As far as I was concerned, I thought all were supposed to be closed during this pandemic.  The indoor seating area next to the grocery entrance as well as the bottle return rooms remain closed.

Other than that, that's all I've noticed.

[tamias6]

Looks like the exterior paint job at the Alpine store is complete. BTH,, I liked the previous paint job much better than what's there now. To me the building looks a bit drab. Maybe its fitting of the sad world we are living in right now. That's for another subject. Anyway,  inside progress on the floor replacement has made it into the meat department and is making inroads in the produce department. Of note due to the revisions to the governor stay at home order, there are signs on the entrances stating that face masks are required in order to enter the building. Not much else to see since I was in a hurry. But it looks like work is just about done. Once the flooring has been fully replace I think that will call it raps for the  Alpine Meijer's cosmetic renovation.  

[pcdoctor]

Construction is resuming at the Alpine Meijer.

The Beer and Wine section originally scheduled for an overhaul is finally getting underway.  Aisles 2 and 3 had been cleaned out, but the floors have yet to be stripped out.  Aisle 4 which is home to soda's and sports drinks also had the sports drink side cleared out as well.  Those drinks can be found in the rear actionway for the time being.  You can find all the wines located throughout the rear action way as well as in the space where tables/chairs would normally sit just on the north side of the grocery entrance cart storage room.  Aisle one with cold beers is still there and probably will remain there.  Also some of the checkout lanes near the elevator had their stocked cleaned out.  It appears that the checkout lane reconfiguration is about to get underway.

[pcdoctor]

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for June 4, 2020:

Up in the front, Lanes 20-27 were in the process of being overhauled with new conveyors being installed.  The flooring in the front action way and in the lanes had also been replaced as well.

The space that looked like would be the future home to the wheelchair cart storage area is now that.  Last month, an associate told me that no the big room would not be used for that purpose despite the fact that it had the rails in there like the other storage areas have.  The small room next to it I believe is for the curbside pickup stuff.  The space where the wheelchair carts used to be was sectioned off awaiting construction.  Lanes specific for mobile orders are going to be installed either on one or both ends of the store.

Over to the Beer and Wine area.  The cold beer coolers were completely cleared out and shut down.  They are more than likely going to be replaced with new coolers.  Also on the north end of Aisles 1-3, a trench had been cut into the floor which could be where a cooler gets installed at.  See pictures of the area I was able to take.  The rest of the aisles had the old flooring stripped and new flooring laid which is the white flooring found throughout the store.  New lighting has also been installed as well as some shelving for wine was beginning to appear as well.  Beer and wine is scattered throughout the store, though the beer is currently warm only.

The east side of Aisle 4 where sports drinks and bottled water would normally be located at is getting new shelving.  Only less than 1/2 of that side that new shelving and was stocked.  New flooring is also down as well.

As I was getting ready to leave the store, the bottle return room had the barrier of stock removed and was replaced with a plastic tarp closing the area off.  My assumption is that they were getting to do a full on sanitizing job as the room is scheduled to reopen on June 15th with restrictions.

That's all I seemed to notice when I was there.  In the mean time, here's some pictures of the Beer/Wine area.

 

[tamias6]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:40 PM, pcdoctor said:

Alpine Ave. Meijer Remodeling Updates for June 4, 2020:

Up in the front, Lanes 20-27 were in the process of being overhauled with new conveyors being installed.  The flooring in the front action way and in the lanes had also been replaced as well.

The space that looked like would be the future home to the wheelchair cart storage area is now that.  Last month, an associate told me that no the big room would not be used for that purpose despite the fact that it had the rails in there like the other storage areas have.  The small room next to it I believe is for the curbside pickup stuff.  The space where the wheelchair carts used to be was sectioned off awaiting construction.  Lanes specific for mobile orders are going to be installed either on one or both ends of the store.

Over to the Beer and Wine area.  The cold beer coolers were completely cleared out and shut down.  They are more than likely going to be replaced with new coolers.  Also on the north end of Aisles 1-3, a trench had been cut into the floor which could be where a cooler gets installed at.  See pictures of the area I was able to take.  The rest of the aisles had the old flooring stripped and new flooring laid which is the white flooring found throughout the store.  New lighting has also been installed as well as some shelving for wine was beginning to appear as well.  Beer and wine is scattered throughout the store, though the beer is currently warm only.

The east side of Aisle 4 where sports drinks and bottled water would normally be located at is getting new shelving.  Only less than 1/2 of that side that new shelving and was stocked.  New flooring is also down as well.

As I was getting ready to leave the store, the bottle return room had the barrier of stock removed and was replaced with a plastic tarp closing the area off.  My assumption is that they were getting to do a full on sanitizing job as the room is scheduled to reopen on June 15th with restrictions.

That's all I seemed to notice when I was there.  In the mean time, here's some pictures of the Beer/Wine area.

 

I was at the Alpine Meijer yesterday. I noticed a structure made of metal studs the size of a coat closet appear on the east end of the trench dug into the floor. 

[tamias6]

Was at the Alpine Meijer a couple of days ago. Two major things to report. First off, the new Akcaholic Beverage section seems to be nearly complete. New coolers have been installed on the north end of the area. The cooler is arranged perpendicular to the rest of the grocery aisles. The entire area which is about 4 aisles wide is completely enclosed from the rest of the store and will be accessible via a gateway that can be closed off by a retractable barrier. Not sure why this is so as the Alpine Meijer is the first meijer to have an enclosed alcoholic section. 

Secondly the reconfiguration of the  checkout lanes is progressing. Some shelving has appeared around the new lanes. 

Oh and one last thing. Bottle Return  has been reopened. However, due to the ongoing  COVID19 pandemic, there is a limited capacity of 10 people at any given time. An employee is monitoring the entrance to maintain the capacity limit. Inside plexiglass panels have been installed between each bottle return  machine, a COVID19 counter measure to help reduce viral spread. 

[ChevalierNoir]

5 hours ago, tamias6 said:

Not sure why this is so as the Alpine Meijer is the first meijer to have an enclosed alcoholic section. 

All new Meijer stores and most remodels going forward are getting this enclosed section. Source: I work there.

[tamias6]

Yesterday I was at the Alpine Meijer. The south end automated checkout lanes are pretty much complete. The cue line is directed to 8 checkout machines by a one way labyrinth lined with display shelves that have yet to be stocked.  The machines themselves are surrounded by a 4 foot high partition. The exit from the new automated checkouts is via an 8 foot wide opening with a cashier placed  behind a podium to supervise the machines and help customers.  I hope the automated checkouts at the north end are redone in a similar way as the new configuration should put an end to the anoying  log jam of people waiting in line and make things flow more smoothly in the surrounding area. 

Just off the south end of the new automated checkouts is an "L" shaped knee wall defining a new cart corral area. The wall itself is complete. However the flooring in the area is still a work in progress. 

Though I did not go to the grovery end of the store  this time, I did get a glimpse of new alchaholic section from a distance. It appears a new wooden grid with spot lights attached  all over has been suspended from the ceiling about 12-15 feet above the alcoholic section. I'll see about getting a closer look next time I do a meijer run. 

[tamias6]

As of yesterday, the Alpine Meijer has received the new automated checkouts in the new one way labyrinth design on the grocery end. Also the newly renovated Alcaholic beverage section is complete and operational. The area looks very nice. It features some fairly high end looking shelving and displays and a help counter complete with its own cash register. 

At the front of the store between the south staircase  and the retail entrance are two new rooms. One is an open room accomadating electric mobility scooters and their chargers. The other room accomadating metal shelving is small storage area accessible by a door. 

[Allison Slater]

It feels like I'm the only one following the one way labyrinth recommendations whenever I shop.

[Raildude's dad]

I was in there this morning at 6:30 am for a few quick groceries and a birthday cake. I have to admit  I only saw 1 arrow. But the store was pretty empty. The center isle going west from the North trance had stacks of guess whst? Toilet Paper

Edited July 11, 2020 by Raildude's dad