Meijer’s Rivertown Market Jefferson in Detroit gets opening date
Meijer announced on Thursday its Rivertown Market store is expected to open on Oct. 6.
The store is located at 1475 E. Jefferson, about a mile east of downtown. Construction began nearly a year ago. The project was announced in 2017.
Rivertown Market is the Grand Rapids-based retailer’s fourth smaller-format store and second in metro Detroit.
The concept of Meijer’s small-format stores is to have a neighborhood grocer appeal and vibe.
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Marcus Reliford, the store’s manager, said the 42,000-square-foot market will bring a “mix of local, fresh food and value to customers in the region.”
Rivertown Market, in line with the other small-format stores, will focus heavily on stocking shelves with local products. An estimated 2,000 local artisan items are expected, according to Meijer.
The store will also feature fresh food and produce, groceries and national brands at low prices compared to its larger stores.
Local items include Pizzaman Pizza, Bon Bon Bon confections, MexiBake Bakery, Crystal, Eikcaj Skincare, and Crown of a Woman.
There will be a Great Lakes coffee shop specializing in nitro brews, and an extensive beer, wine and liquor counter.
Expect an open, airy feel to Rivertown Market with its 23-foot ceilings and three garage-style doors that open to outdoor fresh produce and floral areas in warmer months.
Meijer commissioned local artists Desiree Kelly and Cameron Jenkins to each paint a mural on the Jefferson and Larned side of Rivertown Market.
Here’s what to expect at Rivertown Market:
Flower shop, featuring local Avanti Greeting Cards
Expansive 4,700-square-foot produce department complete with a 52-foot wet wall
Fresh and prepared foods, including bakery items, fresh meat and deli offerings
An expansive alcohol assortment, featuring a 14-foot-tall liquor wall with rolling ladder
Basic cleaning items and health and beauty care products from local Black-women-owned businesses
Reliford, a Detroit native, joined Meijer in September 2020 with 15 years of retail experience.
“I grew up in this town and am very proud to be back with a great team in place to ensure Rivertown Market provides a unique shopping experience to customers in the city of Detroit,” Reliford said in announcing the opening date. “We are excited to open our doors, be a good neighbor and work every day to have the best products on our shelves.”
Meijer’s three other smaller-format stores are Bridge Street Market in Grand Rapids, Woodward Corner Market in Royal Oak, and Capital City Market in downtown Lansing.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Sue Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
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Iconic giraffe statue returns to Meijer gas station
Posted Tuesday, August 24, 2021 4:11 pm
TUESDAY, Aug. 24 — Rest easy, Lansing: The giraffe statue that was emoved from atop the Meijer Express Gas Station on Saginaw Highway last week is back.
The iconic statute — which had been perched above the westside gas station for decades — was removed last week amid ongoing renovations. Its absence ignited a social media panic among many longtime Lansing residents, even triggering an online petition to “put the Meijer giraffe back on the gas station or so help me” that has garnered nearly 900 signatures over the last week.
Those efforts appear to have been successful.
Meijer had planned to hoist the giraffe back atop the gas station in “a couple months” when the project is finished, store staff told City Pulse last week. Those plans appear to have changed. Crews are still working on the canopy shelter; the giraffe has instead moved to the roof of the building.
“We’ve had so many people asking about it,” a clerk told this reporter last week. “It’s wild.”
The origins of the giraffe statue aren’t totally clear, according to store officials. Calls to Meijer corporate offices were not immediately returned. But local lore offers a variety of explanations.
One online blog reports that the statue was installed on the roof in the late 1970s or early 1980s and was once part of a series of animals that were used to mark parking lot sections to help customers remember where they parked. The store eventually shifted to letter signs instead.
Lansing Facts also proposed another satirical explanation: The giraffe is a tribute to founder Fred Meijer’s pet giraffe, Gerold. And the reason the stores have such high ceilings? Because Fred used to ride his giraffe around the grocery stores during their annual inspections.
Regardless of its true origins, residents can rest easy while construction continues at the gas station, knowing the building is entirely fenced in and monitored by 24/7 video surveillance.
That tiny little Meijer announced in 2017 is finally opening in Detroit next month
click to enlarge Courtesy photo
Workers are putting the finishing touches on Detroit’s Meijer Rivertown Market.
Four years after it was announced, Meijer’s small-format grocery store in Detroit is about to get fresh when it opens next month.The long-awaited Rivertown Market — the fourth boutique concept from the Grand Rapids-based chain — finally has an opening date: Oct. 6.Located at 1475 E. Jefferson Ave., Rivertown Market broke ground in 2020 and starting next month it will open its doors to offer a " mix of local, fresh food, and value to customers in the region ," according to store manager Marcus Reliford.And we’re talkinglocal. Not only will Rivertown Market stock more than 2,000 products from local vendors including Pizzaman Pizza, Bon Bon Bon, MexiBake Bakery, Pietrzyk Pierogi, Ma Cohens fish, Cyntsational Popcorn, and Crystal Eikcaj Skincare, but the small-format grocer will feature outposts of several popular Detroit spots, like Great Lakes Coffee and Corktown’s Mudgie’s Deli.The 42,000-square-foot store — 4,700-square-feet of which is dedicated to the produce department, complete with a 52-foot tall produce wall — is about a fifth of the size of a full-service Meijer location, and roughly double the size of the Midtown Whole Foods. It will offer 100 parking lot spaces and an additional 30 street spots. (And let us pray the parking situation isn’t nearly as homicidal as Whole Foods because we literally.)Unlike full-service Meijer stores, Rivertown Market won’t offer aselection of non-grocery wares like bins of discount DVDs. However, the small but mighty shop will offer a selection of home essentials like paper towels and toilet paper, cleaning supplies, baby and pet items, over-the-counter medicine and vitamins, as well as beauty staples and dental care items. Mostly, though, Rivertown Market will focus on fresh prepared foods, a meat counter, deli, bakery, produce, flowers, and a 14-foot tall liquor shelf with a rolling ladder so you can be the Belle of the booze.Sounds fancy, huh? Per a press release, prices are expected to be lower than full-service Meijer stores.For more information about Rivertown Market and employment opportunities, see rivertownmarket.com
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