First, let's go over a few things. I was spoiled by size by my local Walmart: 254,000 is huge, and I'll rarely get more than that.
I visited two Meijers and one Walmart Supercenter (in Marquette, MI)
The first Meijer I visited was north of Ann Arbor (en route to Flint, I believe) and was very dated. Signage was all in teal and had early-90s-type italic fonts. There were no drop ceilings, but it was still low. There wasn't even alcove shops in front, just a large window. It was the type of store that almost felt like a craft store, but the 1990s look was just enough for me to think "this needs a renovation" rather than "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a Lisa Frank notebook around here somewhere" or "why don't they stock Nintendo 64?"
Photos coming soon.
The second Meijer I saw was much more akin to an actual hypermarket. It had alcove shops, higher ceilings, and more. It had towels and more. Unfortunately, I couldn't check the departments and Made in Whatever as well as Kmart. I do, however, have a directory.
I was disappointed that the "restaurant" was only a Starbucks Coffee, but they did have a barbershop, an actual butcher, a substantial produce section, and non-food dry goods.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter (it was branded as "Walmart", but a "Wal-Mart Supercenter" labelscar was visible) in Marquette was much better than the local one, despite being smaller. It too was an expanded Wal-Mart, and had a McDonald's (instead of a Subway), a pharmacy as an alcove shop, a portrait studio, and even an arcade. The arcade, sadly, was just a bunch of animal crane games and one of those "bubble of plastic" things. Said Wal-Mart also had some gourmet cheeses.
Finally, for the sake of completeness, the College Station Walmart directory, showing us that bigger isn't necessarily better.
Leave comments, ask questions. And another blog post will follow by tomorrow.
6 comments:
I live in Indiana and I heavily prefer Meijer to Walmart. Meijer just seems to be kept up better, the quality of merchandise is generally better, it is better lit, etc. The only time when this is different is if the Walmart is brand new... but otherwise, Meijer is a better shopping experience, in my opinion.
I like Meijer stores better than Walmart. Meijer is the standard that Walmart Supercenters are modeled after.Meijer also is cheaper on a lot of things than Walmart. Most may not believe this but all you have to do is just get coupons for meijer it's much cheaper than Walmart. And besides watch out Kmart looks to be making a slow comback!
Consider where you spend your money, I will never shop at Walmart again
Eric, I completely agree with you.
I shopped at Meijers today for the first time, and I was very much so impressed. The item I wanted was out of stock at Walmart, so I went down the street to Meijers, a they had the item, and at a much lower price for the same item. After walking around the store, I found that Meijers is a much better place to shop than Walmart.
The produce was fresher, the meats looked very good, and the overall prices in the store that I buy often, were lower.
As of today, Meijers will be my place to shop for my normal home and food items.
Meijer is suppose to be between Gordon Food Service and Target here in Marquette. On the other side of Mejer traveling West on 41
is a Lowe's. This was opened in the last 10 years or so. But....for the most part you could go bowling down the aisle's as it's dead there.
People from around here prefer Menard's. The Walmart here is Ok IF you like to be reminded of a dime store from the 60's or 70's.
Meijer is supposedly building first in Escanaba. This is a mistake. The big hospital - NMU (people) are in Marquette not Escanaba. I see
a smaller store like the one in Manistee as a result. People from Marinette - Menominee will travel to Green Bay NOT Escanaba to shop.
Houghton and Hancock would make a good choice too (students from Tech) and what not. Meijer could easily transform Westwood Mall
into what they need because it's a good location but it's also older and would cost $$ more hen what it's worth overall - bad choice.
Post a Comment