140-605: Meijer Inc. ( / ˈ m aɪ . ər / , MY-ər ; stylized as meijer ) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States . Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan , which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area . Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of
280-643: A Jacksonville, Illinois businessman, who invited her to Illinois, where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the Jacksonville Developmental Center ) were signed into law on March 1, 1847. During the American Civil War , Illinois ranked fourth in soldiers who served (more than 250,000) in
420-601: A particle accelerator , which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power. In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the American Law Institute and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against sodomy . The code also abrogated common law crimes and established an age of consent of 18. The state's fourth constitution
560-593: A sanctuary state . In the 2018 election , Rauner was replaced by J. B. Pritzker , returning the state government to a Democratic trifecta . In January 2020 the state legalized marijuana . On March 9, 2020, Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation due to the COVID-19 pandemic . He ended the state of emergency in May 2023. During the early part of the Paleozoic Era , the area that would one day become Illinois
700-407: A succession crisis , Brigham Young led most Latter Day Saints out of Illinois in a mass exodus to present-day Utah ; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo quickly declined afterward. After it was established in 1833, Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes port, and then as an Illinois and Michigan Canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago
840-986: A "broad assortment of Meijer branded items". In April 2014, Fresh Thyme founder Chris Sherrell opened the first store in his chain in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Two months later, Fresh Thyme open its first Indiana store in Indianapolis. The opening of the first store in Ohio followed in July in Columbus. By the end of 2014, the chain had nine stores in the Midwest. By January 2024, Fresh Thyme had 70 stores across 10 Midwestern states. In 2006, Meijer donated money to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to create
980-576: A 100% with the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which joined 680 major U.S. businesses that also scored a 100% that year. The federal government sued Meijer on behalf of a former employee for violating her civil rights by firing her because she would not work on Sundays. Debra Kerkstra was fired in 2001 for refusing to work on Sunday because of religious convictions. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused Meijer of religious discrimination, and Meijer settled
1120-529: A 50-acre (20 ha) plaza larger than 35 football fields, and a woodhenge of sacred cedar, all in a planned design expressing the culture's cosmology. Monks Mound , the center of the site, is the largest Pre-Columbian structure north of the Valley of Mexico . It is 100 ft (30 m) high, 951 ft (290 m) long, 836 ft (255 m) wide, and covers 13.8 acres (5.6 ha). It contains about 814,000 cu yd (622,000 m ) of earth. It
1260-587: A Dutch immigrant. Meijer was a local barber who entered the grocery business during the Great Depression . His first employees included his 14-year-old son, Frederik Meijer , who later became chairman of the company. The current co-chairmen, brothers Hank and Doug Meijer, are Hendrik's grandsons. After studying trends in the grocery industry, Meijer was among the first stores to offer self-service shopping and shopping carts. He also offered staple items, such as vinegar, at bargain prices. The Greenville store
1400-610: A boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II , ranking seventh among the 48 states. Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway and the Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and
1540-474: A chain of events culminating in Blagojevich's impeachment , trial, and subsequent criminal conviction and imprisonment, making Blagojevich the second consecutive Illinois governor to be convicted on federal corruption charges. Blagojevich's replacement Pat Quinn was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner in the 2014 election . Disagreements between the governor and legislature over budgetary policy led to
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#17327909397961680-556: A climate that varies widely throughout the year. Because of its nearly 400-mile distance between its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, most of Illinois has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfa ), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about Carbondale southward, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa ), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over 48 in (1,219 mm) at
1820-458: A curved wall of windows that ran along the area between the entrances, examples include many early locations in Ohio and the Midland, Michigan store (many of these such stores have since been renovated into the current exterior design described below). Early in the 1990s, Meijer developed new integrated prototypes for their rollouts. One example was the "whimsical" design prototype introduced with
1960-460: A different form of brand-name clothing: Copper Rivet sold Levi's jeans, Sagebrush sold casual wear, and Casual Court sold women's clothing. All three chains usually operated in front of existing Meijer stores, or in nearby shopping centers. Casual Court was renamed Tansy in 1982. These clothing chains were dissolved in the 1980s as brand-name clothing became more readily available at competing retailers. Sagebrush, which at its peak comprised 71 stores,
2100-796: A fort at the site of present-day Peoria , and in 1682, a fort atop Starved Rock in today's Starved Rock State Park. French Empire Canadiens came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of first New France , and then of La Louisiane until 1763, when it passed to the British with their defeat of France in the Seven Years' War . The small French settlements continued, although many French migrated west to Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, Missouri , to evade British rule. A few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but few British or American settlers moved there, as
2240-879: A full grocery section. Fourteen locations of Buffalo, New York -based Twin Fair , predominantly in southwestern Ohio, were bought and converted to the Meijer Square name. Two Meijer Square stores were also opened in Michigan. The Ohio locations were largely sold to Zayre and Hills . Meijer returned to Cincinnati and soon Kentucky in May 1996, after both Hills and Ames had closed all of their Ohio stores. Meijer opened its first warehouse club store, SourceClub, in 1992. The concept proved unsuccessful in competition against Sam's Club and Costco , and all seven SourceClub stores were closed in 1994. The location in Fraser, Michigan ,
2380-682: A law to prohibit all African Americans, including freedmen , from settling in the state. The winter of 1830–1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow"; a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in
2520-513: A major manufacturing center. The Great Migration from the South established a large Black community, particularly in Chicago , which became a leading cultural, economic, and population center; its metropolitan area , informally referred to as Chicagoland , holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents. Two World Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancient Cahokia Mounds , and part of
2660-439: A mammoth manner. Saravana Stores operating format is said to be the inspiration for Big Bazaar's Kishore Biyani. Similarly, conglomerates, such as Raheja's, Future Group, Bharti, Godrej, Reliance, and TATA, have over the last decade ventured into large-format retail chains. However, most of the stores opened in large malls and not as independent big-box format stores, even though small and medium enterprises (SMEs) still account for
2800-512: A meeting with a small nonprofit organization which favored the Meijer store, but had not yet formally taken a position on the recall. With the persuasion of the PR firm, the organization, known as the "Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government", formed a recall committee and began to promote the recall election. Seyferth researched the plausibility of a recall, wrote justification for the recall and oversaw
2940-461: A new logo intended to make the Meijer stores seem "friendly" and inviting. The company hired New York City's Rockwell Group to redesign the existing stores and establish a design for new stores. The "new theatrics" for the then-71-year-old company originally started as a "new product introduction program" until David Rockwell talked Hank and Fred Meijer into further changes. Rockwell told the Meijers
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#17327909397963080-932: A new store in April 2019. In 2017–2018 Meijer expanded into the Northeastern Wisconsin market with stores in Howard and Grand Chute . The Howard location serves Green Bay with the Grand Chute location serving Appleton and the Fox Cities . Meijer also opened their first stores in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 2017 with stores in Escanaba and Sault Ste. Marie , later adding a third location in Marquette . In 2019, Meijer expanded into
3220-734: A north–south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in Lake Michigan at the north, to the Wabash River in the south above Post Vincennes . The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana until the Wabash enters the Ohio River . This marks the beginning of Illinois's southern border with Kentucky , which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Most of the western border with Missouri and Iowa
3360-415: A size of 180,000 square feet (17,000 m), it combined grocery shopping and department store shopping in a single large store. The store was built with six-inch-thick (150 mm) floors, so should the concept fail, the nongrocery half could be converted into an indoor car dealership. New stores were built in the same manner until the mid-1970s, when an architect mentioned the extra cost to management. This
3500-537: A state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt", was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. Edward Coles , the second Governor of Illinois who was born in Virginia, participated in a campaign to block extending existing slavery in Illinois after winning
3640-646: A store in suburban Perth . IKEA began operation in Australia in 1975. Bunnings followed in 1995 and Mitre 10 adopted the model with the "Mitre 10 Mega" stores first opening at Beenleigh , Queensland in 2004. Costco has since expanded across Australia since opening its first store in 2009. Apart from major American big-box stores such as Walmart Canada and briefly now-defunct Target Canada , there are many retail chains operating exclusively in Canada. These include stores such as (followed after each slash by
3780-716: A string of high-profile exonerations, Ryan commuted all death sentences in the state. The 2002 election brought Democrat Rod Blagojevich to the governor's mansion. It also brought future president Barack Obama into a committee leadership position in the Illinois Senate, where he drafted the Health Care Justice Act , a forerunner of the Affordable Care Act . Obama's election to the presidency in Blagojevich's second term set off
3920-443: A water border with Michigan to the northeast in Lake Michigan . Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) , the sixth-largest population , and the 25th-most land area . Its capital city is Springfield in the center of the state, and the state's largest city is Chicago in the northeast. Present-day Illinois was inhabited by Indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The French were
4060-645: A weather station not subjected to the same quality control as official records. Illinois averages approximately 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per 10,000 sq mi (30,000 km ) annually. While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois than other states, some of Tornado Alley 's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in
4200-538: A wide variety of ethnic groups. The city of Rockford , Illinois's third-largest city and center of the state's fourth largest metropolitan area, sits along Interstates 39 and 90 some 75 mi (121 km) northwest of Chicago. The Quad Cities region, located along the Mississippi River in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011. The midsection of Illinois is the second major division, called Central Illinois . Historically prairie , it
4340-576: Is ireniwaki . The name Illiniwek has also been said to mean 'tribe of superior men', which is a false etymology . The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa 'he speaks the regular way'. This was taken into the Ojibwe language , perhaps in the Ottawa dialect , and modified into ilinwe· (pluralized as ilinwe·k ). The French borrowed these forms, spelling
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4480-561: Is a standard-sized grocery store concept. The first two locations, in Lake Orion and Macomb Township, Michigan , opened on January 26, 2023. During the 2010s, Meijer appeared to control or own the regional organic food supermarket chain Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, but official records were not very clear about the relationship between the two companies. In 2021, the organic food supermarket chain began to offer
4620-487: Is defined as 10 miles north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate, Nathaniel Pope , wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately 51 mi (82 km) north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added 8,500 sq mi (22,000 km ) to
4760-620: Is generally inaccessible to pedestrians and often can only be reached by motor vehicles, the big-box store has been criticized as unsustainable and a failure of urban planning . Illinois Illinois ( / ˌ ɪ l ɪ ˈ n ɔɪ / IL -in- OY ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States . It borders the state of Wisconsin to its north, Iowa to its northwest, Missouri to its southwest, Kentucky to its south, Indiana to its east, and has
4900-715: Is now mainly agricultural and known as the Heart of Illinois. It is characterized by small towns and medium–small cities. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans , as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include Peoria ; Springfield ,
5040-564: Is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. This region has a somewhat warmer winter climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the Illinoian Stage , unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of St. Louis , such as East St. Louis , are located in this region, and collectively, they are known as
5180-478: Is the Mississippi River ; Kaskaskia is an exclave of Illinois, lying west of the Mississippi and reachable only from Missouri. The state's northern border with Wisconsin is fixed at 42° 30′ north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois lies in Lake Michigan , within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of Michigan , as well as Wisconsin and Indiana. Though Illinois lies entirely in
5320-524: The /we/ ending as -ois , a transliteration of that sound in the French of that time. The current spelling form, Illinois , began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka , of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along
5460-424: The 1822 Illinois gubernatorial election . In 1824, state residents voted against making slavery legal by a vote of 6640 against to 4972 for. Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass
5600-610: The Atlantic Ocean . In 1960, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines , which was demolished in 1984. In 1985 a replica was built on the same site to recreate how the original one looked. Though this replica was demolished in 2017, due to repeated flooding of the building. Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the nuclear age . In 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project ,
5740-542: The COVID-19 pandemic , most Meijer stores were open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, closing only at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve , and reopening at 6 a.m. on December 26. In 2013 Meijer ranked No. 19 in Forbes list of top 20 Private Companies. In addition to the original Meijer supermarkets and hypermarkets, Meijer opened several concept stores in the 1970s and 1980s. The first were specialty clothing store chains called Copper Rivet, Sagebrush and Casual Court. Each store focused on
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5880-886: The Cleveland – Akron market with stores in Stow , Mentor , and Avon . Meijer also expanded into the Youngstown area with a store in Boardman, Ohio , in 2020 as well as Austintown . In June 2024, Meijer was reported to be scouting the Western Pennsylvania region, including Pittsburgh , for a possible expansion. Such a move would mark Meijer's first presence in Pennsylvania as a whole. Meijer stores are classified as supercenters or hypermarkets (a superstore that combines groceries and department store goods in
6020-749: The Detroit Tigers of the MLB announced that Meijer had become their official jersey patch partner. Meijer also sponsors the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL with Meijer's logo on their helmets. Meijer stores are typically designed with the supermarket section to one side and the general merchandise section to the other side. The chain's stores are almost always constructed from the ground up, with very few Meijer stores having been converted from other retailers. Exceptions include the: Some stores built in
6160-805: The Eocene Epoch . During the Pleistocene Epoch , vast ice sheets covered much of Illinois, with only the Driftless Area remaining exposed. These glaciers carved the basin of Lake Michigan and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and moraines . Illinois is located in the Midwest region of the United States and is one of the eight states in the Great Lakes region of North America (which also includes Ontario , Canada). Illinois's eastern border with Indiana consists of
6300-549: The Illinois Native Americans , a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant 'man' or 'men' in the Miami-Illinois language , with the original iliniwek transformed via French into Illinois. This etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for "man" is ireniwa , and plural of "man"
6440-490: The Illinois Budget Impasse , a 793-day period stretching from 2015 to 2018 in which the state had no budget and struggled to pay its bills. On August 28, 2017, Rauner signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local police from arresting anyone solely due to their immigration status or due to federal detainers. Some fellow Republicans criticized Rauner for his action, claiming the bill made Illinois
6580-487: The Interior Plains , it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the Driftless Area , a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. Southern Illinois includes the hilly areas around the Shawnee National Forest . Charles Mound , located in the Driftless region, has the state's highest natural elevation above sea level at 1,235 ft (376 m). Other highlands include
6720-420: The Latter Day Saints had founded a utopian city called Nauvoo , formerly called Commerce. Located in Hancock County along the Mississippi River , Nauvoo flourished and, by 1844, briefly surpassed Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in that same year, the Latter Day Saint movement founder, Joseph Smith , was killed in the Carthage Jail , about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following
6860-447: The Metro-East . The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion , a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents. A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended Evansville, Indiana , Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in
7000-432: The Midwest region . Chicago, the third-most populous city in the United States , is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area or Chicagoland, as this area is nicknamed. Although the Chicago metropolitan area comprises only 9% of the land area of the state, it contains 65% of the state's residents, with 21.4% of Illinois' population living in the city of Chicago itself as of 2020. The losses of population anticipated from
7140-400: The Shawnee Hills in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the Illinois River bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is known as the American Bottom . Illinois has three major geographical divisions. Northern Illinois is dominated by Chicago metropolitan area , or Chicagoland, which is
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#17327909397967280-418: The Union Army , a figure surpassed by only New York, Pennsylvania , and Ohio . Beginning with President Abraham Lincoln 's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments. The town of Cairo , at the southern tip of
7420-423: The University of Chicago conducted the first sustained nuclear chain reaction . In 1957, Argonne National Laboratory , near Chicago , activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in the United States, Dresden 1 , was dedicated near Morris . In 1967, Fermilab , a national nuclear research facility near Batavia , opened
7560-405: The Wright architecture site. Major centers of learning include the University of Chicago , University of Illinois , and Northwestern University . A wide variety of protected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Three U.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln , Ulysses S. Grant , and Barack Obama ; additionally, Ronald Reagan
7700-406: The 'i' and 'j'. In the year 2000 the Presidential prototype was replaced with the Village Square prototype, which featured fake storefronts running across the front of the building and a barn-like section on which the Meijer logo was situated. That prototype, however, was soon replaced by the Signature Series prototype, which removed the fake storefronts, which itself was replaced in the mid-2000s with
7840-471: The 1960s and 1970s, including a since-demolished location on Pierson Road in Mount Morris Township, Michigan (which marked the chain's entry into the Flint market in 1972), included a balcony , containing service tenants such as a barber shop and nail salon. During the late 1990s, McDonald's restaurants also operated inside Meijer stores, primarily in those with balconies, though some locations without balconies like Taylor, Michigan ; Muncie, Indiana , and
7980-442: The 1994 expansion into Indiana. Different shapes and roofing designs created the facade of the building. Most notable was the yellow pineapple constructed from yellow ceramic brick and glass blocks. The different shapes on the facade were to introduce Meijer to Indiana as a "store of discovery". Also notable was the use of a large translucent wall above the grand concourse facing the registers. This allowed natural light to filter into
8120-484: The Crown made it part of the territory reserved for Indians west of the Appalachians, and then part of the British Province of Quebec . In 1778, George Rogers Clark claimed Illinois County for Virginia . In a compromise, Virginia (and other states that made various claims) ceded the area to the new United States in the 1780s and it became part of the Northwest Territory , administered by the federal government and later organized as states. The Illinois-Wabash Company
8260-488: The Fox ( Meskwaki ), Iowa , Kickapoo , Mascouten , Piankeshaw , Shawnee , Wea , and Winnebago ( Ho-Chunk ) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. Marquette soon after founded a mission at the Grand Village of the Illinois in Illinois Country . In 1680, French explorers under René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti constructed
8400-668: The Louisville area on Dixie Highway, Preston Highway and South Hurstbourne Parkway. The first Meijer location in the Northwest Indiana region opened in August 1997 in Michigan City . Following this, the Merrillville location opened to the public on August 4, 1998, while the Highland location officially opened on April 20, 1999. The first Meijer location in the Chicago region opened on August 3, 1999, on Weber Road in Bolingbrook . A year later in 2000, three Illinois Meijer locations would open in Aurora , St. Charles and Springfield . Another Meijer store in Bolingbrook opened on Boughton Road by The Promenade in May 2002, three years after
8540-457: The Ohio River. Illinois was soon part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory , and in 1818 it achieved statehood . The Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the invention of the self-scouring steel plow by Illinoisan John Deere turned the state's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden . In
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#17327909397968680-456: The Thrifty Acres stores became a success and were renamed Meijer in 1986. Meijer's stand-alone grocery operations continued until the early 1990s, as the larger stores became dominant. In 1985 Forbes magazine reported Walmart at the time had failed in what were then known as hypermarkets because Sam Walton and company did not understand the grocery business. Walton launched the first Hypermart USA store in 1987, opening only four stores,
8820-748: The U.S. Big-box stores are often clustered in shopping centers, which are typically called retail parks in the United Kingdom. In the United States, when they range in size from 250,000 square feet (23,000 m ) to 600,000 square feet (56,000 m ), they are often referred to as power centers . In Australia, the retail category is known as "large format retail", encompasses bulky goods showrooms and more specialised retail categories within service or Highway commercial type land use zones. In 1969, Kmart Australia opened its first five Big-box type stores across Australia. The first opened in Burwood East , Melbourne in April, followed by Blacktown in Greater Western Sydney , two stores in suburban Adelaide and
8960-436: The Weber Road location. With the increasing dominance of Walmart throughout the country during the 1990s and up to the present, Meijer is facing the effects of an intensely competitive retail industry. In late 2003 the company laid off 350 people from the corporate offices, distribution centers and field offices; a few months later, in January 2004, Meijer laid off 1,896 employees and managerial staff, leading to speculation that
9100-427: The agenda for the meeting with Acme Taxpayers. The PR firm revised the organization's website and logo, devised talking points and campaign literature, and wrote ghost letters to Traverse City newspapers. The recall committee did not disclose any of the PR firm's assistance, or its affiliation with Meijer. The company was fined $ 190,000 for its actions. The store eventually opened in November 2015, with thousands attending
9240-414: The area above the registers without actual windows. Another feature of these stores was the introduction of grey concrete panels and silver framing on windows and doors. Slight variations of this prototype were also introduced with the 1995 expansion into Illinois and the 1996 reentry into Kentucky. On August 5, 1997, the store in Fort Gratiot Township, Michigan , debuted a new prototype that evolved out of
9380-491: The area. In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago metropolitan area is often called " downstate " Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the influence of the Chicago area. Thus, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as DeKalb , which is west of Chicago, and Rockford —which is actually north of Chicago—are sometimes incorrectly considered to be 'downstate'. Illinois has
9520-405: The big-box variety, selling big screen TVs, computers, mobile phones, bicycles, and clothing. Many foreign names appear, such as Carrefour , Auchan , Tesco , Lotte Mart , and Walmart , as well as dozens of Chinese chains. Most stores are three stories with moving sidewalk-style escalators. Some stores are so large as to have 60 checkout terminals and their own fleet of buses to bring customers to
9660-415: The case after paying $ 22,000 to Kerkstra and agreeing to implement procedures to prevent repeat occurrences. Supercenter A big-box store , a hyperstore , a supercenter , a superstore , or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references
9800-474: The central Illinois River valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries." The next major power in the region was the Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance. Around the time of European contact in 1673, the Illinois confederation had an estimated population of over 10,000 people. As the Illini declined during the Beaver Wars era, members of the Algonquian -speaking Potawatomi , Miami , Sauk , and other tribes including
9940-490: The chain announced a new concept in the Chicago region called Meijer Marketplace which comprises smaller stores that focus more on grocery items and pharmacy. Four such stores were eventually opened, in Niles (2010), Orland Park (2010), Melrose Park (2011) and Berwyn (2012). The Niles store closed on June 18, 2016. The Melrose Park and Berwyn stores closed on June 17, 2017 (the Berwyn store space now houses Tony's Fresh Market, which had relocated from its previous location at
10080-402: The changes were "not about a labor reduction", but fitting people into the right roles. No corporate staff or hourly workers were directly affected. In August 2007, the store announced they were cutting about 500 managers (12% of existing management staff). The 500 were given severance packages, while other managers were transferred to other stores or "reassigned to different positions". In 2009,
10220-464: The city of Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois, Indiana , and Wisconsin , and has a population of over 9.8 million. Chicago itself is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by
10360-446: The city of Hyderabad, and subsequently, in the city of Navi Mumbai. In Ireland , large merchandise stores in the style of U.S. superstores were not a part of the retail sector until the late 20th century. Dunnes Stores have traditionally had a supermarket-plus-household-and-clothes model and now have some large stores. Tesco Ireland now runs upwards of 19 hypermarkets across the country. The big-box phenomenon hit New Zealand in
10500-741: The city, located on the site of the former Redford High School at Grand River Avenue and McNichols Road, on June 11, 2015. Meijer opened its first locations in Wisconsin in June 2015. To help promote itself in Wisconsin, Meijer purchased a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie from SuperValu in 2012, and placed an advertisement along the outfield wall of Miller Park , home of the Milwaukee Brewers , in 2014 in anticipation of
10640-402: The company amended its nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation. Other retail and grocery rivals' scores are Macy's Inc. (100%), Sears Holdings Corporation (100%), Target Corporation (100%), Whole Foods Market (90%), Kroger (75%) and Walmart (40%). By 2016, Meijer had increased their score to 85%, having a similar score to its rivals. In 2020, Meijer's score increased to
10780-498: The company was losing profitability and market share. A marketing professor, Dr. Ben Rudolph of Grand Valley State University near Meijer's corporate headquarters, lambasted this move, saying they "apparently blinked" and that Meijer's "decision was driven by panic". Continuing cutbacks in 2006, the company outsourced 81 information technology positions to India. In 2003, the company announced that all new Meijer stores would feature an entirely new format and company image, complete with
10920-594: The company's 259 stores are located in Michigan , particularly in its birthplace of West Michigan ; the others are in Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Ohio and Wisconsin . The chain is ranked by Forbes as the 14th-largest private company in the United States, and is the country's 23rd-largest retailer by revenue as of 2023. Meijer was founded as Meijer's in Greenville, Michigan , in 1934 by Hendrik Meijer ,
11060-514: The company's expansion into Wisconsin. In 2014, Meijer expanded into their southern-most store, Bowling Green, Kentucky , with a new development in the growing Gary Farms retail corridor. Meijer's parking lot also includes a Tesla supercharger. Meijer bought the largely vacant Memorial Mall in Sheboygan, Wisconsin , in March 2015. Much of the existing structure was demolished, and replaced with
11200-483: The current prototype, which features emphasis on the entrances, which feature towering glass walls with a tilted roof, resulting in an "eyebrow" appearance. Meijer was the first retailer to launch the "supermarket" or "superstore" in the U.S., combining a multitude of merchandise under one roof, when they opened the first Thrifty Acres in 1962. Meijer describes itself as a grocery chain that added general merchandise to their grocery stores in 1962. In February 2007, Meijer
11340-721: The damaging competition that a large Walmart penetration would inflict on Canadian-based retailers. In the early 21st century, commercial developers in Canada such as RioCan chose to build big-box stores (often grouped together in so-called " power centres ") in lieu of traditional shopping malls . Examples include Deerfoot Meadows ( Calgary ), Stonegate Shopping Centre and Preston Crossing ( Saskatoon ), South Edmonton Common ( Edmonton ), and Heartland Town Centre ( Mississauga ). There are currently more than 300 power centres, which usually contain multiple big-box stores, located throughout Canada. Most large grocery stores in China are of
11480-570: The development of the American labor movement . From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burned in downtown Chicago, destroying four sq mi (10 km ). At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois had a population of nearly 5 million. Many people from other parts of the country were attracted to the state by employment caused by the expanding industrial base. Whites were 98% of
11620-640: The employees of such stores are usually not unionized. Unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 and the Joint Labor Management Committee of the Retail Food Industry have expressed concern about the grocery market because stores such as Kmart , Target , and Walmart now sell groceries. Unions and cities sometimes attempt to use land-use ordinances to restrict these businesses. Because it
11760-548: The end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago region. The Indians had been forced to leave their homes and move to Iowa in 1831; when they attempted to return, they were attacked and eventually defeated by U.S. militia . The survivors were forced back to Iowa. By 1832, when the last Indian lands in Illinois were ceded to the United States, the indigenous population of the state had been reduced by infectious diseases, warfare, and forced westward removal to only one village with fewer than 300 inhabitants. By 1839,
11900-784: The first Illinois store in Champaign (Store #146) on April 4, 1995. In 1996, the first regular Kentucky Meijer location in Florence opened, along with four nearby locations in Ohio which were Fairfield , Loveland , West Chester and Eastgate North Drive in Cincinnati . This also marked the chain's reentry into that state. Two more Kentucky locations would open on Paul Jones Way in Lexington and Towne Center Drive in Louisville in 1997. In 1998 three new Meijer locations opened in
12040-422: The first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River in the 17th century Illinois Country , as part of their sprawling colony of New France . A century later, the revolutionary Illinois campaign prefigured American involvement in the region. Following U.S. independence in 1783 , which made the Mississippi River the national boundary, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky via
12180-549: The first LEED-certified Meijer store opened in the second phase of the Fairlane Green development in Allen Park, Michigan . In July 2007 Meijer announced to the Michigan press it would be "restructuring" its Team Leader management positions in all 181 stores, stating layoffs would be "minimal" and necessary "to handle more sophisticated products such as flat-screen TVs and high-priced wines". Their spokesperson also said
12320-700: The former Dominick's store in North Riverside in 2018), leaving the Orland Park store as the last remaining small-format Meijer in operation. On November 25, 2011, Frederik Meijer died at the age of 91. In 2013, Meijer opened its 200th supercenter in Swartz Creek, Michigan . Meijer opened its first store within the city of Detroit , located in the Gateway Marketplace development, on July 25, 2013, and its second location within
12460-509: The global concept of a hypermarket , although they do not always have a grocery section, and the term "hypermarket" is not in common use in the United States. "Discount store," "megastore," and "superstore" are sometimes used in addition to the industry term "general merchandise retailer." The category began in 1931, when Fred G. Meyer opened what he called a "one-stop shopping center" in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Meyer's format
12600-705: The large out-of-town supermarkets which have waned in popularity. The term "big-box store" is not used in the UK. "Superstore" is sometimes used, but with a slightly different meaning: on road signs it means "large supermarket"; in self-service shop names it denotes an outlet larger than that particular chain's usual size. In the United States , some big-box stores may specialize in categories of merchandise (" category killer "), such as Best Buy in electronics and appliances and Kohl's , Burlington , and Nordstrom Rack in apparel and home furnishings. Big-box general merchandise retailers such as Target and Walmart are similar to
12740-632: The largest superstore network in Hong Kong . The first Wellcome superstore opened in 2000 and it has only 17 superstores. In addition, CRC has four superstores in Hong Kong. Because Hong Kong is a very densely populated city, the sizes of superstores are considerably smaller than those in other countries. Some superstores are running at deficit, such as Chelsea Heights which therefore has stopped selling fresh fish . Furthermore, some ParknShop superstores and megastores, such as Fortress World, belong to
12880-722: The last in 1990. An article in Forbes Magazine said Meijer understood the importance of the food business, and it was not something just tacked onto a discount store. The quality of the produce is very important; poor-quality produce sold by Walmart was the main reason for their lack of success. By contrast, surveys said then and now that Meijer ranks high on produce quality. During the mid-1990s, Meijer expanded to three additional states. The first location in Indiana opened on Grape Road in Mishawaka on April 19, 1994, followed by
13020-724: The late 1980s, with the introduction of Kmart Australia and later the " Warehouse " superstore, a local company. Mitre 10 New Zealand opened their first Mega in 2004 at Hastings six months before the Australian Mega store; it opened to great success with 20 more stores opening within two years. Australian-owned Bunnings Warehouse opened its first store in New Zealand in 2006. In the United Kingdom , Makro and Costco membership-only warehouse club stores have been around for four decades. General merchandise shops along
13160-468: The late 20th and early 21st centuries, many traditional retailers and supermarket chains that typically operate in smaller buildings, such as Tesco and Praktiker , opened stores in the big-box-store format in an effort to compete with big-box chains, which are expanding internationally as their home markets reach maturity. The store may sell general dry goods , in which case it is a general merchandise retailer (however, traditional department stores , as
13300-498: The lines of U.S. superstores are not a large part of the retail sector, but this has been changing in recent years, with the creation of extra-large supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda selling a broader range of non-food goods, typically in out-of-town shopping centres or retail parks. As in the US, such large shops are sometimes called anchor tenants . The growth of online retail and budget retail has led to these chains moving away from
13440-556: The location on Alexis Road in Toledo, Ohio , also had McDonald's locations; in addition, the first stores in the Detroit area featured a short-lived fast food concept called Thrifty's Kitchen, which also operated a standalone location in front of the Meijer on Alpine Avenue in Walker . Most stores feature a sit-down café, while some also feature a Starbucks coffee shop or a Subway restaurant. Stores built between 1989 and 1993 featured
13580-400: The long-awaited grand opening. Meijer scored 0% on the 2008 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which is a measure of how U.S. companies and businesses are treating gay , lesbian , bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Meijer was one of only three companies out of over 500 graded to receive a score of 0. In 2009, Meijer's score began to improve after
13720-598: The majority of the daily consumer transaction needs. However, the most successful consumer retail chain that took the market and penetrated also to tier 2 and tier 3 cities was D Mart, owned by Avenue Supermarkets Limited. An attempt was made to allow international large format retailers such as Walmart into the country. However, it was successfully opposed by small retailers citing job elimination due to increased efficiency and lowered prices due to fewer losses and lower costs. Big-box format stores in India were opened by IKEA in
13860-540: The mid-1990s prototype. This was the Presidential prototype, in which the logo was moved to the center of the building. Later Meijer stores of this design introduced the Meijer Fresh logo with the then-current Meijer logo and a large cursive "Fresh" on the right of the Meijer name. Most of these signs have since been phased out in favor of the current logo, with the lower-case "meijer" (in red) with blue dots over
14000-433: The mid-19th century, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe . Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains
14140-468: The nation's railroad hub since the 1860s, and its O'Hare International Airport has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a microcosm of the United States and a bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase Will it play in Peoria? . "Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers' name for
14280-529: The new introduction program would "work only if it was part of a new overall creative foundation based on a fresher, younger approach, encompassing architecture, interior design and graphic design". In 2005, despite cutbacks, Meijer embarked on an expansion plan to increase its number of stores in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. In April 2003 Meijer selected DeVito/Verdi , an award-winning advertising agency in New York, to handle its $ 25 million account. In May 2007,
14420-539: The newly enlarged population of customers with cars, being located in suburbs and surrounded by ample parking lots. They were enabled by the decline of laws which prevented large retailers from getting bulk discounts. Warehouse club stores are another category of big-box general merchandise stores, such as Sam's Club , Costco , and BJ's Wholesale Club . They require membership to purchase and often require purchasing larger quantities of goods at once. Big-box development has at times been opposed by labor unions because
14560-507: The north and center, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major transportation hub : the Port of Chicago has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway and to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River via the Illinois Waterway . Chicago has been
14700-631: The northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north, and this may have contributed to its name, " Little Egypt ", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers. In 1832, the Black Hawk War was fought in Illinois and present-day Wisconsin between the United States and the Sauk , Fox (Meskwaki) , and Kickapoo Indian tribes. It represents
14840-478: The owner) Hudson's Bay , Loblaws / Real Canadian Superstore , Rona , Winners / HomeSense , Canadian Tire / Mark's / Sport Chek , Shoppers Drug Mart , Chapters / Indigo Books and Music , Sobeys , and many others. The indigenous Loblaw Companies Limited has expanded and multiplied its Real Canadian Superstore (and Maxi & Cie in Quebec) branded outlets to try to fill any genuine big-box market and fend off
14980-572: The paid position called the Frederik Meijer Chair of Dutch Language and Culture. The previous chair was unpaid. Its purpose is to promote interest in the Netherlands and Michigan's Dutch cultural heritage. In 2014, Meijer was the first retailer to accept both Apple Pay and CurrentC for purchases in its stores and gas stations despite possible penalties from Merchant Customer Exchange for accepting Apple Pay. On May 25, 2023,
15120-399: The population of Illinois was 12,812,508 in the 2020 United States census , moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois' population slightly declined in 2020 from the 2010 United States census by just over 18,000 residents and the overall population was quite higher than recent census estimates. Illinois is the most populous state in
15260-480: The predecessor format, are generally not classified as "big box"), or may be limited to a particular specialty (such establishments are often called " category killers "), or may also sell groceries, in which case some countries (mostly in Europe ) use the term hypermarket . In the U.S., there is no specific term for general merchandisers who also sell groceries. Both Target and Walmart offer groceries in most branches in
15400-425: The same corporation, Hutchison Whampoa . India has been going through a retail revolution since the late 1990s, following the introduction of Big Bazaar in 2001. However, even before that, large retail stores were not uncommon in India. Spencer's, a popular hypermart, traces its history as far back as 1863. Likewise, Saravana Stores operating as a large independent showroom format since 1969, continue to grow in
15540-404: The same store). Most stores (about 80%) also feature an adjacent Meijer-branded gas station and convenience store . Several Meijer gas stations feature alternative fuels, such as E85 , biodiesel and compressed natural gas as well as electric vehicle charging stations. Meijer has 259 stores in Michigan , Indiana , Ohio , northern and central Illinois , and Northern Kentucky . Before
15680-654: The second-most populous urban area in Illinois with over 700,000 residents. Other major urban areas include the Peoria metropolitan area , Rockford metropolitan area , Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area (home to the University of Illinois ), Springfield metropolitan area , the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area, and the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area . The United States Census Bureau found that
15820-423: The southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a 10 mi (16 km) northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which
15960-402: The southern tip to around 35 in (889 mm) in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds 38 in (965 mm) in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than 14 in (356 mm). The all-time high temperature was 117 °F (47 °C), recorded on July 14, 1954, at East St. Louis , and the all-time low temperature
16100-592: The state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters in Cairo. During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The Pullman Strike and Haymarket Riot , in particular, greatly influenced
16240-407: The state capital; Quincy ; Decatur ; Bloomington-Normal ; and Champaign - Urbana . The third division is Southern Illinois , comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50 , including Little Egypt , near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River . Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia , as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia , which today
16380-588: The state's population. Bolstered by continued immigration from southern and eastern Europe , and by the African-American Great Migration from the South, Illinois grew and emerged as one of the most important states in the union. By the end of the century, the population had reached 12.4 million. The Century of Progress World's fair was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in Marion County and Crawford County led to
16520-542: The state, including the lead mining region near Galena . More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by
16660-422: The state. In 1819, Vandalia became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing Sangamon County , under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln , succeeded in having the capital moved to Springfield , where a fifth capitol building was constructed. A sixth capitol building
16800-448: The state. The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois. Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2,746,388 in 2020. Furthermore, over 7 million residents of the Chicago metropolitan area reside in Illinois. The U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within
16940-479: The state. This includes the Chicago satellite towns of Aurora , Joliet , Naperville , and Elgin , as well as the cities of Rockford , the most populous city in the state outside of the Chicago area; Springfield , the state's capital; and Peoria . The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville , with 42,000 residents. It is located in the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis ,
17080-467: The store at no charge. Many configurations exist: the hypermarket that sells many kinds of goods under one roof (like French chains Carrefour , Auchan , and E.Leclerc ), most of which are integrated within a shopping mall ; the supermarket that is a smaller version of a hypermarket; the market located in city centres; the department store , which first appeared in Paris, then opened in other parts of
17220-421: The typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores. Commercially, big-box stores can be broken down into two categories: general merchandise (examples include Walmart and Target ) and specialty stores (such as Home Depot , Barnes & Noble , IKEA or Best Buy ), which specialize in goods within a specific range, such as hardware , books , furniture or consumer electronics , respectively. In
17360-504: The waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation. Cahokia , the largest regional chiefdom and Urban Center of the Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture , was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois . They built an urban complex of more than 100 platform and burial mounds ,
17500-567: The world; the "category killer" superstore that mainly sells goods in a particular domain (automotive, electronics, home furniture, etc.); and the warehouse store , like Metro Cash and Carry (for professionals only) and Costco , who opened its first store in June, 2017. To contend against Carrefour , ParknShop opened the first superstore in 1996 based on the concept of a wet market . Most superstores in Hong Kong emphasizes one-stop shopping, such as providing car park services. Today, ParknShop has more than 50 superstores and megastores, making it
17640-455: Was Illinois's largest city. With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of labor unions in the United States . In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea L. Dix , Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local almshouses . Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King,
17780-529: Was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document. The first Farm Aid concert was held in Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst upper Mississippi River flood of the century, the Great Flood of 1993 , inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland. Illinois entered the 21st century under Republican Governor George Ryan . Near the end of his term in January 2003, following
17920-531: Was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at Kaskaskia , an early French settlement. During the discussions leading up to Illinois's admission to the Union , the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice. The original provisions of the Northwest Ordinance had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to
18060-658: Was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln . The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Illinois has a highly diverse economy , with the global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and agricultural hubs in
18200-576: Was converted to a regular Meijer store, while the rest were shuttered or sold off. In 2018, Meijer opened Bridge Street Market, a 37,000-square-foot (3,400-square-meter) concept grocery store in Grand Rapids. It was followed by four similar markets: Woodward Corner Market in Royal Oak, Michigan (2020); Capital City Market in Lansing (2020); Rivertown Market in Detroit (2021); and Fairfax Market in Cleveland (2024). Introduced in 2023, Meijer Grocery
18340-513: Was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today. Though it was ostensibly a " free state ", there was nonetheless slavery in Illinois . The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from Kentucky . Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became
18480-684: Was followed by the first Mid-Michigan location in Delta Charter Township in 1966. Meijer expanded into Southeast Michigan in the early 1970s, beginning with a store in Ypsilanti in 1972 followed by their first Metro Detroit location in Canton in 1974. Meijer expanded into Northern Michigan with a location in Traverse City in 1977. Fred Meijer took over the company upon his father's death in 1964. Under his leadership,
18620-463: Was imitated by Meijer in 1962 and later by Walmart, Kmart , Target (the discount brand of Dayton department store), and Woolco (the discount brand of the Woolworth department store) all opened. These were called " discount stores " — still an industry term for this type of store — and which between the 1960s and 1980s started to open larger-format stores called "megastores." These stores served
18760-488: Was involved in an effort to recall the elected officials of Acme Township in Grand Traverse County , because of the officials' reluctance to allow a new store along M-72 within the rural township east of Traverse City . Meijer retained Seyferth, Spaulding and Tennyson, a Grand Rapids public relations firm, to help orchestrate the recall effort. Records indicate the PR firm retained by Meijer had arranged
18900-618: Was sold off in 1988, while Copper Rivet and Tansy stores were closed as their leases expired. In 1980, Meijer began a discount pharmacy chain called Spaar (from the Dutch word for "save"), which opened four stores in 1980 in former Meijer supermarket locations. The Spaar stores were sold to Pontiac, Michigan -based Perry Drug Stores by the mid-1980s. One year after launching the Spaar brand, in 1981, Meijer began opening Meijer Square stores, which were traditional discount department stores lacking
19040-662: Was submerged beneath a shallow sea and located near the Equator. Diverse marine life lived at this time, including trilobites , brachiopods , and crinoids . Changing environmental conditions led to the formation of large coal swamps in the Carboniferous . Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the Mesozoic , but by its end was again submerged by the Western Interior Seaway . This receded by
19180-476: Was successful and additional Meijer groceries were opened in Cedar Springs (1942) and Ionia (1946). The first Grand Rapids store opened on South Division Avenue in 1949. By the 1960s, the company had over two dozen stores located throughout West Michigan. In 1962 Meijer launched its modern format with a store at the corner of 28th Street and Kalamazoo Avenue in Grand Rapids called "Thrifty Acres." At
19320-614: Was topped by a structure thought to have measured about 105 ft (32 m) in length and 48 ft (15 m) in width, covered an area 5,000 sq ft (460 m ), and been as much as 50 ft (15 m) high, making its peak 150 ft (46 m) above the level of the plaza. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered by archaeologists at Cahokia include elaborate ceramics, finely sculptured stonework, carefully embossed and engraved copper and mica sheets, and one funeral blanket for an important chief fashioned from 20,000 shell beads. These artifacts indicate that Cahokia
19460-496: Was truly an urban center, with clustered housing, markets, and specialists in toolmaking, hide dressing, potting, jewelry making, shell engraving, weaving and salt making. The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in
19600-553: Was −38 °F (−39 °C), recorded on January 31, 2019, during the January 2019 North American cold wave at a weather station near Mount Carroll , and confirmed on March 5, 2019. This followed the previous record of −36 °F (−38 °C) recorded on January 5, 1999, near Congerville . Prior to the Mount Carroll record, a temperature of −37 °F (−38 °C) was recorded on January 15, 2009, at Rochelle , but at
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