Meijer ‘green’ initiatives keep growing
The economy may not be humming along, but Meijer is content to keep expanding its operations, as well as its commitment to green retailing.
Meijer has replaced a store in Battle Creek, Mich., with a fresh unit that incorporates a number of sustainability innovations derived from its testing of green operations and the development of a store in Monroe, Mich., that won LEED certification.
Meijer’s first LEED-certified store was a unit in Allen Park, Mich. “We’re working on more of our future stores and more of our remodels to be LEED certified,” said Meijer’s director of public relations Frank Guglielmi at the time. “It’s one thing to build something LEED certified from the ground up, but when you’re going into an existing facility, it’s a lot more of a challenge.”
Even as it opens new units, with Battle Creek being one of nine set to debut over the course of the current year, Meijer broke ground on a new bakery facility at its Middlebury, Ind., foodservice manufacturing operation.
Expanding fresh foods is a theme in both the bakery and store opening. Work at the Middlebury facility is intended to allow Meijer to expand its fresh bakery offerings, the company said. Bob Mooney, group vp of distribution operations and manufacturing for the retailer, said, “The addition of this impressive bakery facility will help us continue to raise the bar on quality, freshness and variety.”
The 37,000-square-foot bakery complements an existing 184,500-square-foot Meijer fresh salads and deli products facility. The new central bakery will enable Meijer to produce about 15 million loaves of bread and 130 million cookies annually.
At the Battle Creek store, Meijer used LEED standards to guide installation of low-voltage lighting and electronics; it also painted the roof a reflective white color, using paints and adhesives with less-volatile organic compounds, and purchased building materials no more than 500 miles from the construction site. That being said, Meijer won’t apply for LEED certification for the facility.
The store will also be greener because it is smaller, and so requires less in the way of utilities.
The new 156,000-square-foot unit replaces one that was about 70,000 square feet larger. Meijer has scaled down stores from the peaks it reached a few years ago. It has applied improved information gathering techniques and has been able to better suit smaller facilities to local and larger trends.
The new Battle Creek Meijer may be smaller overall, but it houses some departments that are expanded as compared to the former facility, including perishable food and grocery.