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could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: July 31st, 2018, 1:05 pm
by bm11k
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/cou ... s/25133072

apparently there's been rumors for the past few years

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 1st, 2018, 7:16 am
by pseudo3d
I wonder why Meijer is focusing on the Midwest instead of moving down toward Kentucky/Tennessee. Is it that Walmart's presence is stronger in the South than the Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin area?

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 1st, 2018, 8:50 am
by Super S
pseudo3d wrote: August 1st, 2018, 7:16 am I wonder why Meijer is focusing on the Midwest instead of moving down toward Kentucky/Tennessee. Is it that Walmart's presence is stronger in the South than the Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin area?
Meijer is more of a regional chain, and probably cautious where expanding. Some stores don't do well in new areas. Then there is the whole distribution thing to think about. However, they could potentially fill a void where Kmart is closing stores....

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 22nd, 2018, 4:43 pm
by Bagels
Meijer has acknowledged it purchased land and began plans to enter the MSP market, but ultimately suspended those plans. MSP is frequently cited as having too much grocery retail, so that probably factored into their decision. Hy-Vee’s aggressive expansion plus Kroger’s rumored courtship of Cub Foods won’t help.

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 22nd, 2018, 5:06 pm
by Bagels
pseudo3d wrote: August 1st, 2018, 7:16 am I wonder why Meijer is focusing on the Midwest instead of moving down toward Kentucky/Tennessee. Is it that Walmart's presence is stronger in the South than the Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin area?
Yes, Walmart is much stronger in the South than it is in the Midwest. In areas where both chains compete, Meijer overwhelming is favored by higher income shoppers whereas Wal-Mart is the opposite. Obviously this limits much of Meijer’s appeal in the South.

When Meijer first expanded into KY in 1998, it stated its intentions to open stores in TN, GA and FL within 10 years (I recall reading they had made preliminary land purchases). Obviously that never happened, which is a shame, because Nashville was a blown opportunity.

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 23rd, 2018, 6:14 am
by wnetmacman
pseudo3d wrote: August 1st, 2018, 7:16 am I wonder why Meijer is focusing on the Midwest instead of moving down toward Kentucky/Tennessee. Is it that Walmart's presence is stronger in the South than the Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin area?
It's simple. Think of it like football; you don't expect to beat the home team at Homecoming. Walmart is deeply entrenched south of Kentucky. Fighting them there would require much planning and money, and Meijer is a very careful company. They aren't going to go somewhere where they cannot do well.

Re: could Meijer come to Minnesota

Posted: August 25th, 2018, 9:32 pm
by pseudo3d
wnetmacman wrote: August 23rd, 2018, 6:14 am
pseudo3d wrote: August 1st, 2018, 7:16 am I wonder why Meijer is focusing on the Midwest instead of moving down toward Kentucky/Tennessee. Is it that Walmart's presence is stronger in the South than the Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin area?
It's simple. Think of it like football; you don't expect to beat the home team at Homecoming. Walmart is deeply entrenched south of Kentucky. Fighting them there would require much planning and money, and Meijer is a very careful company. They aren't going to go somewhere where they cannot do well.
I always felt like Meijer was a better store, though, with larger footprints and a more complete merchandise mix. Of course, that was 2010 when Walmart was cutting a lot of SKUs and I was enamored at the idea of another Walmart-like store that wasn't the practically extinct Super Kmarts (even during that time, there were maybe two dozen at most, possibly more--and none in the South), and I couldn't do a lot of comparison shopping in terms of what their hardlines and softlines were really like.