The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
MEIJER STORE OPENS
City, county officials welcome business
“This is a celebration of a lot of people working together, and that’s a great feeling.”
— Meijer Executive Chairman Hank Meijer
Several Avon and Lorain County officials gathered May 14 with Meijer representatives to open the company’s newest location at 1810 Nagel Road in Avon for a ribbon-cutting.
The Avon Meijer is one of three locations that opened May 14 in the state.
The Avon VFW Post No. 7035 and Avon High School baseball and softball teams and pep band also attended the ceremony.
Meijer Executive Chairman Hank Meijer said not only does the opening of the Avon location play a role in an historic day for the company, it also gave a chance for him to reflect on the importance of family.
The opening of the store landed on his mother Lena Meijer’s 100th birthday, who is pictured as the cashier in a 1940s photo of Meijer’s Grocery that
stands on the wall above the store’s entrance.
“This is going to be a very memorable day in so many ways for this team, for our family and I hope for the people of Avon,” Meijer said during the ceremony.
As a part of the store’s grand opening, Meijer also donated $20,000 to the Community Resource Services of Avon Lake and $10,000 to Avon High.
Meijer said the company’s relationship with the city of Avon has been nothing but positive.
“This town has been great to work with, and so we felt very welcome,” he said. “This is a celebration of a lot of people working together, and that’s a great feeling.”
Meijer also said preparation for the store’s opening saw impressive progress over the past 28 days.
“A lot of us were here a few weeks ago standing in this very spot,” he said at the ceremony. “The shelves were bare, the products hadn’t begun to come in.”
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen said he values the family-focus nature of the company and related to its immigrant-based history.
“One thing I noticed when I was looking in Meijer, is that they’re familybased, they’re communitybased and they’re regionbased,” he said.
The 155,000-square-foot store is open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, and is one of five supercenters that will open in the Midwest this year.
A Meijer store is slated to open in Lorain in 2020.
More than 600 varieties of produce, including 150 certified organic items are available for purchase, as well as a bakery, seafood and meat department and Starbucks coffee shop.
The store also has a pharmacy with a drive-thru pick up and free prescription program.
Additionally, between May 18 and June 18, the store will feature a variety of events to celebrate its grand opening, from a children’s festival to a community cookout.
Sisters Susan Myor, 60, of Sheffield Village and Amy Malloy, 55, of Avon said they came out to the grand opening to support Malloy’s son Declan, 16, who performed in the pep band.
“The store itself opening, it’s exciting,” Myor said. “It just gives us another place to shop.”