Meijer Shutters Small-Format Stores

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Superstore retailer Meijer Inc. will shutter two of its small-format stores in suburban Chicago this summer.

The expected closings in Berwyn and Melrose Park, Ill., are due to lagging sales, the company reported. The locations are scheduled to close June 17.

The Berwyn and Melrose Park stores, dubbed "Meijer Marketplace," are 90,000 square feet less than half the size of Meijer's typical 200,000-square-foot supercenters.

"Based on recent volume, we have determined it would not be economically feasible for them to remain open," Meijer Spokesman Frank Guglielmi said of the underperforming small-format stores.

About 300 employees will be affected by the store closings. They may accept positions at other Meijer locations, or be offered severance packages, according to Guglielmi.

"Meijer remains committed to the Chicago suburbs and the state of Illinois," he affirmed, noting that the retailer has invested more than $200 million in nine new Illinois supercenters over the past five years, mainly in suburban Chicago, where Meijer has 21 stores in total.

Meijer recently announced it would invest nearly $400 million in new stores and remodels throughout the Midwest. The announcement coincides with the company's move to expand home delivery across its six-state footprint after a successful test in Detroit last fall.  

Click here to see the full story from Convenience Store News sister publication Progressive Grocer.