- 5125 W. Saginaw Hwy.
- Lansing, MI 48917
- (517) 886-8101
- Website
It was that time again for my girlfriend to get a haircut. For me, that usually means a couple hours of killing time and shopping. This time, my girlfriend asked me to run a couple errands and pick up a few things at a mega-mart. Since Meijer is right in front of the place she gets her hair cut, I stopped over there first.
Meijer is the pioneer when it comes to the hyper-market. They were the first to come up with the full supermarkert plus full discount store design that Wal-Mart has now made popular. While I like Meijer’s grocery store, I don’t shop there often. Usually, we only go to Meijer when we need food plus general merchandise. When we first moved to town, Meijer was the first grocery store we went to to stock our new place.
For a supermarket, they have a really good produce section. There are a lot of hard to find items and Fred Meijer knew when he started that fresh produce was the way to attract people to his store. We’ve never actually bought produce there, because we usually hit Horrocks or farmer’s markets for that, but the selection is impressive.
When it comes to pantry items, they also have a really big selection of store brands which is nice. The two Meijer’s I’ve been in are just so big. I just feel like it’s hard to shop. It’s nice because the aisle’s are nice and wide and can easily fit two carts side-by-side with a walking lane in the middle, but that makes it hard to go down the aisle and look at merchandise on both sides.
I’ve never bought meat from Meijer so I have no idea what it’s like. Like Kroger, they do have a butcher on site and a meat counter which is a definate plus for me. The prices seem to be ok, but a little high on some things. The specials they have are usually on store brands so if you’re ok with that, you can find good deals.
The thing that frustrated me was the layout. I need to reiterate that this store is huge. I wasn’t looking for food on this particular trip. I needed toiletries. I headed to the area I thought they would be based on the location of the store I usually go to on Pennsylvania. I was way off. I walked around for another 10 minutes with a brief stop over in electronics(which itself is really huge) before finding what I was looking for. Once I got there, I was able to find everything except one item on my list. I hit the self-checkout and moved on to my next destination.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
I was wondering where you were going with the first line there, buddy.
The words “Meijer” and “meats” should *never* be used in the same paragraph. When I lived downtown, I visited the same Meijer and was immediately turned-off after seeing piles of thick, sloppy, pre-sliced deli meat in the display case. Gross!!! I wondered how long has that nasty stuff had been sitting in that deli display?
I’ve found that he Kroger on Saginaw (unfortunately the Kroger near us on Cedar doesn’t carry Boar’s Head) carries great deli-meats and cheeses (Boar’s Head) and slices-to-order. Best meats around, bar-none, are at Merindorf’s in Mason.
Good to know. I’ve been curious about Merindorf’s since reading about them on Amy’s blog. The Kroger on Cedar is where I usually shop too, but since they’re recalling beef, I may take a trip there to get some burgers one night this week. I’ve never been really picky when it comes to deli meat and really, it’s been quite a while since I’ve bought any. The Kroger I used to shop at in the Peoria area had Boars Head and I usually passed it up just because of the price. Every now and then I’d treat myself, but usually I’d go for the cheap stuff then dress it up.
Gotcha. Boar’s Head is pricy, but it’s on the Feingold Diet (no preservatives-artificial or natural-no artificial colors, etc.) Merindorf’s is expensive too, but we buy their filet mignon about once a month as our special treat!
Merindorfs Meats in Mason is worth a visit, we’re there at least once a month to stock up on meat. Very high quality meat and the the prices are still fair.
Next week hopefully. I’ll make there one night to grab something for dinner.