Mid-Michigan Dining

• 235 Capital Avenue SW
• Battle Creek, MI 49037
• (269) 966-3200
• Website

The Horrocks store on Capital Avenue SW in Battle Creek.

Easily, one of things I like the most about Lansing is Horrocks.  We’ve saved so much money and gotten some great stuff at Horrocks in Delta Township.  When produce is in-season, Horrocks is a once a week trip.  During the winter, it turns in to a bi-monthly or monthly trip but still something I look forward to.

J and I met her parents in St. Joseph for Mother’s Day brunch.  On the way home, J suggested stopping by Horrocks to get some fruit for the week.  Since it was on the way, I suggested we check out the Battle Creek Horrocks.

The Horrocks on Battle Creek is near I-194 on Capital Avenue SW.  The building looks to be an old office building or something.  The store is in a pretty industrial area, so the previous tenant of the building could have easily used the building for anything.

Being regulars at the Lansing store made the Battle Creek store very confusing.  We’re so used to the layout and the flow of the store in Delta Township that we were lost when we got inside the Battle Creek store.  First, you actually have to walk through the greenhouse to get to the building.  We grabbed a cart and walked through the doors.  At first, I thought we were in the wrong store.  I thought maybe there were separate buildings for the grocery and greenhouse parts of the business. 

Immediately when entering, you have the checkstands to your right.  That’s pretty normal, but off to the left are paper goods like cards and books.  In front of you, you have flowers.  When you first enter the building, there is no food in site. 

Horrocks in Battle Creek near I-194

We took a left and headed down an aisle that took us past the general merchandise part of the store.  The bulk candy area is behind this area and eventually, you get into some produce.  The main produce area is in the back of the store and it’s in one big area.  The whole store is one big open area.  There are no walls separating anything other than the freezer section.

Speaking of the cold room, it’s much smaller than the Lansing store.  They have a big cheese room with as much or more than Lansing, but their meat section is much, much smaller.  There wasn’t much at all and it’s inside the cheese room. 

There are a couple good difference in the Battle Creek store.  There were a lot of free samples scattered throughout the store.  They had samples set up from everything to salsa to cheese.  There’s also a small ice cream shop/deli area behind the cash registers.  It didn’t look like it was a Horrocks enterprise, but like they were renting space. 

We ended up buying the same thing we would have bought in Lansing.  A few apples, some cheese, oranges, and red leaf lettuce.  Because we shop at the Lansing store so often, the Battle Creek store seemed like a foreign country to us.  Sure, they had all the great things we like about Horrocks, but we didn’t know where anything was and that made shopping frustrating.  What this really means is that Horrocks adapts to their environment.  They don’t try to make cookie cutter stores and that, I like.