NILES, Ohio – Meijer Stores Ltd., which opened its first Mahoning Valley store in May, will move forward on a long-discussed store at the Eastwood Mall Complex.
The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer, which operates more than 250 supercenter and grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, will build a 159,935-square-foot supercenter at Howland Commons on the site of the former Kmart Super Center. Cafaro Co. confirmed the project in a news release this morning issued following a Business Journal story.
“We do have a contract for that site but have not finalized details,” Frank Guglielmi, Meijer’s senior director of corporate communications, confirmed in an emailed statement. “That’s the extend of our comment,” he added.
The privately owned and family-operated company has operated since 1934. Its offerings include fresh produce and meat departments, pharmacies, comprehensive apparel departments, pet departments, garden centers, toys and electronics.
“Meijer is a great retailer with a huge and diverse selection of products, and it adds that extra element of more convenience and more selection to anyone who visits the Eastwood Mall Complex ” Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for the Cafaro Co., said. The retailer carries a “huge selection” of not just groceries but housewares, sporting goods and clothing.
The Meijer will be built on the site of the former Kmart Super Center at Howland Commons.
The Howland Meijer will be the first at a Cafaro-owned property, he added.
Speculation about a possible Meijer store at the mall complex has persisted for years. In August 2018, a Meijer spokesman said the company had acquired the Super Kmart building but a representative of the Cafaro Co. said nothing had been finalized at that time.
Demolition at the site will get under way soon, according to the release.
To accommodate the store — which will be larger than the approximately 150,000-square-foot Super Kmart building — and a 15,000-square-foot garden center, the adjacent building that formerly housed Grace Fellowship Church also will be taken down, Bell said. Construction of a new building will take 12 to 14 months, with an expected opening in 2023.
Permits needed for the project to move forward have been approved by Howland Township, where the plaza is located.
In addition to the store, Meijer will construct a 3,376-square-foot convenience store and fueling station on the east side of the plaza’s parking lot.
When it opens, the Howland Meijer will be the second of three stores that the chain has opened in or announced for the Valley. In addition to the Boardman store that opened last month and the Howland location, Meijer purchased land on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown about five years ago.
Pictured at top: The Meijer store in Boardman opened in May