[citation needed] In 1962 Meijer launched its modern format with a store at the corner of 28th Street and Kalamazoo Avenue in Grand Rapids called "Thrifty Acres."

The store was built with six-inch-thick (150 mm) floors, so should the concept fail, the nongrocery half could be converted into an indoor car dealership.

Meijer expanded into Southeast Michigan in the early 1970s, beginning with a store in Ypsilanti in 1972 followed by their first Metro Detroit location in Canton in 1974.

In 1985 Forbes magazine reported Walmart at the time had failed in what were then known as hypermarkets because Sam Walton and company did not understand the grocery business.

An article in Forbes Magazine said Meijer understood the importance of the food business, and it was not something just tacked onto a discount store.

[citation needed] The first Meijer location in the Northwest Indiana region opened in August 1997 in Michigan City.

[21] With the increasing dominance of Walmart throughout the country during the 1990s and up to the present, Meijer is facing the effects of an intensely competitive retail industry.

In late 2003 the company laid off 350 people from the corporate offices, distribution centers and field offices; a few months later, in January 2004, Meijer laid off 1,896 employees and managerial staff,[22] leading to speculation that the company was losing profitability and market share.

The "new theatrics" for the then-71-year-old company originally started as a "new product introduction program" until David Rockwell talked Hank and Fred Meijer into further changes.

[25] In 2005, despite cutbacks, Meijer embarked on an expansion plan to increase its number of stores in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.

In April 2003 Meijer selected DeVito/Verdi, an award-winning advertising agency in New York, to handle its $25 million account.

[26] In May 2007, the first LEED-certified Meijer store opened in the second phase of the Fairlane Green development in Allen Park, Michigan.

In July 2007 Meijer announced to the Michigan press it would be "restructuring" its Team Leader management positions in all 181 stores, stating layoffs would be "minimal" and necessary "to handle more sophisticated products such as flat-screen TVs and high-priced wines".

[28][29] In 2009, the chain announced a new concept in the Chicago region called Meijer Marketplace which comprises smaller stores that focus more on grocery items and pharmacy.

[32] In 2014, Meijer expanded into their southern-most store, Bowling Green, Kentucky, with a new development in the growing Gary Farms retail corridor.

[44] In June 2024, Meijer was reported to be scouting the Western Pennsylvania region, including Pittsburgh, for a possible expansion.

The first were specialty clothing store chains called Copper Rivet, Sagebrush and Casual Court.

Fourteen locations of Buffalo, New York-based Twin Fair, predominantly in southwestern Ohio, were bought and converted to the Meijer Square name.

The concept proved unsuccessful in competition against Sam's Club and Costco, and all seven SourceClub stores were closed in 1994.

During the 2010s, Meijer appeared to control or own the regional organic food supermarket chain Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, but official records were not very clear about the relationship between the two companies.

[59][60][61][62] In 2021, the organic food supermarket chain began to offer a "broad assortment of Meijer branded items".

[63] In April 2014, Fresh Thyme founder Chris Sherrell opened the first store in his chain in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

[citation needed] Also notable was the use of a large translucent wall above the grand concourse facing the registers.

Most of these signs have since been phased out in favor of the current logo, with the lower-case "meijer" (in red) with blue dots over the 'i' and 'j'.

[citation needed] Meijer was the first retailer to launch the "supermarket" or "superstore" in the U.S., combining a multitude of merchandise under one roof, when they opened the first Thrifty Acres in 1962.

Meijer retained Seyferth, Spaulding and Tennyson, a Grand Rapids public relations firm, to help orchestrate the recall effort.

[74] The PR firm revised the organization's website and logo, devised talking points and campaign literature, and wrote ghost letters to Traverse City newspapers.

[76] Meijer scored 0% on the 2008 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which is a measure of how U.S. companies and businesses are treating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors.

[77] In 2009, Meijer's score began to improve after the company amended its nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation.

[79] The federal government sued Meijer on behalf of a former employee for violating her civil rights by firing her because she would not work on Sundays.