Meijer Looks to Wisconsin

Superstore retailer Meijer has its eye on Wisconsin: The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company, which is already present in five Midwestern states, is reportedly seeking a site for a nearly 200,000-square-foot store in the southeastern community of Franklin in the greater Milwaukee area, according to published reports.

Franklin city planning manager Joel Dietl confirmed to The Business Journal that Meijer is considering several sites for its first location in the state, including the northeast corner of West Loomis Road and Highway 100. Dietl noted that the company would “ultimately … want to have multiple locations” in Wisconsin. The publication characterized the suburb as an “already crowded grocery market.”

“I can tell you that we evaluate sites throughout the Midwest on a daily basis and, while we are currently considering several sites in Wisconsin, it's still too early in the process to discuss specifics,” Meijer spokesman Frank Guglielmi told Mlive.com, a sister publication of The Business Review.

CEO Hank Meijer revealed in an exclusive interview on the website in February, however, that the retailer would likely expand into additional contiguous states. Meijer currently has about 200 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky.