Meijer opened a location in Marion a couple of months ago. With the great coupon we received in the mail, I was there shopping the first week. Upon entering the store, there was the panel that held the map of the store layout. I could immediately see that this store had a dramatically different layout than any such store I’d been in before.
As I shopped, it became clear that the layout was indeed different and I had a very difficult time finding the frozen foods/dairy section (surrounded on all sides by non-food merchandise. The few people I know who have been to the store have the same reaction to the layout: what the @#%@! (not in so many words).
On the way home today, I stopped at Meijer to take a picture of the store map for the purposes of this post. I walked through the store and could not find it.
I spent a few minutes looking for a map online, but I am not that persistent when searching the net and I didn’t find one. I did find a couple of pages that extol the new Meijer store layout: “Products are located in a much more ergonomic fashion, designed to make the shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable for our customers.” That’s talking about the Gaylord, Michigan store, but what description it gives of the layout also applies to the Marion store.
Also, “the store will be much more user friendly in its layout”, which is discussing the Marion store.
On the way home today, I first stopped at Walmart to buy a few groceries (yes, I know, shopping at Walmart is an issue unto itself). Walmart being a large corporation, is not likely to just ignore the opening of Meijer just down the street. Sure enough, there is a reaction. Walmart is reorganizing the layout of the grocery section (at least). Now, I’m not saying the previous layout was the final answer for supermarket layout, but it wasn’t bad. The early outlook for the new layout isn’t promising.
So, someone at Meijer was paid money to devise a store layout that forces someone looking for a frozen pizza and a gallon of milk to walk though the clothing area.
And someone at Walmart was paid money to decide that in response to this competitor with the absurd layout, Walmart should screw with their own layout. How does this make sense?
And this is the vaunted private sector.
While in college I worked for a guy that was partners in an advertising firm. He told me that retail stores spend THOUSANDS of dollars per year on research for store layout. I say bull, the wally-world supercenter I go to changed their layout last summer and I hate going there anymore.
We have had Meijer around here for a while. The great thing about them is their produce is great. For fresh produce I go to Meijer, can’t beat it.
Keep in mind that stores design their layouts to appeal to the woman shopper. They are who discount stores want to attract, they are who they try to make feel the most comfortable.