Real Kato Blog: Meijer Thrifty Acres

Whenever I talk to someone from Michigan, we always fondly reminisce about Meijer's.

We always called it "Meijer's", not "Meijer", because in Michigan we tend to put a possessive "s" at the end of store names. Like, "Kroger's". Even sometimes "Kmart's". For a fuller explanation of this, go to this site (required reading for any current or former Michigander).

I'm thinking of Meijer's because Suburban Bliss mentioned it.

Before there were Super-Targets and Super-Walmarts and Super-Kmarts, there was Meijer Thrifty Acres. It's a store chain in the Midwest, especially in Michigan. It was a full-fledged grocery store that also sold clothes, electronics, liquor, garden supplies, auto parts, lumber, sporting goods, you name it. Inside Meijer's there was usually a bank, a dentist, a cafeteria, a tailor... it was like a little self-contained world. There was a gas station out in front. And it was all open twenty-four hours a day, every day (except Christmas). Whenever we needed to buy something, we could go to Meijer's.

Granted, a lot of the merchandise sucked. You really wouldn't buy clothes there unless, say, you were a twelve-year-old boy who had just ripped his only pair of dress slacks the day before the band concert. But it was always there as a safety net.

I actually liked going grocery shopping with Mom because she would let me wander around the store to browse and play while she bought all the necessary stuff. And sometimes I would get to pick up a little toy or something and add it to the cart, putting it there amongst the packages of ramen noodles and dishwashing detergent and cream of mushroom soup. Oh, and I bought lots of mechanical pencils. I loved mechanical pencils.

As a teenager going there, it seemed like I was always buying odd combinations of things. I would go through the checkout line with a can of tennis balls, a quart of motor oil, a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, and a bag of potting soil. I always wanted the cashier to ask me, "What are you going to do with this stuff?" so I could answer, "I'm making a bomb." I guess that wouldn't be so funny in this day and age.

Eventually we figured out the codes to the intercom system. We would sneak off to the back corner of the store, pick up a phone, dial #50, and announce things like "Mike, please report to the baby food section." I wonder if that still works?

Permalink 2 Comment

Posted by Ken in: life

Comments

Comment #1 from Javi (Guest)
2005 Feb 20 - 6:45 pm : #

noodles! you hacked the meijer's intercom? how hard do you rock?!

i used to love it there, could have spent hours wandering - i would have even worn the clothes (aren't dickies work clothes all the rage now anyway?)

god i miss a2!

Comment #2 from Ben (Guest)
2008 Jul 16 - 6:16 am : #

actuall it 79 now.
i called yesterday and told the people i was new and had forgotten the code.
obviously being retarted they handed it right over.

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