The Subtle Sign Change That Ends an Era at Meijer

Few vibes were better than going to the Meijer at 2 am, sometimes for no other reason than just to go. Getting a 20-oz frozen Slurpee when the store was a ghost town made it taste that much better. So much so that when I would have friends visit from out of state, I would force them to go to Meijer at night like it was a rite of passage. The era of Meijer being open for 24 hours, 364 days a year (since it is always closed on Christmas) was a glorious time.

But there are many that won't ever understand that feeling. Before 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the supermarket never closed. However, during those unprecedented times, the stores began closing from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. to give workers space to socially distance/restock safely.

⬇️AN INDEPTH VIEW THE FIRST EVER MEIJER STORE⬇️

This is a change that was never reimplemented following the "return to normal", and since Meijer never made an official statement about this crucial aspect of Meijer's shopping culture. We have all silently hoped the company would bring back the nightly hours.

READ MORE: The Meijer Members-Only Store That No One Remembers |

However, there is a sign that those middle-of-the-night trips aren't coming back anytime soon: the actual Meijer signs, themselves.  As you can see above, all Meijer signs used to feature "24 Hours" on the sign. Meijer locations over the years have undergone remodels, and with this came new signs. Signs that no longer feature that important phrase.

The fact that Meijer is no longer advertising this on any of its signs seems to confirm that Meijer is moving away from the 24-hour format. This observation was brought up by someone on the Midland Complaints Facebook group.

24-Hour Meijer Stores May Return Afterall

Now, I know this completely contradicts what I just said. The supermarkets are seemingly making a move from 24-hour stores. But hear me out. Crain's Grand Rapids Business has reported that the small-format stores like the Bridge St. Market in Downtown Grand Rapids have been a successful experiment, and as more of them open, Meijer is contemplating returning these scaled-down stores to a 24-hour format.

Whether or not we see a return to the 24-hour format remains to be seen, but considering it is still open for 18 hours a day and offers curbside pick and you can pay someone else to do your shopping for you, there are plenty of ways to make up for those missing six hours of retail time.