Sometimes it takes a move by one company to spur activity from others, particularly in a down economy.
That looks to be the case in Garfield Township, where last month's opening of a new "super" Walmart store in the Grand Traverse Crossing mall will be followed by major big box upgrades planned next year at Meijer and Sam's Club along U.S. 31.
"It's almost like they're keeping up with the Jones'," township building inspector Carl Studzinski said.
Meijer plans a major facelift for its massive, 255,000-square foot complex just south of the city limits. Plans include relocating the pharmacy to the front of the store to include a drive-up service window, and re-arranging gas station and convenience store access at the front of the property.
Inside changes will be more dramatic. Upgrades are planned to rest rooms, air ventilation system, telecommunications network, a revamped bottle return area and a new shelter for smokers. New flooring, paint schemes, lighting and graphics are included, along with new coolers, freezers and display cases.
The multi-tiered "piggyback" customer check-out system will be replaced with a single row of cashiers that store officials hope will be less confusing to shoppers.
"We're virtually touching everything on the sales floors," said Scott Middleton, Meijer's construction manager. "It will look like a new store."
Work will begin shortly after the holidays and should be completed before summer, Middleton said.
Similar plans are in the works down the road at Sam's Club, Walmart's bulk-purchase cousin. Of course Sam's Club isn't as much of a Walmart competitor as it is an arm of the same company. But mega-stores often court the same consumers. So when one store upgrades or expands its facilities, the others better be ready to answer or risk losing market share in a hotly competitive retail sector.
Sam's Club plans a new canopy to dress up the 136,000-square foot store's rather austere exterior and entrance. Extensive renovations are planned inside, including a remodeled bakery, pharmacy, delicatessen and snack bar, upgraded rest rooms, and new fixtures including coolers, freezers and display cases. Improvements to the HVAC system and changes to the parking lot and landscaping are planned.
The upgrades are a welcome change in Garfield Township. No municipality in northern Michigan felt the impact of Michigan's economic slide and the more-recent global recession more than Garfield. The suburban township led the regional building boom in the 1990s and the early part of this decade, when annual new building hovered in the $40- to $50-million range, including a whopping $73-million plus in 2002 during construction of massive Great Wolf Lodge.
More recently, new building fell off a cliff in Garfield as the national and world economies went sour.
New construction there fell to less than $23 million in 2007, and dipped under $20 million last year. This year's been equally woeful, as new building totaled less than $9 million over the first three quarters of 2009.
But the region's economic winds may be shifting. Studzinski said new building projects in Garfield totaled more than $3.2 million in October, and November's been another strong month.
Renovations and expansions at the township's big box stores could signal a long-awaited turnaround for the region's construction and retail trades.
And none too soon.
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