Meijer Welcomes First Customers as Evergreen Mayor Eyes Future Development

This new location is an investment that store director Jags Brar thinks the community will appreciate, especially people who have shopped at Meijer before.

“Right now, they want (Meijer) in their vicinity, and we opened the store,” Brar says. “It’s a dream come true for them.

“You’ll talk to some of our customers, that’s what they’re going to tell you: ‘Hey, thanks for having a Meijer here. We are so excited about the Meijer.’”

Indeed, customers were already flocking to the store when it opened at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Among these people was Beverly resident Ruth Johnson, who is glad to have a Meijer in the neighborhood.

“I used to go to Orland (Park Meijer) and I’m familiar with Meijer,” she said while selecting fruit in the produce section. “I like this particular layout: the aisles are large, and looking at the produce, it looks to be fresh and clean and they have organic products.

“I usually go to Whole Foods anyway to buy my vegetables, so I think it’s going to be a plus for the community, in addition to the stores that are around because they don’t have too many healthy stores.”

Mayor James Sexton attended the opening and said he is excited about the benefits that Meijer will bring to Evergreen Park. He said that Meijer’s opening is an important accomplishment for Evergreen Park for several reasons: a dilapidated golf course has been converted into thriving retail area, the new businesses are creating more jobs – Meijer itself creating 300 –, and the property and sales tax revenues will “help a host of taxing authorities.”

“We’re really glad to have Meijer here,” Sexton says. “It’s the first one, really of its size, on the south side. It shows a bright future for retail in this area, with all of these new stores opening and a Mariano’s to open next year in ’14 and the possible regentrification of the Plaza, so there’s a lot of good things happening.”