Abby Stoner, Rob Young, Nick Cramer, Christina Woolard, and I piled into my car and headed for the expected blue shopping carts, parking extremely far away, a huge building, day old donuts on sale, seeing someone from Cornerstone,  self-checkouts and a penny ride on Sandy (the horse), but we were surprisingly wrong in our expectations.

Shopping carts were scarce as we pulled into a parking lot with approximately 15 parking spaces in the front of a “dollar store” looking building. We raced in my 1990 Honda Accord to get a spot, but all were full. We were forced to park in the additional parking, behind the building. Bummer. Thankfully it wasn’t raining.

We went to (basically) the corner of Alpine Ave. and Lamoreaux Dr. looking for Meijer, but not just any old Meijer. We went to the Meijer Thrifty Outlet. Weird name, and weird products. Instead of the typical red Meijer sign with the I and J dotted in blue, we found a red sign that read “Thrifty Outlet.” Although the Meijer logo is found on the trash cans, the checkout lanes and the receipt, one would not really know that everything in the store comes from Meijer branches such as the one on Knapp’s Corner or the one on 28th St.

Instead of the regular Meijer, everything was on clearance, and there was no food. This store contains all of the items that wouldn’t sell at Meijer. So basically they put the “reject” items in this tiny little store and marked the price…way down!

You can purchase a 24-inch television with a DVD player for about $80. You can also get three car air fresheners for 25 cents!  The items at this store are not consistent, so you can’t go expecting to find everything you might be looking for. When we went, they had toys and games for 25 percent off the marked price!

This Meijer did not have the typical Meijer appearance. It’s a tiny, completely stuffed and unorganized, clearance store that is free from self-checkouts. Weird. However we did find the conveyer belt cashier checkouts that were once used in the regular Meijer.  It only took us about an hour to get through the whole store, but in each isle there were boxes full of items instead of hanging from the merchandise hooks.

Rob Young and Nick Cramer loved the once in a lifetime opportunity that this outlet store gave them. The opportunity to buy 125 square feet of fun for 12 dollars. What fun? Bubble Wrap. So if you need to play a good prank or need to mail something important or fragile, head to the Meijer Thrifty Outlet.

The unfortunate thing about this Meijer is the hours. It’s only open from nine to nine Monday through Saturday and on Sunday it is only open from noon to five. It’s not as convenient as the regular 24 hour Meijer, but the prices are convenient.

This Meijer Thrifty Outlet is very surprising, and could be your shopping center for many birthday, Christmas, and Valentines Day gifts for relatives, friends, and acquaintances…for a cheap price! This small, clearance store gets my highest rating!!!!! (5 out of 5)

Quick Facts
LOCATION:  Alpine Ave NW & Lamoreaux Dr NW
Comstock Park, MI 49321
HOURS:  Monday -Saturday 9am-9pm, Sunday Noon-5pm
PHONE:
(616) 361-4398
GET OUT! FACTOR (OUT OF 5): !!!!!

Oberlin’s Top 4
4. Good smelling candles
3. An abundance of picture frames
2. 125 ft. of fun!
1. 25 cent car air fresheners