BYRON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Family Fare supermarkets not so long ago were in the far suburbs, closed Sundays and offered little beyond the basics. But since being taken over by Spartan Stores in 2003, the stores have become more modern. The latest update is the introduction of gas stations with convenience stores next to the supermarket, reported The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press.
Jeanne Norcross, Spartan Stores spokesperson, said the company wants to have all future stores equipped with the Quick Stop convenience store/gas stationsa major capital investment [image-nocss] in the properties. "The customer really has come to expect it," Norcross told the newspaper.
During fiscal 2006, the company opened three fuel centers in Michigan operating under the banners Family Fare Quick Stop and Glen's Quick Stop, added a Reuters report. Spartan Stores currently operates a total of six fuel centers. Its prototypical Quick Stop stores are approximately 900 square feet in size and are located adjacent to its supermarkets.
Response from community officials has varied, said the report. In Cedar Springs, Mich., the Family Fare site has enough room to contain the Quick Stop. Grand Rapids has its own Quick Stop that opened last month, two years after the first locations opened in Zeeland and Holland, Mich.
But other stores have been slower in coming along. Spartan Stores approached the Wyoming, Mich., Planning Department about placing a gas station near the Family Fare in Rogers Plaza; however, Wyoming has specific regulations about gas stations that include a requirement they be placed on a corner with one of the streets being a major thoroughfare, according to City Planning Director Gerald Mears. "We told them 'no,' and they walked away," Mears told the paper.
But in other communities where Spartan faced reluctance, the company was not so quick to give up, said the report. In Allendale, Byron and Plainfield townships in Michigan, the corporation decided to close its existing stores and move to a nearby site that would accommodate the desired amenities.
Norcross would not say whether the company will move stores that don't have the capacity for upgrades to c-store/gas stations, as well as pharmacies, but she said no new Family Fare will be built without them.
In Byron Township, planning commissioners said moving the store is a huge project that deserves further study and consideration. They will hold a special work session to discuss details further. After the work session, the project will go back to the Planning Commission for possible action at its regular November 20 meeting.
In Allendale Township, moving the store led to protracted negotiations with planners and other officials over location. The developer working with Spartan wanted to move the store away from the main business district, which was opposed by planners. They reached a compromise that will result in a new supermarket and Quick Stop on the current site of Allendale Christian school. The school plans to relocate nearby.
Township Supervisor James Beelen said there were some serious negotiations with the developer. At one point, according to the report, Spartan said the lack of a Quick Stop might make any store in the township not viable.
Norcross said it is important the stores keep up with the competition, including Meijer, Wal-Mart and Costco, which all feature similar amenities. "They're all competing, but they all want to look the same," Beelen said.
Norcross said the Family Fares will have up-to-date technology that will allow customers to redeem gasoline coupons received while shopping.
In addition to the Quick Stops at the stores, Spartan operates some standalone stations, such as the one across from the Spartan corporate headquarters.
Norcross said there are stations at the corporate-owned Glen Stores in Northern Michigan and it may open some at D&W Fresh Markets locations, the first planned for Caledonia.
Grand Rapids-based Spartan Stores Inc. distributes more than 40,000 private-label and national brand products to 350 independent grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Spartan Stores also owns and operates 68 retail supermarkets and 19 deep-discount food and drug stores in Michigan and Ohio, including Family Fare Supermarkets, Glen's Markets, D&W Fresh Markets and The Pharm.
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