Meijer, the Grand Rapids-based retailer known for its supercenters, is going small.

The retailer's newest venture is a small-format concept yet a full grocery store. Two new stores are expected to open in early 2023, one in Lake Orion and the other in Macomb Township, the retailer announced Thursday.

The stores will also include several supercenter departments, such as pet supplies, cards and floral as well as a pharmacy.

Called Meijer Grocery, the stores are designed for convenient, quick in-and-out shopping. Meijer Groceries will range in size from 75,000 to 90,000 square feet.

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Both stores are under construction and are now enclosed structures. For the Lake Orion store, Meijer repurposed the site of a former Kmart location on Lapeer Road at Clarkston Road. The Macomb Township store on 24 Mile Road at Hayes is new construction.

These smaller stores are the retailer's newest since they first introduced their small-format concepts of neighborhood-style markets in 2018.

“Our customers know they can count on us for the freshest foods and best value, which has always been at the core of what we do at Meijer,” Meijer President & CEO Rick Keyes said in a news release announcing the new stores and small format. “Meijer Grocery will now provide that same combination of freshness and value in a foods-focused format in your local community.”

The Meijer Grocery stores are bigger than Meijer's neighborhood market stores but smaller than the retailer's supercenter stores, which are typically about 150,000 square feet.

These new stores are designed with convenience in mind and a "simplified shopping experience," according to a news release.

“We’re excited to provide our customers with yet another way to shop,” said Don Sanderson, group vice president of foods at Meijer, in a written statement. “This new concept store will not only provide our customers with everything they need on their weekly shopping trip, but also a quick and easy solution for when they realize they left the key ingredient off their list while cooking dinner.”

The stores will have fresh produce, a meat counter, a bakery, a full-service deli and groceries. They will also have a pharmacy, health and beauty, baby, pet merchandise, cards and floral items. All of the departments, according to a news release, will be in a "condensed" and "quick-to-navigate footprint."

Sanderson said stores will also have cake decorators as well as meat cutters for custom cuts of meat.

"Little more convenience but the same value which is I think one of the greatest parts that these stores have to offer," Sanderson said. "It really allows us to fill in a gap where we couldn't necessarily get supercenters to and be closer to our customers and be more convenient."

Unlike its supercenters, the stand-alone store will have a single corner entrance.

Meijer Grocery will offer the same ways to shop, including using its mPerks loyalty programs, Shop and Scan, Meijer home delivery, and pickup. There will be self-scan as well as full-service checkouts.

Meijer now has 262 stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. The chain has four small-format neighborhood markets.

The first neighborhood market was Bridge Street Market in Grand Rapids, followed by Woodward Corner Market in Royal Oak, Capital City Market in Lansing and Rivertown Market, which opened in last October in Detroit on E. Jefferson.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Meijer to open two small concept grocery stores in 2023