New team members prepare for grand opening of Austintown Meijer supercenter
Hundreds of new team members are stocking shelves, coordinating upcoming deliveries for maximum freshness and getting ready to open the doors to Austintown’s Meijer grocery store.
Meijer store director Patrick Hughes led media representatives and city officials through the new 159,000-square-foot supercenter opening at 5800 Mahoning Ave. on May 8 in Austintown.
“We are constantly looking how to make a better, more convenient shopping experience for the customer. Our construction does an amazing job getting the store set up for us, and you’re going to have a smooth, hassle-free shopping experience,” Hughes said.
Hughes said 350 team members joined Meijer to work at the Austintown location, including the express gas station that opened on April 10.
“The response from the community as a whole, especially at our gas station, has just been overwhelmingly positive, so it’s been a lot of fun to get to start connected,” Hughes said.
Meijer in Austintown also presented a $15,000 donation to Anthony Spano, founder and executive director of The Hope Foundation.
“If you look at bigger corporations in the community, they donate money through a corporate office, and they support communities not really knowing exactly what they’re supporting,” Hughes said. “The Meijer family finds it very important that the store’s team members have a say in where the money goes.”
Meijer team members have the ability to vote for which organizations receive funding from the corporation.
“We’re also going to be donating a check to St. Vincent de Paul which does amazing work for the Youngstown area,” Hughes said. “Little league teams doing a cookout to raise money, come and see me. We’re able to help and impact communities directly through the store from the people that live in the community.”
Spano and Amy McKee, chair of the board for The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, accepted the check.
The volunteer-run Hope Foundation provides financial support to chronically and terminally ill children in the Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull county region.
“We started the concept about 20 years ago and have helped 3,500 kids,” Spano said. “All of the money that’s donated stays here in the three-county area. If a child has to go to Cincinnati for care and they live here, we’ll take care of that child and whatever their needs are at the time. In 2027, we’ll be celebrating 20 years.”
To celebrate the grand opening on May 8, the first 200 customers through the door at 6 a.m. will receive a Meijer Gift Card while supplies last.
The special offers continue with goodie bag giveaways on May 9 and May 10, a visit from the Meijer food truck on May 11 and an outdoor festival on May 18.
Visit the Meijer Austintown new store website for a full breakdown of when to visit for giveaways, special offers and community events.
According to Hughes, Meijer will be operating 58 stores in the northeast Ohio region as they’re gearing up to open two more stores in Medina and Richmond Heights in May.
“Three new stores in Northeast Ohio are going up this year, and we’re looking forward to future growth as well,” he said.
