Projects

Ludington Meijer Electrical Reboot

Dimly lit and dated, the Meijer grocery store located in Ludington, Michigan was in need of a serious makeover. In 2017, D&D Construction won the contract to oversee a complete gut and remodel of the store, the pharmacy, and the gas station. Initially, Windemuller was brought in as a subcontractor to handle the electrical work for the gas station portion of the project. However, D&D Construction was so pleased with our work that they awarded our team the electrical contract for the full store. That job involved considerable demolition work, as well as a slew of lighting and power tasks. We piped in all the new lighting for the store, ran conduit, pulled wire, hung new fixtures, installed power drops for store shelving, implemented security systems on the doors, and put in the power components for virtually every part of the complex—from the checkout lanes to the refrigeration systems at the deli counter, all the way to the brand-new pharmacy.

The Challenge

Closing the Meijer store for the duration of the remodel was never going to be an option. The closest Meijer outside of Ludington is in Manistee, some 28 miles away. To avoid leaving customers high and dry, the store wanted to keep its 24/7 operations going uninterrupted throughout the renovation project. In other words, the store didn’t close a minute for the entire remodel project. Windemuller had to handle every segment of electrical work without disrupting business or impinging upon the customer experience. Particularly for the 22 checkout lanes and the self-serve point-of-sale areas at both ends of the store, getting the work done with a minimal footprint was no easy task.

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The Solution

To avoid interrupting Meijer’s day-to-day business, we had to schedule most of our work outside of peak hours. During the day, we had a team of two guys. During the “third shift,” from about 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., we had a team of 12-15 working non-stop. While Meijer is still open during the night, the reduced traffic gave Windemuller (and other contractors on the job) the freedom to cordon off various parts of the store and tackle them one by one. We worked with other teams to stage the project, so that we could rebuild different sections of the store from floor to ceiling in one go. We had a lot of help along the way from Meijer store employees, who would unstock the shelves in the parts of the stores we would be working, block off those segments of the building, and then restock everything once the work was done. Their assistance made it easier for our guys to finish the job on schedule and get back to their families.

Printable Resource

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