Meijer rolls out home grocery delivery in Southeast Michigan

Walker-based big box retailer Meijer Inc. will roll out a home grocery delivery service later this month to customers in Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

The company announced in a statement its new partnership with mobile app Shipt Inc. that will allow metro Detroit customers to shop from about 55,000 items from 25 Detroit-area stores and receive delivery within one hour.

The service begins Sept. 15.

“This is yet one more option to make shopping at Meijer easier for our customers,” Michael Ross, vice president of digital shopping and customer marketing, said in a statement. “We believe our relationship with Shipt will provide many of our customers an all-encompassing service that will save them time and add a new convenience when shopping at Meijer.”

The service with Shipt is membership-based, so customers have to create an account on the app. Membership costs $99 per year.

Meijer has previously piloted grocery delivery from two of its Grand Rapids-area stores, via a partnership with Grand Haven-based online grocery delivery company Red Apron LLC, according to its website.

Art Sebastian, Meijer’s director of digital shopping, told MiBiz that the pilot program in Grand Rapids is still in effect as the chain continues to test the service.

The rollout in metro Detroit, however, is intended as a permanent addition for customers. No timeline, however, was available for when the service could appear in the retailer’s broader Michigan or Midwest footprint.

“All our energy is on the Detroit launch,” Sebastian said. “That’s our focus.”