AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – The Mahoning Valley’s newest Meijer Supercenter will open May 8, offering one-stop shopping.
Patrick Hughes, director of the Mahoning Avenue store, led township officials and members of the media on a tour Thursday of the new center.
The 159,000-square-foot store features groceries, clothing, a bakery, meat department, cleaning supplies, pet products, prepared food and a pharmacy. It employs about 350 people.
“We are constantly looking at how to make a better, more convenient shopping experience for the customer,” Hughes said.
New Meijer stores in Medina and Richmond Heights will open May 8 as well, bringing to 58 the number of stores in Ohio. The Austintown store is the third in the Mahoning Valley. The Boardman store opened in 2021, followed by one in Howland in 2023.
Austintown Trustee Bruce Shepas views the significance of the new store two ways.
“One, we took a big space that was vacant for quite some time – quite the eyesore, in my opinion – and we developed into something beautiful,” he said.
The former high school was on the site that later became Austintown Middle School. After it closed, the building deteriorated and then was razed.
“And what we like about it is not only as a township trustee, but as a consumer, as a resident, we are so grateful that we have more options to find more competitive pricing for us, the taxpayers, the families,” Shepas said.
While the supercenter opens next week, the adjacent gas station and convenience store opened April 10.
“The response from the community as a whole, especially at our gas station, has been overwhelmingly positive,” Hughes said. “So it’s been a lot of fun to get to start connecting.”
Hughes presented a $15,000 donation to the Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley during Thursday’s event.
He’ll present a $15,000 donation next week to St. Vincent dePaul Society.
Store employees vote to pick organizations they support, the store director said.
Anthony Spano, Hope Foundation founder and director, said the organization raises money for chronically and terminally ill children, helping with treatment costs and other assistance. “We’re there to help them,” he said.
The store’s opening day will offer giveaways and prizes for customers.
Pictured at top: Patrick Hughes, Austintown Meijer Supercenter director, leads a tour of the new store before its May 8 opening.