In 1962, grocers Hendrik and Fred Meijer pioneered the combination of discount department stores and supermarkets in a single store when they opened an 80,000 square-foot addition at this site on June 5 to the 20,000 square-foot Meijer Super Market they had built in 1958. Called Thrifty Acres, the new store grew from the Meijer family's food retailing experience, which began when Hendrik Meijer opened a small grocery store next to his barber shop in Greenville in 1934. By then the family company, led by Hendrik and his son Fred, operated seventeen supermarkets in western Michigan and set out to create its first self-service discount department store with the hometown touch. The opening of Thrifty Acres marked the beginning of a new retail concept and cemented the legacy of Hendrik and Fred Meijer. The model carried risks: a single line of check-outs for food and general merchandise succeeded, but leasing nonfood departments to outside operators failed, causing inconsistency in stocking, pricing, and assortment. Taking over those leased departments required unplanned investment in merchandise, and the new store was not an immediate success. Adding two other super stores in Muskegon and Holland increased the financial burden, but the five-inch reinforced concrete floors the Meijers installed so the large stores could be reused as auto dealerships were never needed.