Building the Technology Backbone at Meijer Fairfax Market
An Essential Oasis In the Midst of an Urban Food Desert
Meijer Fairfax Market
2190 E. 105th St., Cleveland
- With a commitment to community engagement and support for local businesses, Meijer Fairfax Market provides convenient access to fresh, high-quality food at affordable prices.
- The Fairfax Market stands not just as a beacon of innovation but also as a testament to the transformative power of technology in bridging communities and filling essential needs, particularly in areas designated as food deserts.
- Fairfax Market aims to address food insecurity, boost economic development, and offer a new shopping destination for residents and workers alike.
- The business provides employment opportunities for approximately 50 team members, offering competitive wages, health benefits, and educational support.
- Fairfax Market marks Meijer’s first venture outside of Michigan with its small-format neighborhood market concept.
- With the completion of the Meijer Fairfax Market project, Harrington Electric is presently working on its 7th venture with Meijer – a superstore being built in Alliance, Ohio.
In January 2024, the bustling Cleveland neighborhood of Fairfax welcomed a game-changer to its landscape: the Meijer Fairfax Market, a visionary 40,000-square-foot grocery store developed to offer a unique shopping experience to local residents while serving the needs of a large number of individuals working in the nearby health-tech corridor.
The Fairfax Market is not just another grocery store; it’s a much-anticipated community hub catering to Fairfax residents, Cleveland Clinic employees, and those in the vibrant University Circle area and the burgeoning Innovation District.
The Meijer project represents the sixth successful store opening for the Harrington Electric team, spearheaded by Rich Harrold, telecommunications estimator and project manager, who oversaw the intricate teledata infrastructure that serves as the backbone for market operations.
Harrold and his three-person crew embarked on the 10-month assignment in March 2023, laying the groundwork for the market’s teledata systems, which included installing voice/data connections, point-of-sale stations, and a comprehensive data network supporting purchasing, sales, inventory and other vital management components.
The project also involved designing and installing wireless access points for the public and private wi-fi systems, a store-wide paging system comprised of 30 speakers and horns, data connections for the store’s security and surveillance system, door and access controllers, and key automation systems notifying store management of critical events as they happen both on the main grocery floor and in back-store areas such as storage and freezer units.
In total, the project involved installing more than 400 data connections, connected with single mode fiber, requiring roughly 30,000 linear feet of Cat6 cable.
The job also provides exclusive wireless connectivity to a nearby Cleveland Clinic employee parking garage, where employees can pick up Meijer Fairfax Market grocery orders made remotely through their Instacart shopping app at a satellite kiosk located right inside the garage.
The project’s successful completion showcases Harrington Electric’s expertise in teledata work, and highlights the significance of technology integration in modern retail spaces. From gate controls to surveillance systems, every component of the Meijer Fairfax Market project was designed to enhance communications, efficiency and security while providing a seamless shopping experience.
This is vitally important, as Meijer’s objective in developing the Fairfax Market was to address food insecurity, boost economic development, and offer a new shopping destination for residents and workers in this vibrant urban neighborhood, long designated as an underserved food desert.
Harrington Electric is proud to work alongside Meijer in the completion of this important project, which serves as a new cornerstone in the community, and is a testament to the power of expertise and innovation in shaping our urban landscapes for the better.
