DETROIT - Grand Rapids-based retailer Meijer will host a ribbon-cutting event for its second Detroit location at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The 21431 Grand River Ave. Meijer was built at the site of the old Redford High School in the city's northwest side.

The 190,000-square-foot store at Grand River Avenue and McNichols Road is advertised as a "neighborhood store." This is in contrast to Meijer's first Detroit location at 8 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue.

The 8 Mile location opened in 2013, shortly after Whole Foods opened in Midtown.

Construction began at the new Detroit site last June.

Meijer leadership will accompany Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at the event.

In March, Meijer announced they were looking to fill some 270 open positions at the new store.

The new store will have locally-sourced produce and a full-service, drive-thru pharmacy.

According to statements made last summer, Meijer's first Detroit location was No. 1 in the region for cake sales. That means people are patronizing it for family celebrations.

Last year, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that the neighborhood behind the incoming Meijer store was one of the first where his administration began citing and then seizing vacant properties and auctioning them off in an effort to reduce blight.

Duggan's office then called the effort a success. It had seen the sale of 70 homes that fetched between $1,000 and $97,000 in online auctions. The program had raised over $1 million for the Detroit Land Bank.

Meijer has over 200 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Ian Thibodeau is the business and development reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. He can be reached at ithibode@mlive.com, or follow him on Twitter.