GRAND RAPIDS — The Bridge Street corridor west of downtown Grand Rapids continues to serve as a magnet for new housing options.

Walker-based grocery retailer Meijer Inc. hopes to build a new gas station adjacent to its recently-opened Bridge Street Market west of downtown.

Over the last several years, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce has sought to make diversity and inclusion a key part of its mission and culture.

At the opening today of Bridge Street Market, Meijer Inc.’s first foray in decades into smaller, neighborhood grocery stores, company executives say they’re “bullish” on the format and plan more similar stores, including in Michigan.

Meijer Inc.’s 39,000-square-foot Bridge Street Market being built west of downtown will serve as a “proof of concept” for the company’s planned expansion of smaller format urban grocery stores.

Drivers and pedestrians on Grand Rapids’ west side will soon see a new scaled-down store format take shape for Walker-based grocery retailer Meijer Inc.