Meijer Totally Explained

Everything about Meijer totally explained

Meijer (Dutch, ) is a regional American hypermarket chain based in Walker, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 182 locations are located in Michigan, with additional locations in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The chain was ranked No. 10 on Forbes' 2006 list of "America's Largest Private Companies". Supermarket News ranked Meijer No. 12 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $13.2 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, Meijer is the twenty-fifth largest retailer in the United States.

History

Meijer was founded as Meijer's Grocery in Greenville, Michigan by Hendrik Meijer, a Dutch immigrant. Meijer was a local barber who decided to enter the grocery business when hard times came during the Great Depression. His first employees included his son, Fred Meijer, then a 14-year-old grocery bagger, who would later become the chairman of the company. The current co-chairmen, brothers Hank and Doug Meijer, are Hendrik's grandsons. After studying trends in the grocery industry, Meijer was among the first to offer self-service shopping and shopping carts. He also worked hard to find and offer staple items, such as vinegar, at bargain prices.
The Greenville store did well, and additional Meijer groceries were opened in Ionia and Cedar Springs. By 1960, the company had over two dozen stores located throughout West Michigan. In 1962, the modern format of Meijer was started, with the opening of the first Meijer Thrifty Acres store at the corner of 28th Street and Kalamazoo in Grand Rapids, which is still in operation today. At a size of 100,000 square feet, it combined grocery shopping and department store shopping in a single large store. Meijer trademarked the phrase "One Stop Shopping". The store was built with six-inch-thick floors, so that should the concept fail, the non-grocery half could be converted into an indoor car dealership. New stores were built in this same manner until the mid 1970s, when an architect mentioned the extra cost to management.
The Thrifty Acres stores, now under the leadership of Fred Meijer, became a tremendous success and were renamed to simply Meijer in 1986. Meijer's stand-alone grocery operations continued until the early 1990s, as the larger stores became dominant. In 1985 it was reported in Forbes magazine that Wal-mart at the time had failed in what were then known as hypermarkets because Sam Walton and company didn't understand the grocery business. Walton launched the first Hypermart USA store in 1987, opening only four stores, the last in 1990. It was said that Meijer understood the food business was important and not something just attached to a discount store. The quality of the produce is very important, and that poor quality produce sold by Wal-mart was their main problem. By contrast surveys said then and now that Meijer ranks high on produce quality.
   With the increasing dominance of Wal-Mart throughout the country during the 1990s and now into the Midwest, Meijer is facing the effects of an intensely competitive retail industry. In late 2003, the company laid off 350 people from the corporate offices, distribution centers and field offices; a few months later, in January 2004, Meijer laid off 1,896 employees and managerial staff, leading to speculation that the company was losing profitability and market share. A marketing professor, Dr. Ben Rudolph of Grand Valley State near Meijer's corporate headquarters, lambasted this move, saying they "apparently blinked" and that Meijer's "decision was driven by panic". He also asked "Will Meijer actually be able to succeed positioned directly against Wal-Mart? Of course not". Continuing cutbacks in 2006, the company outsourced eighty-one information technology positions to India.
   In 2003, the company announced that all new Meijer stores would feature an entirely new format and company image, complete with a new logo intended to make the Meijer stores seem "friendly" and inviting. The midwestern company hired New York City's Rockwell Group to redesign all the existing stores and establish a design for new stores. The "new theatrics" for the then-seventy-one year-old company originally started as a "new product introduction program" until David Rockwell talked Hank and Fred Meijer into furthering Rockwell's services. Rockwell told the Meijers the new introduction program would "work only if it was part of a new overall creative foundation based on a fresher, younger approach, encompassing architecture, interior design, and graphic design". Despite its recent cutbacks, Meijer has also been embarking on a new expansion plan that will increase its number of stores in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
   In July 2007, Meijer announced to local Michigan press it would be "restructuring" its Team Leader management positions in all 181 stores, stating layoffs would be "minimal" and necessary "to handle more sophisticated products such as flat-screen TVs and high-priced wines". Their spokesperson also said the changes were "not about a labor reduction", but fitting people in the right role. No corporate staff or hourly workers were directly affected. In August 2007, the complete "minimal" number of cuts were made public, and they totaled approximately 500 (12% of existing) managers. The 500 were given severance packages, while even more managers were transferred to other stores or "reassigned to different positions". As opposed to this not being about a labor reduction as said a month before, the Meijer spokesperson stated the cuts were made as Meijer "tries to compete with the world's largest corporation, Wal-Mart".

Operations

Meijer stores are classified as supercenters or hypermarkets; i. e., groceries and department store goods are carried in the same store. Many stores also feature a Meijer-branded gas station and convenience store in front. Several Meijer locations feature alternative fuels such as E85, biodiesel, and compressed natural gas.
Most Meijer stores are open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, closing only at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and reopening around 6 a.m. on December 26. Closing on Christmas Day has been in effect since March 7, 1988.

Other Meijer concepts

In addition to the original Meijer supermarkets and current hypermarkets, Meijer has tried many other retail concepts over the years. These concepts included:

Spaar: In 1980, Meijer converted two former supermarket locations in Grand Rapids to a discount drugstore concept titled Spaar, from the Dutch word for "save". The Spaar stores were sold to Pontiac, Michigan-based Perry Drug Stores by the mid-1980s, as the decision had been made to focus entirely on Meijer's hypermarket concept.

Meijer Square: Meijer Square was a traditional discount department store comparable to Kmart or Wal-Mart, lacking a full grocery section. Starting in 1981, Meijer Square consisted of fourteen test locations in Michigan and Ohio, mostly converted from other discount retailers.

Copper Rivet, Sagebrush, Tansy: Meijer started three specialty clothing stores in the 1980s as means of selling popular brand-name clothing. Copper Rivet sold Levi's jeans; Sagebrush sold casual wear; and Tansy sold women's clothing. All three chains usually operated in front of existing Meijer stores, although some locations were located in nearby shopping centers. All three chains were dissolved in the 1980s as brand-name clothing became more readily available at competing retailers. Sagebrush, which at its peak comprised seventy-one stores, was sold in 1988, while Copper Rivet and Tansy stores were closed as their leases expired.

SourceClub: SourceClub was a short-lived warehouse club concept attempted by Meijer in 1992. The concept proved unsuccessful and all SourceClub stores were closed in 1994; the location in Fraser, Michigan was converted to a regular Meijer store, while the rest were sold off. Meijer's ranking stands in contrast to the high ratings of its bigger retail rivals, such as Federated Department Stores (100%), Sears/Kmart (100%), Target Corporation (80%), and Wal-Mart (40%).

Marketing and Sponsorship

Meijer's "Community Rewards" program allows customers to determine where Meijer's donations go. Customers sign up and choose up to three non-profit organizations. When a Rewards card is scanned at the checkout, those organizations receive credit for the purchase. The website says the amount donated to these organizations is at least 5% of net profits and are distributed based on the number of credits each organization receives.
As a philanthropist, Fred Meijer's most significant contribution has been the land and sculpture collection for the 125-acre Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, a botanic garden and sculpture park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Meijer also donated land for a Grand Valley State University campus in Holland, Michigan approximately 30 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.(External Link

). Meijer, Inc. also donated an undisclosed amount of money to GVSU in the mid 1980s for construction of new studios for GVSU's Public Television Station, WGVU--which to this day continues to broadcast from "The Meijer Public Broadcast Center."
   Other donations helped create Spectrum Health's Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center.
   Meijer's donations to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief included food and bottled water, which arrived on the store's trucks at relief centers in Mississippi before government aid, as well as money given from both the company itself and its customers, who donated through the company's website.
   In July and August 2004, Fred Meijer personally offered to donate $25 million and a former golf course near Grand Rapids' East Beltline in order to fund a relocation and expansion of the historic John Ball Zoo. (The zoo is nestled between residential neighborhoods and I-196 on Grand Rapids' northwest side.) The proposal was turned down by voters and Meijer retracted the offer.
   Recently, the Meijer Foundation announced plans to donate $1 million to Michigan's White Pine Trail State Park, raising the total donations from $2.1 to $3.1 million. The donation carried a stipulation that the state must name the trail the "Fred Meijer White Pine Trail". The state parks department initially turned down the donation, but the decision created a controversy over naming rights for private donations to public parks.
   Grand Rapids' downtown Civic Theatre, now renamed the Meijer Majestic Theatre, had a $10 million renovation, thanks in large part to donations by Fred Meijer, as well as Civic Action, a Grand Rapids-based community improvement organization. The name Meijer Majestic Theatre reflects both the original name of the 103 year old theatre as well as Fred Meijer's philanthropy.
   In 2006, Meijer donated money to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in order to create the paid position called the Frederik Meijer Chair of Dutch Language and Culture. Previously there was a chair but it was unpaid. It is currently held by Dr. Henk Aay, and its purpose is to promote interest in the Netherlands and Michigan's Dutch cultural heritage.
   Meijer has been involved in sponsorship in the IRL series for several years. They currently are an associate sponsor on the #7 Andretti-Green Racing entry driven by Danica Patrick.

Meijer store design

Meijer stores are typically designed with the supermarket section to one side, and the general merchandise section to the other side. The chain's stores are almost always constructed from the ground up; very few Meijer stores have been converted from other retailers. Most United States Hypermarkets are credited as starting at later dates. Meijer credits itself as a grocery chain, that added general merchandise to their grocery stores in 1962. The Meijers are very private people and wouldn't talk to Forbes for a 1995 comparison to Hypermart USA and Kmart's American Fare failed hypermarket concepts.

Product incidents

On October 11, 2007, food manufacturer ConAgra asked stores to pull its Banquet and generic brand chicken and turkey pot pies due to 174 cases of salmonella poisoning in 32 states being linked to the consumption of ConAgra pot pies, with 33 people hospitalized. By October 12, a full recall was announced, affecting all varieties of frozen pot pies sold under the Meijer brand name, as well as Banquet, Albertson’s, Food Lion, Great Value (sold by Wal-Mart), Hill Country Fare, Kirkwood, Kroger, and Western Family. The recalled pot pies included all varieties in 7-oz. single-serving packages bearing the number P-9 or “Est. 1059” printed on the side of the package.

Acme Township Controversy

In February 2007, Meijer was involved in an effort to recall the elected officials of Acme Township in Grand Traverse County, due to the official's reluctance to allow a new store along M-72 within the rural township. Meijer retained Seyferth, Spaulding & Tennyson, a Grand Rapids public relations firm, which helped orchestrate the recall effort. As of January 2008, a criminal investigation was currently underway by the Michigan State Police into the legality of the scheme.
Records indicate that PR firm retained by Meijer had arranged meeting with a small non-profit organization which favored the Meijer store, but hadn't yet formally taken a position on the recall. With the persuasion of the PR firm, the organization, known as the "Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government," formed a recall committee and began to promote the recall election. Seyferth researched the plausibility of a recall, wrote justification for the recall and oversaw the agenda for the meeting with Acme Taxpayers. The PR firm revised the organization’s website, logo, devised talking points, campaign literature and wrote ghost letters to Traverse City newspapers. The recall committee didn't disclose any of the PR firm’s assistance, or its affiliation with Meijer.

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