Meijer (pronounced /ˈmaɪ.ər/ ) 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 190 locations are located in Michigan, with additional locations in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The chain was ranked No. 18 on Forbes's 2008 list of "America's Largest Private Companies" and 19 in Fortune's 2008 "The 35 largest U.S. 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 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, Frederik 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 180,000 square feet (17,000 m 2 ), 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 (152 mm) -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 did not 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". 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 april of 2003, Meijer selected DeVito/Verdi, an advertising agency in New York to handle its $25 million account.
In July 2007, Meijer announced to the 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; such as 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 December 24, 1988.
Other Meijer concepts
In addition to the original Meijer supermarkets and 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 a decision had been made to focus entirely on Meijer's hypermarket concept.
- Meijer Square : Meijer Square was a traditional discount department store, 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. The Ohio locations were sold to Zayre and Hills in 1986, although the Michigan locations remained open into the early 1990s. The Meijer name would not be found in Cincinnati again until 1996, after both Hills and Ames had closed all of their Ohio stores.
- Copper Rivet , Sagebrush and Tansy : Meijer started these 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 or in local shopping centers. These clothing 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 off in 1988, while Copper Rivet and Tansy stores were closed as their leases expired.
- SourceClub : SourceClub was a 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. SourceClub failed due to increasing competition from similar warehouse clubs, such as Sam's Club and Costco.
- Meijer C-Stop : Meijer convenience stores and filling stations in areas where there is no attached store. Unlike past concepts, most of these are still in operation, including some locations that are present without a larger Meijer big-box store nearby.
- ChicagoLand : Concept created for the Chicago area expansion. The stores will be more focused on grocery and pharmacy; the new, smaller stores will be in the suburbs around Chicago, IL.
Employee Benefits
Those who were hired prior to 1984 are still employed under a non-expiring contract. This contract has top wages higher than ot
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