Meijer: Difference between revisions

Meijer (pronounced MY-er) is a regional American discount department store and grocery retailer that is credited with pioneering the modern hypermarket concept in 1962. ^{[citation needed]}

It is often referred to as Meijer's by residents of Michigan and Ohio (note the possessive), probably a holdover from the days of Meijer's Thrifty Acres.

Meijer is based outside of Grand Rapids in Walker, Michigan. About half of Meijer stores are located in Michigan and others are located across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Meijer primarily operates department stores under the "super center" philosophy (also known as a hypermarket), which means that groceries and department store goods are carried in the same large stores. A typical Meijer superstore carries over 150,000 items, and is open 24 hours a day (excluding Christmas).

Meijer Gas Stations sell gasoline and convenience store items. They are typically located near Meijer stores, as well as at major intersections.

Meijer was founded in 1934 as Meijer's Grocery in Greenville, Michigan by Hendrik Meijer. Meijer was a local barber who decided to invest in the grocery business. His employees included his son, Fred Meijer, then a 14-year-old grocery bagger, who would later become the well-known chairman of the company. The current co-chairmen, brothers Hank and Doug Meijer are Hendrik's grandsons.

The store slowly grew, and by 1960 had over two dozen stores (primarily near Grand Rapids, Michigan) and 4,000 employees. In 1962, the modern format of Meijer was started, with the opening of the first Meijer's Thrifty Acres store, combining grocery shopping and department store shopping in a single large store. Meijer copyrighted the phrase "One Stop Shopping".

The Thrifty Acres stores, now under the leadership of Fred Meijer, became a tremendous success, and now the stores (renamed to simply Meijer in 1986) have over 170 stores across five states. Meijer is the 9th largest privately held company in America.

With the increasing dominance of Wal-Mart throughout the country during the 1990's and now into the Midwest, Meijer is facing the effects of an intensely competitive retail industry. In 2003, the company was forced to layoff several thousand employees and managerial staff, leading to speculation that the company was quickly losing profitability and market share. That year, 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. Meijer has also embarked on a new expansion plan that will increase its number of stores in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Retail analysts have also speculated that Meijer could expand into neighboring states within a decade.

Note that despite the near-identical name and store concept, there is no relationship between Fred Meijer and the similarly-named Fred Meyer stores (now a division of Kroger) of the Western United States.

The average Meijer store employs over 400 people, and is popular among college students because of the operation hours. Most Meijer employees are members of the UFCW, although some, especially in Indiana, are not union. Meijer Employees are given a 15 minute paid break, an unpaid 30 minute lunch for shifts over 5 hours, and a second paid break for shifts over 6 1/2 hours. The current union contract was ratified in November 2002. While each region and store may have a different union contract, the established starting wages as follows: General Merchandise clerks (employees who work in the various general merchandise departments) start at $6.00/hour and make a top wage of $10.50/hour. Grocery team members start at $6.60/hour and can make up to $12.00/hour. Cashiers start at $6.65/hour and make a top wage of $11.35/hour. Wage rates do vary by market, however. There are a small number of hourly employees who are able to make more than their set top rate because of their longevity. Those who were hired prior to 1984 are still employed under a non-expiring contract. This contract has top wages of higher than other employees and are currently making up to around $16.50/hour.

Raises are given as team members hit certain hour and time quotas. For team members hired before 1984 a raise is received every 11 months for full-time workers and every 15 months for part-time. Team members hired between 1985 and 2003 employees receive a raise for 700 hours worked. Team members hired after the ratification of the current contract in 2003 receive a raise for every 1000 hours worked.

Non-Union workers (Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky) also may receive extra bonuses after 90 days of work. The most notable of these bonuses are known as 'issue-free hourly incentives'. These incentives are given every 4 weeks to employees whose store has surpassed the projected earnings quota. The amount received in this bonus is reflected by the percentage the store (or unit) has surpassed the quota, by its ranking in the consumer ratings system know as 'Meijer e-panel', and by the number of hours worked by the employee in that period. This means that the employee could make almost a full paycheck extra depending on the performance of the store.

Hierarchy of management includes Team Leaders, Area Team Leaders, Line Team Leaders and a Store Director, in that order. A typical Meijer store will employ 15-25 Team Leaders, 8-12 Area Team Leaders, and four Line Team Leaders. Line Team Leaders and experienced Area Team Leaders are also responsible for acting as a Store Director in Charge. Management at Meijer is non-union. There are, however, a few positions that contain supervisory functions with shift premiums. Guest Service Coordinators are part of the unionized workforce (where applicable) and assists a Guest Service Team Leader with customer service functions. Stores will also contain Lead Clerks in General Merchandise and Grocery areas.

Meijer is open 364 days a year, and is closed on one day a year (Christmas).

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Meijer has RFID card readers installed in all checkout lanes to accept payment methods such as PayPass from MasterCard and the ExpressPay feature from American Express.

Community Rewards allows customers to determine where Meijer's donations go. Customers sign up and choose up to three non-profit organizations. When a card is scanned, 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 [1].

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."

Meijer's donations to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief included food and 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.

Most recently, the Meijer Foundation has announced plans to donate $1 million to Michigan's White Pine Trail State Park, raising the total donations to the new state park from $2.1 to $3.1 million. This last donation stipulated that the state must name the trail the "Fred Meijer White Pine Trail," which originally made the state Parks Department turn down the donation and creating a controversy over naming rights for private donations to public parks.

• Company website