Meijer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the unrelated chain of hypermarkets that is owned by Kroger, see Fred Meyer.
| Meijer | |
 |
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| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1934 (Greenville, MI) |
| Headquarters | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Key people | Fred Meijer, Chairman Hendrik Meijer, Co-CEO Paul Boyer, Co-CEO Mark Murray, President (as of August 1, 2006) |
| Industry | Retail (Grocery & Discount) |
| Products | Food, clothing, footwear, gasoline, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, housewares and pets. |
| Revenue | $13.2 billion USD (2005) |
| Employees | 65,000 |
| Slogan | Higher Standards, Lower Prices |
| Website | www.meijer.com |
Meijer (Dutch, pronounced MY-er) is a regional American discount department store and grocery retailer that is credited with pioneering the modern hypermarket concept in 1962. About half of Meijer's 170 locations are located in Michigan and others are located across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Meijer is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was ranked No. 10 on Forbes' "America's Largest Private Companies" in 2005.[1]
Meijer 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.
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[edit] History
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 employees. In 1962, the modern format of Meijer was started, with the opening of the first Meijer's Thrifty Acres store at the corner of 28th Street and Kalamazoo in Grand Rapids (still in operation today), 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 were renamed to simply Meijer in 1986 Meijer's stand-alone grocery operations continued until the early 1990s, as the larger stores became dominant.
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 2003, the company was forced to lay off several thousand employees and managerial staff, leading to speculation that the company was 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.
[edit] Operations
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. Many also feature a gas station, featuring pay-at-the-pump, with a mid-size convenience store; in most cases, these gas stations are located in front of the store itself. All gas stations now feature RFID technology for payment at the pump.
A typical Meijer is open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, and is closed on one day a year (Christmas). They usually close around 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve and reopen around 6 a.m. on December 26.
[edit] Payment options
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.
[edit] Other Meijer concepts
In the face of competition, Meijer tried many other retail concepts over the years. These concepts included:
- Spaar: In 1980, Meijer converted two old supermarket locations to a discount drugstore chain known as Spaar (Dutch for "save"). The Spaar stores would be sold to Perry Drugs by the mid 1980s, as Meijer decided that focusing on its larger stores was of higher importance.
- Meijer Square: This was a stripped-down store, lacking a grocery section. Meijer Squares, which opened in 1981, called Meijer Square, consisted of 14 test locations. These stores included eight former Twin Fair stores in Cincinnati, Ohio; a former Zody's in Essexville, Michigan; and a former Turn Style in Kalamazoo, Michigan's Maple Hill Mall, among others. The Ohio locations would be sold to Zayre by 1986 (and, in turn, to Ames and Hills), although the Michigan stores would remain open into the mid-1990s. The Meijer name would not be found in Cincinnati again until the early 1990s, after Hills and Ames left the Ohio market. One Meijer Square was located in Findlay, Ohio.
- Copper Rivet, Sagebrush, 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. These specialty stores usually operated in front of existing Meijer stores, although some locations were located in strip malls; one Sagebrush was even located in a mall. These stores would close in the late 1980s and early 1990s as their leases expired, and as brand-name clothing became more available at other, more popular stores.
- SourceClub: A warehouse club operation (similar to Sam's Club or Costco), SourceClub opened in 1992. The SourceClub concept failed and its stores closed by 1994; one location was converted to a regular Meijer store. It is likely that the stores failed due to increasing competition from Sam's Club, Costco, and the now-defunct Pace Warehouse.
[edit] Working at Meijer
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 1/4 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 $7.05/hour and make a top wage of $9.80/hour. Grocery team members start at $7.05/hour and can make up to $12.00/hour. Cashiers start at $7.05/hour and make a top wage of $11.00/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.
[edit] Criticism from the Human Rights Campaign
In 2006, Meijer scored a zero on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. Specifically, the HRC claims that Meijer does not offer "even minimal benefits or workplace protection for gay employees." and lists it as a consistently gay-unfriendly company. Meijer was one of only three companies out of over 400 graded to receive this extremely low score.[2]
[edit] Philanthropy
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.
In 2004, Fred Meijer offered to donate a former golf course on the East Beltline that he purchased (along with $1 million) in order to fund an expansion of the historic John Ball Zoo. The Zoo, nestled between residential neighborhoods and I-96 on Grand Rapids' northwest side. The proposal was turned down by voters who wanted the Zoo to stay where it was, and Meijer retracted the offer.
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 created a controversy over naming rights for private donations to public parks.
Also in the news, 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 Grand Rapids, one can find the Meijer name on dozens of stores and gas stations, Spectrum Health's Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, the Meijer Majestic Theatre, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, and the Meijer Public Broadcasting Center.
[edit] Trivia
- Note that despite the similar 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.
- While most Meijer stores were built from scratch, the locations in Traverse City and Sterling Heights were converted W. T. Grant stores. Also, one Detroit location was converted from Meijer's failed "SourceClub" concept.
- Some Meijer stores, including two in Flint, Michigan, feature a balcony containing service tenants such as a barber shop and nail salon. Both stores formerly had a full-service McDonald's restaurant in their balconies; a third Flint store also featured an on-site McDonald's despite lacking a balcony.
- The first "Thrifty Acres" store, on 28th Street in Grand Rapids, was built with extra-thick floors, so that should the concept fail, the store could be converted to a car dealer. New "Thrifty Acres" stores were built with extra-thick floors until the 1970s.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Largest Private Companies. Forbes.com (November 9, 2006). Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ Human Rights Campaign Foundation "New Report Shows Corporate America Competing to be the Most GLBT-Friendly," September 19, 2006
