Meijer (pronounced /ˈmaɪ.ər/) is a regional American hypermarket chain based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962.[1] About half of the company's 194 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"[2] and 19 in Fortune's 2008 "The 35 largest U.S. private companies".[3] 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.[4] Based on 2005 revenue, Meijer is the twenty-fifth largest retailer in the United States.
Demand is driven by the aging of the US population and advances in medical treatment. The profitability of individual companies depends on access to medical insurance groups. Large companies have economies of scale in purchasing and in access to large groups of customers. Small companies can compete effectively through convenient location or special merchandising. The industry is capital intensive: average annual revenue per employee is $300,000.
Meijer Incorporated, according to Forbes magazine,"is one of the 15 largest growing private companies" in the United States; it is the country's fifth largest discount retailer, according to Discount Store News. The company operates 117 supercenters in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The company also owns and operates four office centers, two divisions of property services, and more than ten distribution centers. What makes Meijer such an overwhelming success is simple: its stores are open 364 days a year, 24 hours a day; each store has 40 departments, which sell more than 120,000 products; and one can buy almost anything at a Meijer store--from applesauce to flour to pants to lawn furniture to zinc oxide. Customers also can get prescriptions filled or shoes repaired.
Meijer entered the wholesale shopping segment in 1992 with the development of SourceClub, warehouse-shopping designed for the individual shopper, as well as the more traditional targeted customers from small businesses and affiliated groups. In business since 1934, Meijer has created up to 10,000 private-label brands.
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 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. At a size of 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2), it combined grocery shopping and department store shopping in a single large store. 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 the 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 by Forbes Magazine that Meijer understood the importance of the food business, that it was not something just tacked on to a discount store. The quality of the produce is very important; poor quality produce sold by Wal-Mart was the main reason for their lack of success. By contrast, surveys said then and now that Meijer ranks high on produce quality.
Early in 1990&mdash it had done 30 years earlier--Meijer once again led its peers in abandoning double-coupon promotions. Beginning in its metropolitan Detroit stores, Meijer dropped the promotion in February. Ryan Mathews, Detroit-based editor of the journal Grocery Marketing, was quoted in the Detroit Free Press, describing such campaigns as "the most senseless act of marketing that stores can engage in." Luckily for Meijer, the retailer was known for its excellent customer service. The company could then use advertising to emphasize that aspect of its image, rather than concentrate on prices only, as most competitors did. Drawing from founder Hendrik Meijer's steady, practical approach to retailing, Meijer's ad agency W.B. Doner & Company planned television spots based on that theme, with the slogan: "Meijer. The store built on common sense."
Meijer store openings planned included three in Michigan in 1990 and seven in 1991, with three planned for the Dayton, Ohio market and four slated for Toledo. Wal-Mart confronted Meijer in its own backyard, moving into the Ohio market with the construction of a new distribution center there. Industry analysts noted Meijer's traditionally loyal customer base as a hedge against the Wal-Mart presence. Digging its heels in, Meijer took advantage of the exit of retailers Ames and Hills from the Cincinnati area to reenter a market it had pulled out of in 1987. (After six years of operating eight stores offering general merchandise only, Meijer had sold its stores to Zayre, which Ames acquired in 1988. Both Ames and Hills filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991.)
Management changes in April 1990 paved the way for Fred Meijer's eventual retirement. His sons Doug and Hank Meijer were named co-chairmen, and Fred became chairman of the executive committee, with plans to work with senior management on the company's day-to-day operations. Other key executives included Mark Meijer, a member of the "Office of the Chairman," and Earl Holton, president and chief operating officer. Vice-Chairman Harvey Lemmen retired during the changeover.
The company continued growing through the early 1990s as a premier discount retailer in the Midwest, maintaining a low profile and high profit margins. With sales at $3 billion, Meijer led in the field of hypermarket supercenters. But Fred Meijer's vision of an expanding network of supercenters throughout the Midwestern United States was not yet achieved. During the mid-1990s the company established a supercenter on the north side of South Bend, Indiana, a state-of-the-art retail store with 40 departments and more than 100 products sold within it. Within a few years Meijer opened a second store just east of the city, designed with the same format and convenience for customers.
In March of 1998 Meijer opened its first store in Louisville, Kentucky, with four more planned to open during the next two years. The family's most risky expansion site, however, would be Chicago, where the company planned to open ten new supercenters beginning in 1999. Competing with such giants as Wal-Mart and Target, Meijer was preparing a sophisticated strategy to enter and capture this new market. One of its most innovative moves, an express self-checkout lane for customers with just a few items, was designed to attract people to shop at Meijer supercenters in Chicago.
Meijer is one of the fastest growing supercenter stores in the nation, and there seems to be no end in sight for continued expansion. Having reported revenues amounting to $6 billion in 1997, Meijer is clearly meeting the shopping needs of people throughout the Midwest.
Financials
Company Type PrivateHeadquarters
Fiscal Year-End January
2010 Employees 72,200
Executives
116 executives listed for Meijer, Inc.'s Grand Rapids, MI location.
Co-Chairman Doug Meijer E-mail
Co-Chairman and CEO Hendrik Meijer E-mail
Vice Chairman Paul Boyer E-mail
Address:
2929 Walker Avenue N.W.
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504-9428
U.S.A.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1934
Employees: 60,000
Sales: $6 billion (1997)
SICs: 5411 Grocery Stores; 5141 Groceries--General Line
Demand is driven by the aging of the US population and advances in medical treatment. The profitability of individual companies depends on access to medical insurance groups. Large companies have economies of scale in purchasing and in access to large groups of customers. Small companies can compete effectively through convenient location or special merchandising. The industry is capital intensive: average annual revenue per employee is $300,000.
Meijer Incorporated, according to Forbes magazine,"is one of the 15 largest growing private companies" in the United States; it is the country's fifth largest discount retailer, according to Discount Store News. The company operates 117 supercenters in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The company also owns and operates four office centers, two divisions of property services, and more than ten distribution centers. What makes Meijer such an overwhelming success is simple: its stores are open 364 days a year, 24 hours a day; each store has 40 departments, which sell more than 120,000 products; and one can buy almost anything at a Meijer store--from applesauce to flour to pants to lawn furniture to zinc oxide. Customers also can get prescriptions filled or shoes repaired.
Meijer entered the wholesale shopping segment in 1992 with the development of SourceClub, warehouse-shopping designed for the individual shopper, as well as the more traditional targeted customers from small businesses and affiliated groups. In business since 1934, Meijer has created up to 10,000 private-label brands.
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 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. At a size of 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2), it combined grocery shopping and department store shopping in a single large store. 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 the 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 by Forbes Magazine that Meijer understood the importance of the food business, that it was not something just tacked on to a discount store. The quality of the produce is very important; poor quality produce sold by Wal-Mart was the main reason for their lack of success. By contrast, surveys said then and now that Meijer ranks high on produce quality.
Early in 1990&mdash it had done 30 years earlier--Meijer once again led its peers in abandoning double-coupon promotions. Beginning in its metropolitan Detroit stores, Meijer dropped the promotion in February. Ryan Mathews, Detroit-based editor of the journal Grocery Marketing, was quoted in the Detroit Free Press, describing such campaigns as "the most senseless act of marketing that stores can engage in." Luckily for Meijer, the retailer was known for its excellent customer service. The company could then use advertising to emphasize that aspect of its image, rather than concentrate on prices only, as most competitors did. Drawing from founder Hendrik Meijer's steady, practical approach to retailing, Meijer's ad agency W.B. Doner & Company planned television spots based on that theme, with the slogan: "Meijer. The store built on common sense."
Meijer store openings planned included three in Michigan in 1990 and seven in 1991, with three planned for the Dayton, Ohio market and four slated for Toledo. Wal-Mart confronted Meijer in its own backyard, moving into the Ohio market with the construction of a new distribution center there. Industry analysts noted Meijer's traditionally loyal customer base as a hedge against the Wal-Mart presence. Digging its heels in, Meijer took advantage of the exit of retailers Ames and Hills from the Cincinnati area to reenter a market it had pulled out of in 1987. (After six years of operating eight stores offering general merchandise only, Meijer had sold its stores to Zayre, which Ames acquired in 1988. Both Ames and Hills filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991.)
Management changes in April 1990 paved the way for Fred Meijer's eventual retirement. His sons Doug and Hank Meijer were named co-chairmen, and Fred became chairman of the executive committee, with plans to work with senior management on the company's day-to-day operations. Other key executives included Mark Meijer, a member of the "Office of the Chairman," and Earl Holton, president and chief operating officer. Vice-Chairman Harvey Lemmen retired during the changeover.
The company continued growing through the early 1990s as a premier discount retailer in the Midwest, maintaining a low profile and high profit margins. With sales at $3 billion, Meijer led in the field of hypermarket supercenters. But Fred Meijer's vision of an expanding network of supercenters throughout the Midwestern United States was not yet achieved. During the mid-1990s the company established a supercenter on the north side of South Bend, Indiana, a state-of-the-art retail store with 40 departments and more than 100 products sold within it. Within a few years Meijer opened a second store just east of the city, designed with the same format and convenience for customers.
In March of 1998 Meijer opened its first store in Louisville, Kentucky, with four more planned to open during the next two years. The family's most risky expansion site, however, would be Chicago, where the company planned to open ten new supercenters beginning in 1999. Competing with such giants as Wal-Mart and Target, Meijer was preparing a sophisticated strategy to enter and capture this new market. One of its most innovative moves, an express self-checkout lane for customers with just a few items, was designed to attract people to shop at Meijer supercenters in Chicago.
Meijer is one of the fastest growing supercenter stores in the nation, and there seems to be no end in sight for continued expansion. Having reported revenues amounting to $6 billion in 1997, Meijer is clearly meeting the shopping needs of people throughout the Midwest.
Financials
Company Type PrivateHeadquarters
Fiscal Year-End January
2010 Employees 72,200
Executives
116 executives listed for Meijer, Inc.'s Grand Rapids, MI location.
Co-Chairman Doug Meijer E-mail
Co-Chairman and CEO Hendrik Meijer E-mail
Vice Chairman Paul Boyer E-mail
Address:
2929 Walker Avenue N.W.
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504-9428
U.S.A.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1934
Employees: 60,000
Sales: $6 billion (1997)
SICs: 5411 Grocery Stores; 5141 Groceries--General Line