Grand Rapids, Mich. — Amidst the Great Depression in 1934, Hendrik Meijer, a local barber in Greenville, Mich., took a chance and opened Meijer’s Grocery with his wife Gezina and their children, 18-year-old Johanna and 14-year-old Fred, to take care of customers who visited Hendrik’s barbershop.
Fast-forward to today and the family-owned retailer is celebrating its 90th anniversary with more than 500 Meijer supercenters, grocery stores, neighborhood markets, express locations and distribution and manufacturing facilities throughout six Midwest states.
“We have built an incredible team here at Meijer that is accomplishing great things and enjoys working together, and they are the reason we’ve been able to evolve and grow over 90 years from a little grocery store to a new concept in retailing to an agile company with multiple formats,” says Hank Meijer, executive chairman. “We continue to look at how we can better serve customers in multiple ways to ensure our first 90 years is just our first chapter.”
From the beginning, Meijer has been focused on making its customers’ shopping experience the best it can be. In addition to low prices and great customer service, innovation has often been key to exceeding customer expectations. Over the last 90 years, these innovations have included introducing shopping carts, automatic doors, conveyor belts, supercenters, self-checkout lanes, mPerks, curbside pickup, home delivery and Shop & Scan. Meijer is also considered the pioneer of the one-stop shopping concept.
“Fred Meijer often said that customers don’t need us, we need them, so that focus on earning our customers’ business every day has been central to how we’ve operated,” says Rick Keyes, president and CEO of Meijer. “We are constantly evaluating how we can further elevate the experience our customers have when they shop with us, and innovation paired with great prices and excellent customer service will be how we continue to earn customers’ business.”
Meijer also heavily invests in the success of its team members, offering career advancement opportunities, free college education, paid parental leave, child care discounts, access to multiple health insurance options and the option for 401(k) retirement contributions. As a result of these efforts, Meijer was recently recognized as a Great Place to Work® for the sixth consecutive year, per The Trust Index Survey ™.
Meijer is a privately owned, family-operated retailer with more than 500 supercenters, grocery stores, neighborhood markets and express locations throughout the Midwest. For more information, visit www.newsroom.meijer.com.
SOURCE: Meijer