No corporate staff or hourly workers were directly affected. In August 2007, the store announced they were cutting about 500 managers (12% of existing management staff).
Their spokesperson also said the changes were "not about a labor reduction", but fitting people into the right roles. In July 2007, Meijer announced to the 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". In May 2007, the first LEED-certified Meijer store opened in the second phase of the Fairlane Green development in Allen Park, Michigan. In April 2003, Meijer selected DeVito/Verdi, an award-winning advertising agency in New York, to handle its $25-million account. 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". In 2005, despite cutbacks, Meijer embarked on a expansion plan to increase its number of stores in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The "new theatrics" for the then-71-year-old company originally started as a "new product introduction program" until David Rockwell talked Hank and Fred Meijer into further changes. The company hired New York City's Rockwell Group to redesign the existing stores and establish a design for new stores.
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. Continuing cutbacks in 2006, the company outsourced 81 information technology positions to India. Ben Rudolph of Grand Valley State University near Meijer's corporate headquarters, lambasted this move, saying they "apparently blinked" and that Meijer's "decision was driven by panic". 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. With the increasing dominance of Walmart throughout the country during the 1990s and up to the present, Meijer is facing the effects of an intensely competitive retail industry. By contrast, surveys said then and now that Meijer ranks high on produce quality. The quality of the produce is very important poor-quality produce sold by Walmart was the main reason for their lack of success. An article in Forbes Magazine said Meijer understood the importance of the food business, and it was not something just tacked onto a discount store. Walton launched the first Hypermart USA store in 1987, opening only four stores, the last in 1990. In 1985, Forbes magazine reported Walmart at the time had failed in what were then known as hypermarkets because Sam Walton and company did not understand the grocery business. Meijer's stand-alone grocery operations continued until the early 1990s, as the larger stores became dominant. Under his leadership, the Thrifty Acres stores became a success and were renamed Meijer in 1986. "In a contest, a customer suggested the name "Thrifty" for Meijer's little Dutch boy, who became the corporate symbol for the next 30 years."įred Meijer took over the company upon his father's death in 1964. In 1949, the first two Meijer stores opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By the 1960s, the company had over two dozen stores located throughout West Michigan. The Greenville store was successful and additional Meijer groceries were opened in Ionia and Cedar Springs. He also offered staple items, such as vinegar, at bargain prices.
After studying trends in the grocery industry, Meijer was among the first stores to offer self-service shopping and shopping carts. The current co-chairmen, brothers Hank and Doug Meijer, are Hendrik's grandsons. His first employees included his 14-year-old son, Frederik Meijer, who later became chairman of the company. Meijer was a local barber who entered the grocery business during the Great Depression. Meijer was founded as Meijer's in Greenville, Michigan, by Hendrik Meijer, a Dutch immigrant.