A Question For Michigan DUers

[7th_Sephiroth]

I was there recently, and saw a chain store wich aparently competes with Wal-Mart called Meijer, can you tell me about this store political wise?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Here is the Meijer timeline 7th. It's a bootstrap story basically.

http://www.meijer.com/about/history.asp

I do know they offer excellent benefits packages. A couple of relatives work there with darned good hourly wages, health insurance, paid time off and vacations. The store is neater, cleaner, and truly a one stop shop. It's a full service grocery and department store. Twenty years ago you could also get a hair do. They usually have gas stations in the parking lot, a shoe repair inside,and the purple cow....a snack store. Hope I have helped.

:hi: Laura

[7th_Sephiroth]

2. thank you

i went into a few, i was all over michigan, and i want them down here

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. They also acknowledge the contributions of their employees in their

success instead of using them for commercials. As a teenager when there was nothing to do out on the town at 2 AM...we'd stroll around the aisles. ;)

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. now i really want one here

any plans for them to go this far south (florida)

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. I am not sure. I'll look into it and get back with you.

:hi:

I was just there this evening and was able to get HP printer ink, coffee creamer, pizza rolls and a killer sale on (American made) PJ's!! Although they aren't exclusively selling American made.

[Broadslidin]

9. Meijer's is a union shop.

The company is privately owned.

The owners of the corporation refuse to go public
because they do not want to be subjected to quarterly reports
and common stock holder demands for increased profit margins.

The stores have an extraordinary number of employees at all times.

A pension plan is offered to all employees.

Numerous sale items are clearly marked.

And unlike wal-mart, the Meijer stores are not permeated with feculent smells.

[UrbScotty]

5. They were founded by a West Michigan philanthropist

Fred Meijer is a nice guy. Kent County is in a dispute over whether to expand the zoo. Fred Meijer offered land in Grand Rapids Township so the zoo could expand there.

[7th_Sephiroth]

6. *shudder* dont mention grand rapids

i was 30 ft. up on a ladder there

[bain_sidhe]

8. Using NewsMeat's contributor search though

the CEO, Hank Meijer, only gives to Republicans. And Meijers is headquartered in Grand Rapids, one of the most conservative cities in the state (Home of RW biggies Amway and Armmand Hammer.)

Edited to add URL to NewsMeat's site: http://www.newsmeat.com/

**spelling edit**

[Broadslidin]

12. Meijer versus wal-mart

The Meijer family may have a history of supporting
Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party,
but as exemplified by their store operations,
I highly doubt, they are close friends of the
malignant narcissist Waltons.

A thinking person might just give the Harken Energy
scam artist a pass, this time around.

[bain_sidhe]

14. I suspect your right on that

And, I should add that the majority of the contributions went to their local reps, and it was only $500 a year to each (state and federal congressional reps). Still, no contributions to the Dem. challengers at all.

Nonetheless, if you can't get to a Costco, Meijers is definitely better than Wal(puke)mart, and probably better than Target, social-justicely speaking, since they make a point of buying locally whenever possible. IMHO, that is.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. I do Meijer over Costco...

They seem a bit more socially concious...at least in this area of SE Michigan. :hi:

[bain_sidhe]

18. I must disagree

See the donations above (edit: er, below due to threading), then check out this article:

Costco chairman, CEO give $95,000 each to defeat Bush
http://www.tribnet.com/business/story/4704137p-4655022c.html

Costco Wholesale Corp. Chairman Jeffrey Brotman and CEO James Sinegal gave $95,000 each in December to a political fund that aims to defeat President Bush in the November election, records filed with the Internal Revenue Service show.

Brotman and Sinegal were among 25 people who gave a combined $7.9 million to the Joint Victory Campaign 2004 fund, which seeks to "change the course of the country away from the Bush administration's radical agenda" and elect "progressive" candidates, according to the fund's Web site.

[TahitiNut]

21. My experience with them is the opposite.

I shop Costco (Democratic Party contributors) near I-75 and find them clean and cheerful. The goods and produce and meats are excellent. The Meijers here in Troy is total crap. It's filthy and the employees are surly. Meijers is every bit as right wing as WalMart, imho. When I want to shop in that bracket, I tend to shop Target, Mervyns, and Costco, all three of which treat their employees well, keep their stores clean and have decent products for the price. The stock is well-kept and not recycled returns and seconds like I found at Meijers.

[bain_sidhe]

16. Ooops.

Checked with just the last name, and found these entries:

Meijer, Mark D. Mr.
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
Self-Employed/ Director
BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
$2000
06/ 30/03

Meijer, Frederik G. Mr.
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
Self-Employed/ Chairman
BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
$2000
06/ 27/03

Meijer, Hendrik G. Mr.
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
Self-Employed/ C.E.O. Co- Chairman
BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
$2000
06/ 27/03

Meijer, Douglas Mr.
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
Meijer/Co- Chairman
BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
$2000
06/ 25/03

Meijer, Starr Mrs.
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
$2000
06/ 25/03

[Broadslidin]

19. Look's Like I'll have to rethink my buying habits at Meijers.

For the last six monthes, most of my food purchases
have been made at a locally owned very clean and
fully stocked fruit and vegetable store on Woodward Ave.
named Westborn Market est. 1963.

So there Meijers, take that to the bank!

[TahitiNut]

22. Westborn is slightly pricy. Try Produce Palace.

[NWHarkness]

34. And there is a Trader Joe's right across the street!

[U2Shark]

10. Not as gawd-awful as Wal*Mart

Still way too cavernous in my opinion, but they are better run, and don't have that air of despair that hangs heavy in the *Mart. I shop there about half the time.

They one by recently opened up a Starbucks kiosk inside. Now, regardless of what you all think about Starbucks, that was my idea 5 years ago to turn around another Michigan company, K-Mart. Have them get rid of the snack bar and put in a brand name coffee shop. Bingo, people's opinon of them rises at least 25%.

But I digress...

[U2Shark]

11. Oh yeah -

And my friend swears up and down that Hendrick Meijer (the founder) stole an old trumpet from his grandfather.

[Madrone]

13. My. Favorite. Store. Ever.

The thing I miss MOST here in Washington. Out here, they have "Fred Meyer" - which is kinda the same thing, but pales in comparison BIG TIME. They are not affiliated - just oddly enough have the same name (obviously, different spelling)and the same sort of "everything" concept. I'm not so fond of the pacific northwest's Fred Meyer - but I LOVE the Meijer of which you speak.

That's usually one of the first places on my list to stop when I go home.

I worked for Meijer when I was 18 (Kalamazoo, on Westnedge, for those who know) - I'm 31 now. I don't have much good to say about their union at that time - I got canned for a real bullshit reason, and the union did NOTHING to assist me. That's neither here nor there, just saying our union did jack for me, and I got fired for some total bullshit when I worked there for a year with perfect attendance and had the best cash handling record in the store.

Even after all that - I LOVE Meijer! :)

[Broadslidin]

17. Okay, now we know it wasn't embezzlement.......

Dear Proud DemocRat,
Finally, now is your chance to come clean with us
and maybe, your "Permanent Record" can be
cleansed of this tidbit of youthful flapdoodle!
Your story of mischief and human error will be
kept confidential within the flappy ear D.U. family.

Sincerely, Abigail Van Buren

[Madrone]

30. Coming clean...

I was a cashier - as I mentioned, had the record for the BEST cash handling in our store, so you'd think my integrity would be pretty good in that store, right?

One of my coworkers whom I was also friendly with came thru my line when she got off work. I was scanning her items (back then, coffee actually made me feel AWAKE and had me moving like a meth freak) like the speed demon I was, we completed the transaction, and she left.

A little while later someone else showed up at my stand with a cash drawer and told me to pull my drawer and go to the office. I thought nothing of it. Thought there must have been a shady customer in my line that they wanted to question me about - or something.

I get my drawer turned in, and am directed to what I'll refer to as the "interragation room". Members of loss management were in there - and the manager.

They started questioning about the transaction with the coworker. I was very confused and didn't understand what they were getting at. Turns out, when scanning her items one of them was run across the scanner fast enough that it didn't register as a "sale", and I didn't catch it. They were implying that I purposely didn't scan one small (under $5) item from her entire order and that she and I were in collusion to help her steal.

I found the whole thing ridiculous, and stood by my claim that if something wasn't rung up it was an unintended mistake. I offered to allow myself to be under watch (they have cameras over each checkout stand where they can watch you, and computers in the back that allow them to watch every transaction as they are rung up) for any period of time they'd like, as I was no thief and was unafraid to be put under close scrutiny to prove it. I also offered to pay for the item in question.

Turns out, the loss management people were trailing my coworker - why, I don't know. She was a good person too - and I don't believe she was stealing. It just SO happened that they were watching her, she happened to come thru my line, and one item happened to skip over the scanner without ringing up. Talk about Murphy's Law.

While I was in the lockdown, my coworker was too, in another room. They were asking both of us leading questions, trying to get at least one of us to confirm their suspicion that we were in collusion to rip them off. Of course, both of us said the same thing - it must have been a mistake.

Loss management told me that they believed me completely, after I answered their questions. They seemed to think after all was said and done that it was a stupid mistake, but no big scam to rip them off.

The general manager of the store told me I was to take a week off without pay while he determined whether it was worth it or not to keep me on. I was bummed about the week off (when you're making $4.35/hour every penny COUNTS), but relatively confident that I'd be going back to work after the week was up - since I was a good employee with a great record to prove it.

After a week I met with the manager, and he let me know that they were going to let me go. I was shocked, to say the least. And very upset.

I took it to the union, the union "pretended" like they were going to fight for me, but didn't. After another week they let me know that they were sorry, but I was still fired.

That's about it!

[Broadslidin]

33. Thank You for taking the time to explain your case.

For employee and future customer relations,
We could both conclude,
Meijer's store management should have been trained
in the art of "the second chance".
And the pathetic retail clerks union is a reflection
of the pay-scale, members live under.

Only once have I had the pleasure of being interrogated.
Over a period of five hours, questions were directed at me
by a Canadian Ontario Provincial Police officer
including a follow up repeat interrogation by a police detective.

Out of respect for the job they had to perform,
I remained very patient throughout the experience.

The drowning was recent considering the condition of the body,
I had noticed just below the surface of Lake Erie off Pointe a Pins,
while reading a book on the back deck.
Factoring in the late time of day and a nonexistent coast guard,
I lifted the body (which, as luck would have it, moaned)
and plopped it into the dingy for a tow into port.

The unfortunate fellow's small boat was found
the next morning up against the lake's shore, containing
numerous empty bottles of beer.

[Colin Ex]

24. You worked at the Meijer on Westnedge?

I haven't been there in forever, but it's the place I used to supply myself with Mt. Dew and glowsticks at.

Damn, that's cool.

[Madrone]

28. Yep.

For a year. Still my fave Meijer in the greater Kalamazoo area. I've spent HOURS wandering that store. It's one thing I'm known for, and the joke that resurfaces amongst my friends every time I return.

"Oh shit - she wants to go the MEIJER again. Better clear my calander."

lol

[TahitiNut]

20. 100% right wing Republicans

The stores I've been to are filthy and sloppy. The Meijer family and executives are about 100% right wingers ... big campaign contributions to Bush, Abraham, etc.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=&txtState=MI&txtZip=&txtEmploy=Meijer&txtCand=&txt2004=Y&txt2000=Y&Order=N

[Broadslidin]

23. Thank You TahitiNut for the Open Secrets link!

In a few moments, I will be calling Meijer's Grand Rapids
home office to clearly let them know,
I am seriously rethinking, shopping at Meijers because of
their top executive's history of financially supporting
the Bush government and persons such as former Dan Quayle
political aide and one term Michigan Senator, spencer abraham.

1-800-543-3704 (Il. In. Ky. Mi. Oh.)

And Thank You for the Palace recommendation.

[TahitiNut]

27. Sure thing.

Produce Palace has an excellent selection of produce (of course) both fresh and canned/packaged, meats, HoneyBaked Ham, salad dressings, crackers and snacks, and a very good deli counter. I'm pretty certain that a vegan could do all their food shopping there. It would be good for me to shop there most often instead of Krogers. Everything I've seen is of good quality at a fair price. (I grew up within a mile of where Westborn is, in Berkley.)

[Colin Ex]

25. Meijer is pretty nice.

It's convenient and close for the poor college kids (me). Ten cent ramen, cheap caffienated beverages, and alcohol. :-)

Plus it's a short drive from the indie record store around here, which is cool.

All in all? Meijer is pretty nice, political contributions notwithstanding. They're at least a union store.

-C

[bif]

26. I'd shop there if there was once close by.

I hate driving a long way just to buy groceries.

[noonwitch]

29. The Meijer family are conservative christians, everyone in W. Michigan

seems to be. I prefer Meijer to Walmart anyday. It's a union company and the Meijer family is good about giving back to the community. I might not agree with their politics, but they are not like Domino's founder Monahan, or like the DeVosses of Scamway, in that they don't make a big deal out of politics. The Meijer Gardens are really worth seeing-the sculptures, the walk through the preserved wetlands, the DaVinci Horse.

The Meijer stores do not lock their employees in after hours to ensure that the work gets done, they are not purposely hiring illegal immigrants, in order to make more profits by paying the employees less than minimum wage, etc. And, Walmart has specifically targetted Meijer for competition, so I feel the need to shop at their stores to prevent a Wal-opoly.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. I agree. I don't agree with their politics but they don't carry it into

their business. It's a two party system after all. :hi:

And the fact that Meijer does make effort to buy local produce.

[bain_sidhe]

32. Yes, there's a reasonable case to be made

As you say, they DO give back to the community, they DON'T try to bust unions, and they DO try to buy from local producers/manufacturers whenever possible. All those are reasons to choose them over some other stores.

I've been becoming more and more incensed lately about the money I spend being used against my interests and my values by the companies I buy from using it to elect reich-wing pukes. So that's my "issue," and I'm making more and more decisions about who to buy from based on what party they support - but I think reasonable people can disagree, and have a different focus for the best use of their buying power. Stopping the walmartization of America is a good one. Supporting local producers is another. Giving back to the community is yet another. As long as we're buying in full consciousness of our "market power" and are willing to use it to support our "issue" - whatever it is - it's all good.

After all, the "free-market" mantra that the de-regulaters and anti-worker RW types keep screeching can cut both ways, can't it?