For KvH: "WalMart Killer" rising....

[Dr Mordrid]

Remember my posts about the Meijer stores here more than holding off WalMart? Well, things are going to get tougher for the big W; Meijers is starting an agressive expansion plan which includes opening 224 new stores. Avg size = three and a half football fields;

Detroit News

Meijer opens Warren store in aggressive expansion plan

WARREN -- Even without big giveaways, the grand opening of a new Meijer in Warren drew a crowd that stretched the length of the 207,000-square-foot building on Mound Road.

Heidi Anthony got in line at midnight to be first in the door for little more than cheers and a hearty invitation to shop when the store opened at 7 a.m. But the 41-year-old Warren resident said even without the freebies, the low prices were worth the wait.
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The company is at a "crossroad of our future focus," Behler said, as it changes its stores, widening aisles, creating a more open feel in the store by lowering shelves and improving lighting, moving pharmacies to the front, posting signs to help people navigate and cutting prices by 10 percent to 50 percent on 5,000 products every week.
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The Warren store also boasts the first of 20 E85 fuel pumps the company plans to open at its sites in southeastern Michigan by the end of the year, as part of a partnership with General Motors Corp. and CleanFUEL USA, a Texas company that makes fuel dispensing equipment.

[Fluff]

Is this Meijer company a 'better' company?

[Dr Mordrid]

Family owned & run, VERY community oriented, charity work, support for local school programs, agressive handicap/senior hiring etc. etc. People want them in their city. A community asset.

Last year they 'borrowed' Taylor's biggest city park and put on a free outdoor concert: INXS. They provided shuttle bus service, extra parking at their store etc. Over 12,000 people attended. BTW: Taylor is not a 'snoot suburb', it's a blue-collar town.

Pricing: murderous.... 2/3-for-the-price-of-one sales are common, even in the meats. This week they have boneless pork loins on sale for $1.99/lb 2-for-1, and that $1.99 is cheaper than hamburger at many stores.

'nuff?

[KvHagedorn]

Still big, still kills small business, still argues quantity over quality. "Murderous" pricing is out of hand already. It's like the new chic is to live in a broken down trailer and be only able to afford crummy clothes and plastic furniture that breaks in 3 months, because the only jobs available are flipping burgers. Is this really the American dream?

[Jessterw]

Bwahahahaha... *ahem*

[Dr Mordrid]

They don't sell junk, the clothes are good quality - often name brand - and very often made in the USA. Their customers are not 'trailer park' by any stretch and WTF is wrong with getting a good deal?

If the your "American Dream" means paying through the nose for something that could be sold for less then you keep it.

"Kills small business" is BS; the towns where they are building are very often revitalized by their coming to town. Taylor was dying 25 years ago when Meijer came to town. Since then dozens of small businesses and new housing have clustered around them. If anything they've been a magnet. Same thing happened in other small cities.

[Jessterw]

Now that I've composed myself (thanks for the laugh), I have to pose a question. What happens when a small business grows into a big business? Should the business prevent itself from ever growing into a successful one, one that might offer tougher competition to other like businesses?

Sure, there are successful small businesses that haven't the need or the opportunity to grow - there's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with those that do choose to grow either.

Most big businesses today were once small. Should we hold their success against them? And as Doc has just pointed out, big doesn't necessarily mean bad on any count.

[Sasq]

Bwahahahaha... *ahem*

told you didn't I

[KvHagedorn]

Fifteen years ago, this town had six big grocery stores. There was a Safeway, a King Saver, an Albertson's, a Piggly-Wiggly, and two H.E.B.s. Now all that's left are the two H.E.B.s. Various things happened to make those businesses go away, and not all of it was just "doing things better" or "being more competitive," like some might say. The Piggly-Wiggly had a mysterious fire and burned to the ground.. the Safeway and King Saver closed because the buildings they were renting were bought by HEB and they were basically kicked out. Those buildings are now annexes for Scott & White hospital. The Albertson's finally folded last year, though they were supposed to have built a new store. So now, if you want to eat, you buy your groceries from HEB (or Wal-Mart).

If you think all is fair in capitalism, how far does "all" really go? If these principles are good ones, then why are they not universally good? Was it a good thing that Stalin killed all those people because he was in a position to? Might makes right, doesn't it?

I don't really know that much about Meijer's in particular, but I do know this.. if cheating is the only way to win a game, everyone will cheat or lose. Cutthroat behavior does not always serve the greater good in every way, especially when the object is monopoly. It's nice to see that Wal-Mart has some more competition, yes, but cheaters win when the ref looks the other way, and our ref (the government) is too busy counting the bribe money to pay attention or even care.

Re: "a good deal" and "paying through the nose".. These are relative terms. People with more income can certainly afford to pay higher prices, and every country with a higher median income than the U.S. also has a higher standard of living. And they certainly didn't get it by having a sleazebag leader like Bill Clinton drop all tariffs charged to slave-labor markets like China (because they bribed him to.)

[KvHagedorn]

btw, "aggressive expansion" is often the stroke of doom for businesses like these. Ultimate Electronics doubled the number of their stores in a two year period, and the huge capital outlay caused them to go bankrupt.

[KvHagedorn]

told you didn't I

Were there money bets involved?

[Sasq]

Were there money bets involved?

Try as I might, I can't get him to take a sucker bet

[Fluff]

If it's family owned. That has got to be a good thing as Walmart is ultimately accountable to its shareholders, it's purpose is to keep making more money for its shareholders.

[Dr Mordrid]

Well, the Meijers family of course want's to make a profit too but they have been good corporate citizens here in Michigan.

They're headquartered not in Detroit but in Grand Rapids, a very values oriented part of the west side of the state. These are church-going people who take the "love thy neighor" doctrine very seriously. It's not too far from that little town I wrote about last week where there is a factory that has never laid anyone off, the doors are unlocked and people keep the floor clean enough to eat off of.