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Flags ➔ Meijer Flag
Identifier:
2013.28.1Description:
Yellow rectangular flag with two grommet holes on left side. Red "M" printed in middle enclosed by blue square with "meijer" printed under the "M".;This flag bears a Meijer corporate logo, likely from the 1980s. Although its specific provenance is unknown, it documents an important local family business, and will be immediately familiar to anyone from West Michigan.;Meijer was founded as Meijer's in Greenville, Michigan by Hendrik Meijer, a Dutch immigrant. Meijer was a local barber who entered the grocery business during the Great Depression. His first employees included his 14-year-old son, Frederik Meijer, who later became 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 stores to offer self-service shopping and shopping carts. He also offered staple items, such as vinegar, at bargain prices.The Greenville store went successfully, and additional Meijer groceries were opened in Ionia and Cedar Springs. By the 1960s, the company had over two dozen stores located throughout West Michigan.
In 1949, the first two Meijer stores opened in Grand Rapids, MI. "In a contest, a customer suggests the name "Thrifty" for Meijer's little Dutch boy, who becomes the corporate symbol for the next 30 years."
Date:
circa 1970Materials:
Nylon, Canvas, MetalDimensions:
23" h 37.5" wCurrent Location Status:
In StorageSource:
Gift Of Alexander ForistRelated Entities:
Meijer Inc. (creator)Alternate names: Thrifty Acres
Hendrik Meijer emigrated from the Netherlands to the U.S. in 1907 to start a new life. Five years later he settled in Greenville, Michigan, with his wife Gezina. Children Johanna and Fred were born in 1916 and 1919. In 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, 50-year old Hendrik took the risk of transitioning from barber to grocer. The Meijers built their family-owned enterprise on values that allowed them to grow in a competitive industry: putting customers first, offering quality food at an affordable price, and driving innovation. The “North Side Grocery” was changed to “Thrift Market” in 1935, to reflect the family’s emphasis on offering their customers the best value for their money. When they opened a second store in Cedar Springs, Michigan in 1942, they used the name “Meijer’s Super Market” to reflect the emerging retail trend toward larger grocery stores and to brand the store with their family’s identity.
By the 1950s, one grocery had become a chain of 10 supermarkets across West Michigan. The Meijers changed the company name and logo again, to “Meijer Supermarkets”. But their greatest achievement was yet to come. They transformed the landscape of retail marketing in 1962 with the unique combination of food and general merchandise in one discount department store. The pioneering “supercenter” (a term applied in later years), Thrifty Acres, was born, establishing the lasting legacy of Meijer Inc. as one of the nation’s most progressive grocers.
Thrifty Acres uniquely combined singular ownership with extensive offerings of food and non-food merchandise alike, an emphasis on customer self-service, and highly competitive pricing. When interviewed in December 1961 by Supermarket Merchandising magazine on expansive plans for Thrifty Acres, Hendrik would tell the reporter, “Our move in this direction was strengthened during the past year by the public’s overwhelming acceptance of no-stamp, low-overhead style of merchandising. You might say that our first step was to become a discount house for groceries.” Mens’, womens’ and childrens’ clothing represented some of the new departments at Thrifty Acres in 1962 along with jewelry, sporting goods, shoes, small appliances, hardware, records, toys, pet care, and a full-fledged pharmacy. Sandy the Pony, the popular 1-penny, coin-operated ride still found in Meijer stores today, was also introduced in 1962. The Meijer centered revolution in retail had begun – soon to be added to the growing chain.
Meijer opened three Thrifty Acres in 1962, in Grand Rapids, Holland, and Muskegon, Michigan. The company added three more in 1964, and a seventh in 1966. By this time the brand had proven itself to be a financial success and the company combined Meijer Super Markets and Thrifty Acres into one brand, Meijer, Inc. From that time on, to the present day, customers have referred to the stores variously as “Thrifty Acres”, “Meijer’s Thrifty Acres”, and “Meijer’s”. The company has subsequently changed its logo in 1984 and in 2004 (on the occasions of its 50th and 70th anniversaries, respectively) but its name has remained the same.
Meijer tested other retail developments at its stores, including adding gas stations in 1967, beauty salons in (check date), and specialty fashion shops, Copper Rivet, Sagebrush and Tansy between the mid-seventies and 1980s. Meijer also has a history of introducing new retail technologies to Michigan. These have included shopping baskets and carts (late 1930s), automatic doors (1950s), checklane conveyor belts (1950s), electronic scanners (1977), store debit cards (1989), 24-hour service (1988), and home delivery (2016).
The company expanded from West and Central Michigan to the Detroit metropolitan area in 1974, and to Ohio in 1981. Between 1994 and 1996, Meijer added three additional states to its footprint, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. In 2015 the company opened its first Distribution Facility and stores in the state of Wisconsin.
Source: Lisa VanArragon, Curator of Education and Programming, Meijer Heritage Center, Meijer, Inc. Alex Forist (donor)
Curator at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.