Battle of the Supercenters
By George Anderson
Detroit’s Free Press is reporting that the competition for Michigan’s consumers is heating up between Wal-Mart and Meijer.
Wal-Mart has opened 14 supercenters in Michigan. Eight of those are located in the same community as Meijer’s stores. Staying true to form, Wal-Mart is looking to draw consumers in with prices below Meijer’s advertised specials, sometimes as much as 20 percent lower.
For its part, Meijer is said to be slowing the pace of expansion, increasing remodels and running promotions such as six-hour price cutting specials.
As to who is winning this battle, an unnamed retailer that competes with Meijer and Wal-Mart in Michigan told the Free Press, “Wal-Mart is selling a lot more goods in these small towns in southern Michigan than Meijer. It’s definitely hurting Meijer.”
Moderator’s Comment: What will be the result of the
Meijer and Wal-Mart competition on the grocery industry in Michigan?
Meijer is a world class organization that is strong enough
to do battle with Wal-Mart. Many of the other retailers operating in Michigan
will not be as fortunate. [George
Anderson – Moderator]
I base my opinion of this supercenter battle on the total shopping experience. I look at three things. 1) The people. To me this is the most important. Meijer team members seem to be a few steps ahead of Wal-Mart team members on the IQ scale. Meijer team members are friendlier, and provide better service. 2) Cleanliness of store. Meijer stores seem to have the highest standards when it comes to cleanliness in the center aisles and restrooms. The overall appearance of the store is cleaner and more professional looking. 3) Prices. Wal-Mart has Meijer beat, and Meijer will not catch up on this one. To me, the difference in price is not large enough to make up in the other to categories.
Meijer is better than Wal-Mart Supercenter…HANDS DOWN.
I live in San Diego now, where the only supercenter that exists is Costco. Vons (Safeway), Ralph’s (Kroger), and Albertsons will run into major problems once Wal-Mart gets the okay to build their store out here. I wish Meijer would be moving in, instead of Wal-Mart. I shop at Target to avoid Wal-Mart, however these are not the Greatland stores, they are just the standard Target stores.
I do agree with some of the posts that say the lines are too long at these stores. Since Meijer, which had been known for guest service went to the spinning carousel bag stands for the cashiers to eliminate bagger jobs the waits have been longer. I don’t like it, and I’m sure Meijer doesn’t either. It is just necessary to compete with the giant.
I have no doubts that Meijer will be innovative enough to minimize the Wal-Mart affect on their stores.