Grocery stores in almost every community have an important role. Customers recognize the value both outside and the inside the stores.
Meijer, Inc. has 265 stores located throughout the country and 123 of those are in Michigan, the most of any state.
Ron Colson, store director of the Meijer store located in Okemos, Michigan, spoke about the Meijer and the best part about his position.
“ I am the store director of Meijer (Okemos) meaning I am fully responsible for the operation of the store from morning, afternoon, and night. “
Those duties include the training and development for new workers, hiring the staff, and making sure the team has the tools and knowledge to take care of customers and help make the store run smoothly.
Ron Colson has been working for the company for 35 years now and explains why Meijer is so important to the community.
“Growing up with the Meijer family, the community and being part of it is vital. The goal is to build store partnerships. If we are good partners for the community everything is great. I know Meijer focus on donating 6% of their non-profits yearly to the community across the six states we operate in.”
Meijer has locations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.
Mandy Garcia, part of the Okemos Meijer service team, explained what separates Meijer from other companies.
“I love coming in and seeing my team happy, seeing my regular customers and it’s different every day”
“Meijer as a corporation takes care of its team members and store directors in many different ways. This year alone every store got $5 thousand dollars to donate to an organization in their community. I think we have 312 stores right now. I believe that is awesome,” Garcia said.
“We decided on Eli’s project and they deal with teenage suicide prevention,” Garcia said.
Savannah Walker, cashier for Okemos Meijer, speaks about the best parts of the Meijer community and the multiple positions she works in.
“What I like about Meijer is that they offer a lot of scholarships, give grants to schools, give grants to various programs and the way they treat their customers,” Walker said.
“I would also advise students or anybody to work at the store because they pay very decently, pay weekly which is great and the job isn’t too hard.”
Garcia added, “Looking back on my years of working in the Meijer company, I love that I can help out in many ways. I always tell people I’m on my path to success, and what do I need to do to help you get to yours?.”