To Be Frank, Fred

From August 1996-May 2004, I worked for a privately held chain called Meijer. Most people outside the states of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky likely have no idea what that chain is. What even more people do not realize is without the goodness that was Meijer, the evil empire known as Wal-Mart would not exist across the globe. The concept of the "hypermarket" later to be known as the "supercenter" was invented by Hendrik Meijer and his son, Fred.

I just found out moments ago Fred Meijer passed away at the age of 91. I know I'm not going to put anything in more detail about his life and times than was already put into articles that aren't that hard to find through Uncle Google. I wanted to take a moment to talk about the tremendously positive impact Fred, his family and the empire they built through their extended family, which included me for the better part of eight years.

I can safely say that where I am personally and professionally in life I would not be without opportunities and life lessons provided to me in my time with the company. My end with Meijer was far from what I ever imagined it would be, but I try not to let that overshadow the great amounts of positives I gained from a summer job that turned into a reasonably successful career.

The Meijer family's principles for running a business were pretty much based on life's golden rule, "Treat others the way you want to be treated." It was simple. It was effective.

There was a time when Meijer put their trust in their people to do the right thing. It was okay to take risks here and there, as long as the decision was what's right for the customer or the employee. In my Michigan days, it was guys like Bill Altena, Tim Greenman and Al Buchko who would take a gamble on a kid named Kevin, giving him little bits of authority, a dash of guidance and the freedom to do it in his own way.

It the Illinois years, I would get the same from people like Vicki Evans, Rob Jager and Mark Klein. In those eight years, I learned so much about business from all standpoints. I learned operations. I learned profit and loss. I learned food safety. I learned how to drive a forklift. But, more importantly than all of that, I learned how to handle people, the customers and the employees.

I've been gone from the company almost as long as I was there. I still reference Meijer every day. I may not call it out, but something I say or do as it pertains to the two businesses I run to make my living comes from that background. Without Fred's crazy ideas and calculated risks, I never would have had any of that. It seems so simple, but man that's complex. If he hadn't done those things, I can't say I would be the person I am today in any sense. Would I be the person I am? Would I have achieved the professional successes, or at least in a similar timeline? Would I even live in the State of Illinois? After all, I moved out here to grand open my second Meijer store.

For years, Meijer's slogan was, "A Million Reasons, a Single Store." With Fred's story, I see, "A Million Positives, A Single Vision."

It wasn't just Fred that made Meijer a success. It was Fred's ability to lead and inspire others. It was vision and purpose. It was motivating others. It was dealing with ambiguity. And perhaps his most simple philosophy (in my own interpretation) was this:

"Take care of the people. Everything else falls into a distant second place."

Thank you, Fred for all you have done. This is one bag boy who came to you for a summer job and left with a lifetime of experience and knowledge.

If you'd like to learn more about Fred's story, you can find it here: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/11/west_michigan_grocery_magnate.html