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Title: Hendrik G. Meijer Collection, 1907, 1983

ID: COLL/171

Creator: Hendrik G. Meijer (1883-1964)

Extent: 1.0 Box

Arrangement: Folder level description

Business man. The collection includes a manuscript entitled “Mass Merchant, the Life of Hendrik Meijer,” and collected poems. The manuscript relates the formative years and the circumstances which brought the founder of the Meijer Thrifty Acres discount department store, Hendrik Meijer, to the United States.  Subsequently, his views on American life (as related to his wife-to-be, Gezina Mantel), his political involvement, and the development of the grocery and department stores are described by Meijer’s grandson.

When Dutch immigrate, Hendrik G. Meijer first entered the United States he worked as mill worker, a cloth salesman, farmer, landlord and barber. When the Great Depression hit the United States, Meijer was offering rental space for a grocery store. When no one rented, he decided to start up his own grocery store. So began Meijer Thrifty Acres, a successful self-service grocery store. He also introduced the concept of a “discount” grocery store to western Michigan.

The store grew in popularity, expanding to dozens of locations in the Grand Rapids area by the 1950s. In the 1960s, Meijer combined grocery store goods with department store goods, creating a one-stop shopping experience. Under Henrik’s son, Frederik, Meijer Thrifty Acres became simply known as Meijer. Meijer, Inc. is now being ran by Hendrik’s grandsons, Hank and Doug Meijer.