More on Shopping Carts

Since posting about the amazing variety of Shopping Carts at Meijer, I have had several conversations with people who confirm how wonderful it is to be able to choose just the right cart for their shopping plans. I am glad at this time to inform you that there is another option now available.

In the previous Cart post, I failed to mention the basket option. Turns out that was a good thing because the baskets have been drastically upgraded since that post. Just last week my wife and I went in for about 4 or 5 things. I decided to grab a basket to avoid trying to juggle bottles of pop in my arms and what I found was truly amazing. The basket I grabbed seemed enormous (though light and easily manageable). I was at first embarrassed due to its size and I was slightly confused by the fact that it had two handles. I quickly gave the basket to my wife to avoid the embarrassment of carrying it around. She of course is a much more confident person and felt no pressure to hide her face while toting the behemoth grocery lugger. She then proceeded to figure out that the basket could be carried in two distinctly unique ways. One was the typical handle style as seen in the first image. The second image reveals that the basket has wheels underneath and a special pulling handle that turns the basket into a mini-wagon.

Stop in a try them out if you get a chance.

Last Minute Christmas Shoppers

To all you last minute shoppers out there I just want to give you some hope that not all is lost. There is always Meijer. BUT ONLY TILL 7 PM! So get going!
Today Meijer is offering special coupons for 10 - 20% off many gift type items. Please feel free to print off the coupons below. You can use them as much as you want until the store closes today at 7pm. Also, for those who have teenagers in the home, or 30 something husbands who haven't quite grown up yet (that would be me), Meijer is selling all Guitar Hero bundles for $50 off!!! That is an amazing price. Hurry before they are sold out.

Have a Merry Christmas!
Click HERE for the coupons.

Meijer Continues to be Really Cool

To those faithful Meijer shoppers who continue to check this blog and have been sorely disappointed in a lack of posting, I apoligize. I don't plan to make any promises to do a better job at keeping this up, but I understand how frustrating it is to go to a place expecting to see something new only to be disappointed again and again. It is like going to a store that is not Meijer. Anyway, for those who have been coming here week after week, I have found another somewhat funny commercial. My favorite part is the clown at the end. ENJOY!!

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Shopping Carts

This is not the most exciting blog, but I am afraid things have been a bit slow in the Meijer department. So, I thought I would just share another thing about Meijer that keeps me coming back.
Now, before I get too far, I have to admit that I don't shop at too many other super centers, so I don't know how special the carts are Meijer are, but they certainly beat the local grocery store. For starters, Meijer has two different sized carts. There is your typical grocery store cart with the flip down thing for the kids to sit on and the space below to put bags of dog food and 24 packs of pop. There is also a smaller sized cart. It is a few inches narrower and about half as long. You can usually find these moving around the store with a 20-40 year old man behind trying to fit in as much stuff as he can without having to resort to getting the big cart and looking like Mr. Mom.
On top of these choices, those shoppers with kids can choose from the extended addition cart with a bench for two kids to sit in, or better yet, for a buck you can get a hybrid cart that is half mobile entertainment center and half shopping cart. There is a little T.V. screen inside that plays episodes of Sponge Bob. You don't have as much room for groceries, but the lack of screaming kids allows you to be brave enough to shop more than once a month. My friend Jaret calls this the best dollar he has ever spent. He can often be found walking the aisle of Meijer with his two older kids completely enthralled with the 8 inch T.V. screen and totally unaware of the fact they just walked by all the sugar cereal.

Next Best Thing

I am hoping that everyone has had a chance to use the Meal Box thing. Julie and I have been printing coupons from it, though we haven't really used it to make our grocery list or plan meals at this point.
In response to Caitlin's complaint that she still has to cook the food, I think she has been watching too many episodes of Star Trek. However, I am not completely without some help.
There was another comment on the last post with a link to the Meijer Team YouTube channel. While they will not come out to your house to cook your food, there are many videos that show how to cook the food. In case you haven't checked it out yet, go here.
I only see 9 videos on this site. Hopefully more will follow.

Cool Meijer Thing!!!

Okay, I realize this is two posts in one day, but this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Except for of course things like mountains, newborns, sunrises and the ocean. So we will call it the most practical amazing thing ever.
As you can see on the right, there is a huge box thing that says "Meijer Meal Box". Marc discovered it on www.meijer.com. From what we can tell, it is a way to very easily plan your weekly meals and make a shopping list. You just select the meals you want, drag the picture down to the mini calendar at the bottom, select what meal it is for (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and then click the tab that says "Shopping List". The shopping list will have all of the ingredients you need for all of your meals and will highlight the things that have a coupon or are on sale. The coupons are at the bottom of the list and will print out easily for you. AMAZING!!!

For those who are Meijer.com members (it is free and easy to sign up) you can click the "Sign In" tab on the Meal Box and it will remember who you are. The tab will then change to "Profile" and you can select different things based on your food preferences. For instance, you can select if you only want meals that are low fat or low sodium, you can select a certain diet plan, and you can select gourmet or budget type meals.
PRACTICAL!!!

You can even put this thing on your own computer desktop, but feel free to come back here and use it. I have just started to figure it out, so please spend some time using it and let me know what you think. It looks like there are more options that will be added later. Have fun!!

TV digital converter box deal

This week at Meijer, they are offering Summer Bucks coupons. You get a certain dollar amount off for buying a general merchandise item. The more the item costs, the more you get off. If you happened to get your coupons from the government for $40 towards a new converter box, you should be able to use them in conjunction with the Meijer Bucks to get a really good deal on a converter box. I haven't done this yet myself but will check it out and let you know. I suppose you will be better off to just not get one at all and avoid the brain numbing programing that is sure to continue to exude from your television whether it is digital or analog.

Sweet

I have to say I am a bit disappointed with the lack of comments on the last post. It is hard for me to believe that of the hundreds of people reading this blog, only two have cared to comment on their favorite Meijer products, and one of them doesn't really like Meijer products and the other only commented to share a completely unrelated story. Both comments were still greatly appreciated and those people will be receiving a prize for their efforts. Speaking of last posts comments, MEIJER EXECUTIVES please take note that people in Kansas want awesomeness. They are sick of the same old mediocre products and low quality produce. Really, Meijer doesn't have a lot of competition in the awesomeness department in Kansas. It wouldn't take much to really make an impact. Sorry Kansans, not trying to be rude, I mean you do have the prairie thing going on, and K-State, but you need some help. Like an extreme makeover state edition, with Meijer stores as the center piece. Someone at Meijer needs to get Ty Pennington on board and then things will happen.

Okay, this post is getting off course. What I really wanted to share was a picture sent to me by a co-worker who found it on someone's Facebook site. Sorry I can't give credit to whoever you are.
Have a look.
What I am thinking is that someone at Meijer was on a health kick and was just trying to say to the masses, "You can buy 4oz of sugar wrapped in a fancy bag for 62 cents, or you can get this 5 pound bag of sugar for like a buck." Clearly Meijer continues to be concerned with helping the average consumer save money.

If you didn't comment last time, feel free to continue to do so. I am eager to learn what products at Meijer you have found to be really good. Let me also know if you have decided to replace your candy bar habits with straight up sugar, and how that is going.

Meijer Brand

Meijer had a wonderful ad campaign going not that long ago that showed comparisons between name brand products and Meijer brand products with the only difference being the price. (See the commercial posted below with the girl eating spinach.) Even before these commercials came out, I had been expounding to my less enlightened friends how good Meijer brand products are. This concept was brought to mind again by my friend Dian, who occasionally has a moment of weakness and shops at a different mega store. She ends up buying bread there and is remorsefully disappointed with the poor taste and quality. She then wished desperately that she had gone to Meijer instead and purchased the Meijer brand wheat bread. Poor soul.
For those who buy name brand products, or store brand products at places other than Meijer, I want to encourage you to give Meijer a try. I don't think you will be disappointed.

A few of my favorite Meijer products are: hot dogs (its all gross meat no matter who packages it, might as well be cheap), the cranberry cocktail juices, bread, salsa (the corn and black bean is the best) and milk (it is the only kind my wife and I drink).

Please write in and tell me some of your favorite Meijer products.

Ummm

I was just thinking that I really need to post something before the entire month of May goes by without any update. I certainly had a fair number of positive encounters with friendly Meijer Associates, and the savings has been spectacular as always, but there just wasn't anything new and exciting...until...

I got a great email from Brooke. She and Vince were shopping at Meijer recently and saw this sign,



Initially it looks like someone got a little loopy before hitting up the sign making machine. I was then under the suspicion that Meijer was selling Donkey meat glazed with some obscure berry mixture. Brooke said she was thinking yogurt with some kind of Shrek marketing ploy but could not find any such product near the sign. My wife says she saw the same sign earlier in the week and there were containers of yogurt nearby. I am still of the opinion that Meijer continues to maintain their high standards of having a wide variety of produce by offering a very rare berries and exotic types of meat. Perhaps one of the Meijer associates reading this blog could help us out.

More Commercials

Lawsuit

About two months ago, I emailed someone at Meijer to tell them about my blog. I know this was a very self serving and shameful act. I admit that I was looking forward to being contracted by their marketing department. However, I was also wanting to share with Meijer just how wonderful I think their store is. For several weeks after the email, I noticed on my sitemeter that there were several Meijer people that were looking on my blog. Excitement abounded! I thought it was only days until I got a call. However, in the last three weeks or so I have noticed that they are no longer looking at my blog. I have concluded one of two things has happened. Either a supervisor at Meijer realized his employees were wasting, sorry, spending a lot of quality time, looking at my blog and put an end to it, OR they have gathered enough information to put together a class action lawsuit against me for using their name and logo. I really don't know what "class action" means, but I am sure the blog is coming to an end. I would suggest that if you have posted on this blog, you make every effort to distance yourself from that user name and deny that you know anything about Meijer other than being the name of a hot dog.

Signs and Wonders

This weekend my wife and I ventured to Michigan for a wedding. Along the way, we passed this sign.
It was taken on our cell phone so it is a bit hard to read. It says, "Meijers isn't the only savings place." and is on a sign for a church. Clearly, Jesus and Meijer offer great savings. Though of a vastly different variety.

Also on this weekend trip, we went to Meijer Gardens. For those who are new to the blog, there should be a link somewhere on this page to take you there. Or type in Meijer Gardens in the search box to the right. It is really a phenomenal place. People from all over the world come there to see the gardens, as well as a variety of artistic displays. Really, I don't think I have been there without hearing someone speak a language that I don't recognize. Below is a bronze statue of Fred and Lena Meijer. This was also taken with a cell phone so I apologize for the poor quality.


If you are ever near Grand Rapids, stop by this place. It also has a kids garden with all kinds of hands on things to do. Currently there is a butterfly exhibit going on.

Cowboy Up...or Not

I really don't know what "Cowboy Up" means, but I thought it fit the title of this blog. I apologize if it has some lewd connotation to it.

Yesterday I was meeting with one of the foster kids that I work with. Her birthday is coming up next week and she loves Shania Twain. Not sure why but to each her own. So I decided to look on Meijer.com to see if I could find some cool Shania collectible thing to get her. Turns out Meijer doesn't carry a lot of Shania stuff. In fact, only one thing showed up. Her newest CD. At first I was greatly disappointed, but this lasted barely a second before I realized that I was actually glad that Meijer doesn't have a boat load of Shania stuff. Country music isn't really my thing and I'm not sure I could be quite as avid a Meijer shopper if they catered to the Twain crowd.
I then ventured to the competitors website, where I came up with 17 Shania items, including three different perfumes. Not sure I really want my wife, or anyone for that matter, smelling like a country music star.
Great job Meijer. Clearly the "Higher Standards" slogan rings true.

Friendly Associate

I was shopping at Meijer store 138 the other day, one of my favorite pastimes as you might guess by the fact that I am an avid Meijer shopper, and I had a very pleasant experience. I was looking through the vast selections of cheeses and trying to figure out which was the best deal. I typically get Meijer brand because as the commercials say, "The only difference is the price." Turns out Kraft has caught on to that and they lowered their price this week, plus I had a coupon. As I am pondering the best bargain, a Meijer associate politely asks if I need any help as she is frantically trying to restock the bags of Kraft cheese flying off the shelf. I reply that I am just weighing my options. She returns to the frantic re-shelving and I decide to get the Kraft brand shredded cheese and the Meijer brand brick cheese, thus making the job of the Meijer stocker lady even more difficult because now she has to restock two types of cheese. Still she smiled and happily replenished the selections of yellow dairy delight.

Let me know about some of your best shopping experiences. I am going to assume that they happened at Meijer, but if it was at some other store you can share that too. We'll just assume that they were influenced somehow by the Meijer way of doing things.

Here's a couple more Meijer commercials for you to enjoy.

Going Green

I am not really an environmental nut, (though my wife may argue the point because I insist on using those fluorescent light bulbs in our house and turn the heat down to just above freezing at night) but I found a new article about Meijer and their efforts to limit the negative impact they have on the environment. You can check it out HERE, or click the link to the left titled "Greener Greenhouses". Thanks.

Commercials

I realize this only makes American commercialism worse by posting this blog, but if we are going to have to live with commercials, it is at least good to know that there are some people who can make them worth while. Meijer, along with being a superior super-store, has also hired and excellent marketing company and put out some very entertaining commercials. I am currently trying to find some of the best commercials for your enjoyment. Hope you like these.

Why Meijer continues to impress me

This is kind of a boring post, no great story or exciting Meijer trip, but I wanted to share another reason that Meijer continues to prove to be a superior shopping experience.

For those of us who have insurance that pretty much only covers you if your head gets nearly sliced off, the HSA and FSA accounts to supplement medical cost have become very much a fact of life. They are very helpful, but not always easy to use. Well, now Meijer has made it a bit easier by totaling up all of the Medically qualifying expenses and putting the total at the bottom of the receipt. This makes it very easy to just send a copy of the receipt in to your FSA people and get reimbursed. Very cool!

Speaking of receipts. I never really announced a winner of the total savings challenge. I thank all of you who sent in entries. I am very proud to announce at this time that my wife, in her magical shopping abilities, managed to save $82 and spent $74. This was due mostly to the fact that shrimp was buy one get two free and we ended up with nine bags. Thats a lot of shrimp.

NEW SIGN!!

Despite all of the wonderful things about Meijer, our particular Meijer had one major fault. The price sign for the gas station was always rather askew, as in really messed up. Whomever they had putting the numbers on that thing either stood upside down while putting up the 8's or didn't pay attention in first grade. The larger circle was always on top of the smaller circle making it look like the 8 was looming over you instead of just sitting back and chillin' on the sign. To make matters worse, aside from the numbers often being upside down, they weren't even from the same batch. Some of the 9's curved around and some were very square, like on a digital clock. The sevens and twos were also of a variety of styles. Some were very thin, and some looked like someone had made them with duct tape and painted them black. So, Julie and I would always feel quite disappointed when we drove by the sign. Especially since the Wal-Mart across the street has a very nice, neat, easy to ready sign. We pondered often about writing to the manager and asking that they purchase a new set of numbers and hire someone with an elementary education to put them up. We unfortunately never got around to it but evidently someone else had the same idea because just last week our Meijer put up a brand new state of the art digital sign (evidently they gave up finding someone the put the numbers on correctly). See below for a visual. The first picture is one Julie took when the old sign actually looked decent. The second picture is of the new sign. Not sure why we decided to take them while driving by, instead of doing it while we were getting gas, so please ignore the snow on the windshield.

Ten for Ten this week!

My wife and I decided to go to Meijer last night to get just a few things. Well, you know how it goes. You get to the store and you realize just how awesome the prices are and you end up buying lots of stuff. Fortunately it was all stuff we needed. The deal going on this week, at least at the Fort Wayne Meijer stores, is buy ten things for 10 dollars and then get an eleventh item for free. There are only certain items that qualify, but there were a lot this time around. Things like dish soap, hand soap, Ragu sauces, stuffing mix, all sorts of things. I think the biggest savings was with the Joy dish detergent, which not only smells really good (according to my wife) but cuts grease and kills germs. It is originally 1.99. So, you can get it for a buck, and then if you have a coupon for say 30 cents off you get that doubled to 60 cents and now your dish soap is like 40 cents!
Having said all of that, I realize that doing dishes is a horrible job and one might rather not have an abundance of dish soap around.

By the way, I have decided to have a little contest. At the top of the your Meijer receipt it shows how much your total savings was, if you have time, send in how much you saved and what your total bill was. I don't know what the prize will be. Maybe you can just feel the satisfaction of know that you are a thrifty shopper!