Black Friday

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Friday the 6th, my wife and I drove up to her parents’ home in Michigan. On the way, I had the option of listening to “Bleak House” by Dickens, or Christmas Music. I am typically a fan of Chuck, but something about “Bleak” being in the title, and the fact that the book takes about 43 days to listen to, pushed me towards the Christmas Music option. I still feel the first week of November is too early for Bethlehem's Greatest Hits, but like I said, those were my choices. Anyway, once the playlist got rockin’ I could hardly help but cheer up a bit at the thought of Christmas being just around the corner, or over the river and through the woods and then around the corner. Now certainly, I don’t want to steal and of the glory from Jesus. It is His birthday after all, and He deserves a lot of praise! But, one can hardly help but think about shopping as well. This likely brings more terror than joy. My wife may be the only person I have met who prefers going to the mall when the entire city is there, everyone is super grumpy and wearing 7 layers of clothes, and nobody has what you want. All this to say that today I got a sneak peek at the Black Friday Ad from Meijer. At this moment, only the front page is available, but there is a link below that will be operational after 12:01 am Sunday the 15th. I hope you enjoy getting some great ideas so you can plan for the madness. Don’t forget that Meijer has an even larger selection of items on their website and lots of great deals on shipping. There is also a really cool shopping list generator called “GIFTCRACKER” that you can send to everyone on your list, so you don’t have to constantly ask them what they want.

Here are the links to everything mentioned.

Click for Black Friday Ad

Click for GIFTCRACKER gift generating thing

Front Page of Black Friday Ad

Wal-Mart Shoppers

Okay, I have really made an effort to avoid poking fun at Wal-Mart or contrasting Meijer to Wal-Mart. I just really don’t want this blog to turn into a big back-and-forth battle. However, this was too good to pass up. I stumbled upon a twitter account that posts pictures of Wal-Mart Shoppers. I am not responsible for any of the content that you find on that site, so enter at your own risk. You can check it out at this link: http://twitter.com/peopleofwalmart

Umm, better hurry

Okay, so I was a bit late with the coupon thing. I guess if you are reading this now, there is still time to print the coupon and save money, but you'd better hurry!!!

Free Coupon

For those who are read this blog and for whatever reason are not fans of Meijer on Facebook, you need to correct that. I guess not need, but I can't imagine a fellow Meijer enthusiast who is not a Meijer Facebook Fan.

In either case, whether you are a fan or not, head to www.facebook.com/Meijer to get a free coupon for $5 off a general merchandise purchase up to $49.99 and $10 off a general merchandise purchase of $50 or more. Click the "Fan Coupon" tab if the coupon doesn't automatically pop up.

social networking with Meijer

For those who are interested, Meijer has a Facebook fan page and a twitter page.
On Facebook, just search for Meijer and then become a fan. On twitter, go to www.twitter.com/meijer.

Paying it Forward

Okay, this has been a long time coming. A few weeks ago I promised an update with some great news from Meijer. Well, still great news, but there was a little snag. Here's the scoop. Jon, I'll call him my friend, works at Meijer. He was very interested in finding some unfortunate kids who could use some assistance with back to school shopping. Turns out I work with about half the unfortunate kids in Indiana, so I emailed Jon and let him know I could get some kids for him. Jon wrote back and said he would be very glad to include me in the list of recipients for the "Meijer Gives Back" program. I was thinking I would get a free back pack or a $25 gift card, and was already making plans to take out one or two of the kids I work with to buy something. Then, one of the higher ups at Meijer got wind of the program and informed Jon that Meijer doesn't just give money away all willy nilly. Jon had to en

d his program. He said he would send a consolation gift. I am now thinking possibly a Meijer sticker or something kinda lame. A week or so later. Bam! Jon comes through with a $100 consolation prize!!

Way more than I was expecting in the first place. I was also free to use it however I wished. Immediately I was thinking gummy bears, but my wife insisted on still using it for kids. Around the same time, Gateway Woods (my place of work) was having their annual benefit auction. My wife and I decided to use our $100 gift card to buy something to donate. We chose this very slick black ipod.

We then went to the auction to see how much the ipod would fetch. We figured it would pull at least $200. A lot for an ipod nano, but it was a benefit auction. Well, the bidding started at about $50 and hands were flying up like a commercial for "Sure" deodorant. The auctioneer could hardly keep up until the price got to about $300, then things slowed down just a bit. A tall 20 something in a Purdue shirt had his eye on the prize and wasn't faltering. He won the iPod for a mere $450! Then he gave it to this kid,

who was about jumping out of his socks.

Thanks Meijer for making possible a $450 donation to Gateway Woods.

Still Here

I just wanted to let everyone who reads this blog to know that I am not dead. I know it appears that way, but it has actually just been an extremely busy summer. I did want to share that Meijer celebrated their 75th Anniversary this summer! Hopefully you were able to benefit from some of the specials that went on to celebrate this event. I will hopefully have some more news to share within a week or two. Meanwhile, I hope you continue to enjoy your Meijer shopping experiences.
Here is another commercial for your enjoyment.

Meijer Mealbox to the Rescue

My friend Kristi wanted me to share with my Meijer blog readers a recent event involving a pork steak. I don't really know what a pork steak is, so here is a picture.

I guess it is like a beef steak, only pork.

It turns out that Krisit didn't really know what a pork steak was either. I am not sure if she bought it because of the great price or if she was just curious. Anyway, she found herself Monday evening particularly perplexed with a piece of pig. She then remembered the Meijer Mealbox widget on this blog and thought there might be a recipe. Turns out she was right and dinner was a success! I don't know what a pork steak goes for these days, but pork loin is on sale for $1.79 a pound this week.

Feel free to share your favorite Pork recipes.

Ecostore Coupon

Click HERE for a coupon for a dollar off any Ecostore product at Meijer. Feel free to use it between now and March 14th.

Ecostore Cleaners Exclusively at Meijer

Meijer will soon be carrying a new line of cleaners made by a company called Ecostore. They are a company based out of New Zealand. Meijer was able to send out several product samples to test how well they work. My wife and I received two bottles of all purpose cleaner spray and a bottle of liquid laundry soap. We have used each product several times and here is what we thought. Ecostore's claim is that the products are made from plant based ingredients and are not harmful to your skin. The products also claim to be good for the earth and are made from sustainable resources. Not really sure what all that means, but is sounds very green and friendly.


At first glance, I have to admit the cleaners don't look very impressive. I am certainly not a marketing or graphics design major, but the bottles do very little to attract my attention. The black and white photographs on the front of the Ecostore cleaners give me the impression that the labels were made one someone's home printer and then stuck on generic white bottles. I do however like the simple labeling of the contents. "LAUNDRY LIQUID" and "SPRAY CLEANER" are straight and to the point and don't try to sell you with 10 different sayings all over the cover claiming to take out a variety of stains or, "new and improved", all in flashy colors and fonts. It kind of lets the products speak for themselves. I realize I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth with the bottle design. I guess it is the black and white picture that really throws me. The rest of the packaging is appealing.


Now for the product testing. First, the LAUNDRY LIQUID.


The liquid is a yellowish clear color. The cleaner contains eucalyptus oil, and that gives a very distinct smell that you will notice right away. It doesn't smell like your typical laundry soap, which I found refreshing because those are very overpowering to me. It kind of smells like tea tree with a hint of menthol, like in Vick's vapor rub, but much less intense. The bottle says to use 3-5 tablespoons of liquid per load. Less if you have a front load washer. I didn't actually measure, but I think that is less that what the concentrated cleaners from Tide and All suggest to use. We washed a variety of clothes in a variety of water temperatures. Each load came out smelling very fresh and appeared to be clean, though I admit our clothes weren't exactly full of stains and dirt prior to washing. White clothes did not appear to yellow at all, but we only did a couple of loads. Ecostore does sell a oxygen whitener for tough stains.

On to the SPRAY CLEANER.

Again, the first thing you will notice with this cleaner is the smell, or lack thereof. The cleaner was very pleasant in the fact that when used it didn't smell like a hospital in our home. There was no strong chemical odor like you would find with bleach cleaners or Lysol. The cleaner leaves just a faint hint of citrus while at the same time removing any offensive smell of grease or food or whatever it is you are cleaning. We used it on a variety of surfaces (not wood) and it worked well. It also worked great on glass, not leaving any streaks. Another great feature, the cleaner is antibacterial.

The products should be coming to your local Meijer shortly. If you want more info, you can go to Ecostore's website at www.ecostore.co.nz

Meijer Fanatic Saves the Day

The other day, my wife's friend Lisa called to ask where the Velveta cheese could be found. She was already running late and still had to pick up dry cleaning that had been done for three days. Frantically, she ran from aisle to aisle trying to find the creamy cheese product. How else would she make salsa con queso worthy of the love of her life. Without hesitation my wife was able to inform Lisa that the Velveta could be found in the back cooler, next to the shredded cheese. "I knew you would know," replied Lisa. She quickly got the processed substance, breezed through one of the numerous "U-Scan" checkouts, picked up the dry cleaning, and was home in time to make the creamiest cheese dip this side of the St. Joe River.

10 For 10, Eleventh Free

It's Back!! Starting Sunday January 11th, Meijer will again be having a 10 for 10 sale with the eleventh item being free. Here is a partial list of items that will be offered for those who don't get the advertisement in the mail.
· 10 for $10 AND get 11th free(Mix and Match!)
Hamburger Helper (all varieties)
Meijer Pasta Sauce (all varieties)
Combo Snacks (all varieties)
Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta (all varieties)
Angel Soft Bath Tissue (4 rolls)
Pillsbury Grands or Golden Layers Biscuits
Green Giant Box or Poly Bag Vegetables
2 Liters Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7-up, Sierra Mist
Aunt Millie’s English Muffins or Meijer Split Top White Bread
Meijer Facial Tissues
Hormel Sliced Salami or Pepperoni
Gerber 2nd Foods 2 Packs
Meijer Toothbrushes, Floss and Mouthwash

There are some other general merchandise deals going on this weekend as well.
· Buy $50 or more of Rubbermaid Products and get $10 Meijer gift card free
All Rubbermaid products on sale as well
· Buy 8GB iPod nano and get $50 iTunes Gift Card for 50% off
· Clearance Event 30-75% off GM/Apparel Clearance Event (Look for Orange stickers)

Have fun shopping this weekend!