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Meijer aids local restaurants with meal-buying program

Stores, distribution centers purchase food from area small businesses hurting from pandemic

Russell Redman

April 21, 2020

2 Min Read
Meijer_store-exterior.jpg
The "Buy Local" program enables Meijer’s 248 supercenters, grocery stores and distribution centers to partner with an independent restaurant in its area to buy meals for its workers.Meijer

Supercenter operator Meijer is supporting local restaurants feeling the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak by purchasing meals for employees.

Called “Buy Local,” the program enables each of Meijer’s 248 supercenters, grocery stores and distribution centers to partner with an independent restaurant in its area to buy meals for its workers, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer said Tuesday. The community-focused initiative is slated to continue for the next several weeks.

“Our teams are working hard every day to ensure our stores are clean and fully stocked so our customers can find what they need for their families,” Meijer President and CEO Rick Keyes said in a statement. “This initiative is just one of the ways we are trying to show them just how much we appreciate their dedication, while also providing an opportunity to support important small businesses in the communities we serve.”

For example, the Meijer store in West Chester, Ohio, chose Roc-a-Fellas pizzeria for its first employee meal after learning that the restaurant fed 16 families in need. Also, Meijer’s distribution center in Lansing, Mich., bought more than 1,900 turkey and ham sub sandwiches from family-owned Italian restaurant Tony M’s.

Meijer also purchased food for employees from Louie Angelo’s, a fast-casual Italian restaurant in South Elgin, Ill., just down the road from the retailer’s store in Elgin, Ill.

Related:FreshDirect to sell meals from Restaurant Associates

“Our hearts are SO FULL,” Louie Angelo’s wrote on its Facebook page. "THANK YOU @meijer for supporting Louie Angelo’s during these difficult times!! Your commitment to small, local businesses like ours makes an enormous impact. We feel so honored to provide meals to all your selfless, hard-working employees!”

Meijer operates stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

“All of us at Meijer are proud to serve our communities, and we will continue to work through these challenging times together,” Keyes added.

Restaurants, particularly independents, are among the hardest-hit business sectors since much of the nation shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Yesterday, the National Restaurant Association said the restaurant industry has lost two-thirds of its workforce — more than 8 million employees — because of closings from coronavirus lockdowns. Of 6,500 restaurants surveyed by the association, 60% of owners said current federal relief programs, including the CARES Act, won’t enable them to keep workers on payroll during the downturn. The association estimated that restaurants lost $30 billion in March and are on track to lose $50 billion in April and over $240 billion nationwide by the end of the year.

Related:With excess supply during coronavirus closures, restaurants sell their inventory as groceries

For our most up-to-date coverage, visit the coronavirus homepage.

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About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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