Meijer continues its commitment to local and diverse-owned businesses

Looking to bring more products from local and diverse-owned businesses to its customers, Midwest grocery retailer Meijer will host its General Merchandise and Apparel Supplier Event later this fall. Meijer held its first Supplier Diversity Summit in 2020 and has since then continued its efforts to bring products to its shelves from underrepresented business owners.

"While we've made great strides to ensure our vendors represent our customers in terms of both diversity and geography across our stores, we're excited to hold this event that specifically focuses on general merchandise and apparel," said Peter Whitsett, Meijer EVP of merchandising and marketing, in a statement.

The event will focus on general merchandise and apparel, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based grocer said in a statement. Certified minority-, LGBTQ-, woman-, veteran- and persons-with-a-disability-owned businesses based anywhere in the United States, as well as local Midwest vendors based in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, can submit video submissions here, by Sept. 18 for consideration.

As part of the application process, vendors must submit brief, 3-minutes-or-less videos that provide background on their business and products. Videos do not need to be professionally produced and can be created on smartphones, Meijer said.

Videos should include suggested retail price, as well as background on production and supply chain.

Meijer teams will review and select finalists, who then will be asked to submit additional details via the retailer's partner, RangeMe, Meijer said. Finalists will also attend a training session before pitching their products live to Meijer merchants at the fall virtual event.

Applicants whose products do not qualify are encouraged to submit their information for consideration through the retailer's prospective vendor page.

Meijer, a privately-owned and family-operated company since 1934, operates 262 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.