Meijer's high and 'low' points

Hank Meijer, co-c.e.o., on how low-cost operation has been an alternating theme for his family's company:

"We opened the grocery in 1934, and then in 1936 or 1937 you had an early decision to go to a lower-cost operating model—from the old credit and delivery system to cash and self-service.

"Then the next milestone was to get into the supermarket business, to have the biggest meat case in the county, and so on. About 1960 the move was to get rid of trading stamps; again, it was a recommitment to low-cost operations.

"In 1962 we introduced the one-stop-shopping format. By the mid-'80s we had a recommitment to a really strong food offering.

"In 2003 Paul Boyer [now vice chairman and co-c.e.o.] arrived just as Wal-Mart had emerged as a dominant factor. One of Paul's great accomplishments was to get us to focus on the core elements we needed for the survival of the business—very significantly including reducing our SG&A so we could stay in the game with Wal-Mart. That has really been a consuming passion over the last couple of years, starting really in 2002."