[shnn18]

I have to say I have been very disappointed in Meijer's these last few weeks. I have noticed that I am starting to spend more due to the lack of sale items and I have even gone back to shopping at Wal Mart, which I have not done for months!

Is it just me or are the sales just not that great anymore?

[missteena]

I never do all of my grocery shopping at one store because I live so close to several grocery stores that it actually makes more sense for me to shop around. The past few weeks I have just been getting a few things here and there from Meijer because their ads don't seem to be as good as they once were.

I just looked @ this week's ad and I think I am going to cross Meijer off of my list for this week unless someone points out a really good deal I happened to miss.

[jas80]

The only thing I plan on going in for is 3 things of snuggle. And I did that this morning when I got my papers. So unless something big gets pointed out, I'm done for the week.

[shughes17]

yeah, my list for Meijer had one sale item and a couple of things I always buy. My Target list had a lot more and we don't even have a SuperTarget.

[acamac01]

Originally Posted by shnn18

Is it just me or are the sales just not that great anymore?

It isn't just you, I'm wishing they would have some decent sales too. I haven't been going to Meijer nearly as much and have also been considering going to Walmart which I normally don't do.

[austinspookie]

I only shop at Meijer for really good sale items. The prices in my flier tend to be higher then the prices posted on here and unless I can get it super cheap, I go to Save A Lot or Aldi. Also my meijer (or any store in my area) doubles coupons.

[lint42]

Yea, I have found myself going to Aldi more the past couple of weeks. The new sales have been horrible. Whenever I see "Great Meijer Price" I just skip over the item...that means that prices are normal and not on sale and are not worth my time.

[smhammons]

Meijer has been my main store because they price match competetors ads and double coupons up to .99. However, I am severly disapointed in their customer service. When I price match and bring my handfull of coupons they act as though I am ripping them off!! or at the very least, trying to get one over on them. The people they put in charge at the front end are rude and loud.
I am considering making Giant Eagle my main store. I do shop at Aldi, Kroger and Walmart as well. It all depends on the sales and what I need.

[missteena]

Originally Posted by smhammons

Meijer has been my main store because they price match competetors ads and double coupons up to .99. However, I am severly disapointed in their customer service. When I price match and bring my handfull of coupons they act as though I am ripping them off!! or at the very least, trying to get one over on them. The people they put in charge at the front end are rude and loud.
I am considering making Giant Eagle my main store. I do shop at Aldi, Kroger and Walmart as well. It all depends on the sales and what I need.

If my Meijer doubled up to .99 I probably wouldn't need to shop many other places besides there! Ours only doubles up to .50 and from what I hear we do not price match grocery items around here.

Good for you, though!

[jonoma]

We've been shopping around more lately, too. For a while, we hadn't needed to shop Aldi, but the lack of good Meijer deals is forcing us to pick up staple items elsewhere. And Aldi rarely disappoints.

DON'T FORGET to email or call Meijer and let them know how you feel! They claim to have changed their ad based on customer feedback, so it's reasonable to think that customer feedback could get it changed back!

[4kbakers]

I only shop for the freebies and near freebies. Same with Krogers, Target, Walgreens, etc. I have such a stockpile now that I can do this. When I do it though, I really stock up with enough to last me about 6-12 months depending on expiration. This helps me to lower my OOP expense long term. I have to get filler items sometimes but still overall I have reduced my expenses so much it's not even funny. Meijer is 45 minutes away so on the weeks I can't get my bargains, I get to take a break and if no one else is having a good sale, it's just considered my "week off" of my "part-time job" . I say stock up when they have the good sales and then when they don't have many sale items like this week and last week, it won't hurt you financially as much.

[ayenbe]

My stores double up to .99, so it is one of my main stores (so are the other 2 - Giant Eagle and Kroger)... but after being at Meijer so much the last few weeks ($8oynoHBA wyb 5 Meijer HBA, PepFarm/Campbell bread/soup deal)... I'm thankful to have a week off!

[chelpa]

i've been very let down with meijer since they changed their ad. i think next time i go in i'll
let the managers know how i feel. there are a couple pretty cool ones at my store, and i'm sure it won't cause a problem for me. the sales are horrible now. they need to know!

[calliope5]

I agree, the sales seem slimmer, but you can't argue with free bread and soup (Campbell's and Pepp. Farm deal) and cheap crackers (Super Saturday)! There always seems to be a lull, then a couple of weeks of great deals. With Thanksgiving coming up, I'll bet we'll see some great sales soon.

[davexucc]

I agree, the goods sales ads aren't nearly what they used to be.

[acamac01]

I sent an email about the sales and letting them know that I love Meijer and I really hope they get on track to stay competitive. I also asked why my store doesn't double. Hoping maybe they will start.

[bethaliz6894]

my meijer is so bad...deorderant was on sale 1.84. ilifted the tag to see the regular price and it was 1.86. WOW! awsome sale!!!!!!!!!!! NOT!!!!

[savings queen]

I agree with everyone here. I will keep my fingers crossed that the good deals start rolling again as we near the holidays!

[kellybell]

I agree! Most of my shopping is now done at Aldi's. I only got Snuggle this week from Meijer. BOOOO!

[tonia185]

The only thing in the ad this week I am even considering is the bannanas - I doubt that will even get me to walk in the store though - my gas wil cost more than the savings will be - I will go to Kroger this week as their sales appears to be pretty good this week and I also have a stockpile of items so I will stock up on the steals at Kroger and forget about meijer for yet another week - as soon as they relize thier new sales and ads don't work we will start seeing the bargans again! Just hope it doesnt take em to long cause I will stop looking at their sale ads all together here in a couple of weeks and call them a wash!!!!

[feeko5]

I was thinking the same thing last night as I was writing out my list for this morning.I thought maybe I was "missing"some good deals. Thanks that I'm not alone. I see more Aldi and Save-a-lot in my future!!!

[shughes17]

I wrote online and they are sending it to my store manager. We will see whre that goes. I wrote about a few products they don't carry any more in addition to poor sales. They don't carry mission taco shells anymore! I buy those a lot and all of a sudden they are gone.

[shnn18]

I sent them a second e-mail and the response was almost the same as the last one. I just plan on sending one monthly and we will see how it goes. I think it would help if a lot of people just keep expressing their disappointment.

They keep trying to say they are increasing their price drop items, but this does not help me because I plan my trips ahead of time. I can't walk the whole store and check out price drops, nor should they expect me to.

Here is the response:

Hello, Thank you for your email and for noticing the changes we’ve made to our weekly advertising insert.We understand that you’ve been used to the way our inserts have been and believe that you will quickly like our new insert format even better.The changes reflect input from many customers who have suggested we simplify our layout so that we can highlight the key items that are most important when creating their family’s weekly shopping list. So while our insert does have less items featured, you’ll notice even greater savings on those items that are most frequently purchased. But, while we are advertising less sale items then before, we are still committed to having the same number of sale items inside the store. You’ll see more of our in-store Price Drop program, which provide savings over a greater period of time. And the items in our new Everyday Best Price program are so low you no longer need to wait for a sale.Your comments are very important to us in helping to further improve the Meijer shopping experience. We truly appreciate your business. Regards,ValShopForMore@meijer.com

[smhammons]

I have sent emails to meijer as well with the same generic response. Last week I decided to write a letter to their corporate office and tell them about the terrible service. I also let them know that I spoke with the store manager at my meijer because I was told by a cashier that they were talking about limiting coupons to 2 manufacture's duplicates. I called the manager when I got home and he said it's always been that way. He said it is listed at the bottom of the add. When I got off the phone I looked at the add. The add states that they DOUBLE up to two manufactures coupons and that any after that will be given face value. I informed corporate that this manager was training cashier wrong when it comes to policy and that I, as a customer has to deal with the cashier. The manager should know the store policy.

I agree on the sales. I have seen signs "new lower price" only to lift it up and the price only be lowered by a few cents. And we have lots of competition in the area.

[michariella]

To me overall it just appears that they are "taking a page out of the Walmart book"... around here you don't see walmart ads that often but when you do it's at most 4-6 pages and usually themed like annoucing back to college dorm room sales events or big holiday things..and only a few items on each page
i.e. they tend to have "ads" for special events but not daily and routine prices like for groceries.
I think for the general customer ( which we all have to agree is the vast majority of shoppers) this method works better because they know they get lower overall prices every week rather than pricing games ... i.e. mark up for 38 weeks of year.. on sale for 10 weeks of the year on super sale for 2 weeks a year ... and only once per year do you get an unbeatable price. (Even though we as hard core couponers tend to like pricing games because occasionally it offers us wonderful deals or frees... but the "typical" buyer does not shop like us!!)
Business wise this also makes tons of sense for Meijer because their inventory levels are more stable and they don't have to use as much manpower to determine/maintain inventory levels... i.e. it can be more computer automated ... just simply because the levels of buying are predictable... which means in the big picture they can prob offer lower prices because they have less overhead costs.
Also with items like the price drops I think this lends more to the technology driven bent to society anyways... I know a few people have discussed the iphone in particular on deal websites but I think there are some other phones that have the apps for grocery shopping... they keep track of prices, scan your receipt, can be used to update while in store, I have seen people discussing a lot of the awesome things the apps do etc. etc.
I am too cheap for an iphone but I am curious ...as many others have started in the last few years to use all the new store/grocery apps on the phones.... if I find I can with future trends, save say 1500 a year in grocery bills by having an iphone to shop with ... to me that would be worth the offset price of the phone. I think this next revolution in shopping is like where we were like 5 years ago when deal websites like AFC etc. really started to pop-up all over the net and get big.
I also have to be honest I think you are completely wasting your time by complaining to Meijer's about the new ads....if you step back and view this as a business ( which they are... and they have to compete with Walmart which has a lot more buying power and dwarfs them in size) hard core couponers are by far the minority of shoppers and their ad change is in line with their industry ....the odds they would make changes back to the older style and that it would be profitable for them ....and for such a tiny percentage of their consumer base that is mostly effected ( US!!) is extremely unlikely.