In an initiative reaching out to vendors across the United States, Meijer will expand its third Supplier Diversity event to include diverse-owned service providers as well as those producing retail-ready products for its shelves.
The March 29-to-31 event offers diverse-owned businesses nationwide an opportunity to showcase their offerings for interested Meijer buyers and procurement teams. Certified minority-, LGBTQ-, woman-, veteran- and disability-owned businesses with products or services in listed categories can apply by Monday, February 7 for consideration at the event.
Meijer has partnered with ECRM and RangeMe to host the retail products portion of the event through the ECRM Connect virtual platform. Non-retail goods and services suppliers can register through STARS, an application hosted by Viva, an additional third-party partner.
The merchandise and service categories from which Meijer is seeking application from diverse-owned businesses are:
- Beauty and personal care
- Over-the-counter and wellness
- General merchandise
- Grocery
- Inbound transportation carriers
- Skilled trades for construction and facility maintenance
- All business services including marketing, HR, IT and Financial
- Supplies, packaging, MRO and signage
- Environmental, real estate and new site services
- Store fixtures, manufacturing and warehousing equipment
“Our supplier diversity efforts reach beyond just the brands customers see on our shelves,” said Peter Whitsett, Meijer executive vice president, merchandising and marketing. “We aim to support diverse-owned businesses throughout our stores, from the products we offer to the signage we hang and the services that keep the stores running. That’s why we’re excited to include a broad range of business categories in this event.”
