Meijer

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Meijer is offering discounts on more than 400 toys at stores and online in anticipation of the holiday season as many customers are likely to want to keep prices down, the Midwestern mass-merchandise chain said Thursday.

The chain also plans to release a holiday gift guide that includes 18 pages of toys and an online release of its list of its top 25 toys. The toy discounts include toys in “virtually every” category, ranging from action figures to educational toys.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — DSN noted that 2012 would be the year more big-box retailers committed to “going small” and, while we may hate to toot our own horn, we are going to do it anyway.

(THE NEWS: Supercenters rule, but small formats to accelerate for Walmart. For the full story, click here)

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu on Thursday announced that Pete Van Helden, EVP retail operations, will be leaving the company this spring. Taking his place will be Kevin Holt.

"This was a mutually beneficial decision that comes at the right time for both Supervalu and Van Helden, as the company continues to implement its business transformation strategy and as Van Helden moves on to opportunities that will better utilize his strengths," the company stated in a release.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is launching a program that it said was designed to ensure that its seafood suppliers follow sustainability guidelines, the company said.

The mass merchandise retail chain announced that it would require suppliers to follow guidelines for farmed and wild-caught seafood; most of the seafood the chain sells comes from farms, as is the case with most of the industry, the company said.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Meijer executive has received recognition from a magazine for African-American professionals and business owners.

Meijer SVP human resources Karen Morris was named among the 25 influential African-American women in business in 2012 by The Network Journal. The magazine started recognizing influential African-American women in 1999.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Mass merchandise chain Meijer has acquired a Michigan-based dairy, the company said.

Meijer announced the purchase of Bareman's Dairy, a family-owned company based in Holland, Mich., and the intention of investing more than $8 million into expansion of the plant.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two Feeding America food banks and a Macomb County, Mich., resident were named winners of Meijer's "Get Gifted" online holiday contest.

The retailer said it donated $10,000 to Gleaners Community Food Bank and Forgotten Harvest last week and named Vickie Spokes its grand prize winner of $10,000 in Meijer gift cards.

In IFC’s hit comedy series “Portlandia,” there’s a sketch in which the two main characters order chicken in a restaurant. But they don’t just order: They ask which farm the chicken came from to make sure it’s sufficiently local and whether the chicken was raised according to their exacting standards. The waiter quickly responds with a portfolio featuring the chicken’s pre-mortem photograph, biography and name (“Collin”).