Meijer Neighborhood Markets local vendor program promotes Michigan small businesses

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Meijer Neighborhood Markets are stepping up and doing their part to help local entrepreneurs succeed.

"What businesses can we put in and use our platform to be able to sell your products and to be able to bring more awareness and draw more money into our communities that we're surrounding," said Marcus Reliford, Meijer Rivertown Market.

Hundreds of entrepreneurs across Michigan are seeing a boost in business thanks to Meijer Neighborhood Markets and their commitment to supporting local - something the company says is by design.

"Bridge Street Market in Grand Rapids was our first one, we have Capital City Market in Lansing, Woodward Corner Market which does outstanding in Royal Oak," he said. "Obviously, you have Rivertown Market, that's our number one store in the market and then we just opened one in Cleveland."

If you haven’t been inside one, then you might not be aware of the direct community impact these neighborhood markets are having. Take, for instance, Rivertown Market on Jefferson in downtown Detroit.

"We were very intentional with everything that we did from having local businesses inside the store like Pizzaman and having tenants like that, as well as the local art and the decor, the murals that we have on each side of our building and obviously where we're located, that all meant something to us."

Since their doors opened roughly three years ago, the Rivertown Market has supported hundreds of vendors by displaying and selling thousands of local products.

"Definitely over 300 vendors and I would say well over 1,500 hundred products probably teetering close to 2,000 that I would think we've had in and out of the store whether that's seasonality, or pop-up events, or 'Food Truck Fridays.'"

Reliford says no matter the category - from bakery to frozen to liquor, local products are in high visibility areas and showcased.

It’s an equal opportunity initiative as well, with some minority-owned products, and women-owned products across all stores.

"They do a great job of getting here but we want to make sure that they stay here we want this to be a home and a destination for them to sell their products," he said. "If you know that your market, the people that you're selling to and everybody, this is the neighborhood for it? Then bring it here, that way we can help you sell your product, and that way you are vastly spread out throughout the community."

So, the big question is, what's the first step? These markets make it easy - drop a business card and product sample off at customer service.

"There's quite a bit of people that come to customer service looking to get inside the store, so just be patient with us as we go through that process," he said.

If you’re a local entrepreneur looking to get your products sold in one of these stores:

CLICK HERE for Rivertown Market's new vendor program

CLICK HERE for Woodward Corner Market new vendor program