Andrea Bouchard and other students have noticed more choices in the marketplace since last week’s opening of Farmer Jack Supermarket in Meridian Township.
With two Meijers and three Krogers in the surrounding areas and The Country Markett, 1367 E. Grand River Ave. and Goodrich’s Shop-Rite, 940 Trowbridge Road, students say they choose stores based on location and convenience.
“Farmer Jack will get a lot of traffic from campus because it’s close,” Bouchard, a telecommunication senior, said. “Usually I shop at Meijer and at home I shop at Krogers, but I went to Farmer Jacks for the first time on Tuesday.”
Farmer Jack’s new location, just outside of East Lansing, at 2775 E. Grand River Ave. opened Aug. 24.
Bouchard said she was pleased with her first trip to the new market, but she’s not ready to abandon Meijer.
“I liked the store because they had exotic foods that I couldn’t find anywhere else,” she said. “But I think that more stuff that I use is on sale at Meijer more often.”
Farmer Jack manager Doug Evans says his store has been working hard at convincing students to choose them over the competitions.
“We just want the students to know that we are committed to their needs,” Evans said, adding that low prices and a door-to-door limousine service should encourage patrons to frequent his store.
Two stretch Ford Excursions will pick up shoppers at their dorms or apartments on Sundays and take them to the new store, he said.
Evans said the store’s location will make it a main attraction to residents and students alike.
“The customers now have a large grocery store at a good location where they can shop without having to travel to Okemos” he said.
MSU economics Assistant Professor Leslie Papke said students will most likely shop at the store closest to them and secondly for specific items or prices.
“Students shop at the closest stores because of time constraints,” Papke said. “If they only want grocery they might go to Farmer Jack, which is smaller and less exhausting than Meijer.”
Meijer store director, at the 2055 W. Grand River Ave. store in Okemos, Jackie Fitzpatrick welcomes the competition.
“There’s always room for competition,” Fitzpatrick said.
Both stores, she says, “have services that people will want.” Yet she expects customers to remain loyal.
MSU advertising senior Mark Madjarev, who lives in East Lansing,said he will still purchase other goods at Meijer but switched to Farmer Jack for groceries because it’s closer.
Other shoppers prefer the quaint environment of small local grocers.
“I shop at (Trowbridge) Shop-Rite because it’s close,” said East Lansing resident Nathaniel Girvan, who also thinks smaller stores caters to their customers’ needs better than larger chain stores.
“In our neighborhood, there is a high population of foreign students and Shop-Rite carries a variety of ethnic food and other goods that you can’t find at bigger stores.”
Country Markett store manager Clare Wanty agrees that neighborhood grocery stores cater to the specific needs of their customers.
“We do special orders for our customers,” Wanty said. “If a customer wants something we don’t carry we’ll order it.”
Wanty said Country Markett made changes to be ready for the upcoming school year, such as expanding the deli and meat department and increasing the amount of MSU paraphernalia kept in stock.
Wanty said that it is difficult to compete with stores like Farmer Jack because “they have bigger sales and more advertising.”
But Wanty isn’t fretting just yet.
She says Country Markett’s personable approach will keep customers coming back, adding, “If you walk into a Farmer Jack or Meijer, they won’t know your name or your kid’s name.”
But at Country Markett, she says, “We know our customers and they know us.”
Madjarev says there are benefits and drawbacks to shopping at the local grocer.
“Country Markett has a great beer selection and I also love their deli sandwiches and rotisserie chicken,” he said. “But it doesn’t have a good selection of food and their prices are higher. The store isn’t able to have low prices like Farmer Jack’s or Meijer’s because they are larger chain-stores.”
