GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer continued its “Very Merry Meijer” tradition of surprising a customer in each of its supercenters and stores across the Midwest with a $1,000 Meijer shopping spree. The retailer also decided to respond to the challenging year by rewarding 1,300 additional customers with $100 gift cards.

Doug Meijer surprises the Meara Family with a $1,000 shopping spree as part of the retailer’s annual Very Merry Meijer event.

“We recognize that many holiday traditions may look different this year, which is why we believe it was more important than ever to uphold our Very Merry Meijer tradition,” executive chairman Hank Meijer said. “Each year we look forward to spreading holiday cheer and showing our customers and team members our appreciation through this event, and 2020 was no exception.”

In its seventh year, the Very Merry Meijer event has grown bigger than ever and continues to be a beloved tradition for the Meijer family and Meijer store directors who relish the chance to brighten the holidays for unsuspecting customers, the company said.

“This is the largest Very Merry Meijer event we’ve ever had,” Meijer president and CEO Rick Keyes said. “The communities we serve have faced a very challenging year, so we wanted to do something extra special to help bring joy to our customers this holiday season.”

“It’s like a family tradition,” Greenville, Mich. Meijer Store Director Leah Brown said. “We all look forward to getting to surprise a customer in our store each year as part of the Very Merry Meijer event, and this year was even more special because each store got to choose five additional people to receive $100 surprises in addition to the customer who gets the $1,000 shopping spree.”

The retailer’s 256 supercenters and stores were filled with shocked gasps, tears of joy and relief and many celebratory elbow bumps on Saturday, Dec. 5 as customers received their Very Merry Meijer surprises.

And it wasn’t just the customers who were excited. Each store also surprised two Meijer team members with a $100 Meijer gift card to thank them for their efforts.

In total, the seven Very Merry Meijer events held since 2014 gifted 3,000 customers with toys, clothes, electronics, groceries and small appliances.

One such customer was Emma Meara who was feeling a bit overwhelmed by this holiday season as she walked the aisles of the Fruitport, Mich. Meijer with her husband Jeremy on Saturday. In addition to the challenges of 2020, the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Aria, had recently undergone eye surgery.

After watching them carefully peruse the toy aisle, Meijer Board Member Doug Meijer surprised the young family with a $1,000 gift card. Emma Meara immediately burst into tears and Jeremy Meara asked if this was a joke.

“I have heard about stuff like this happening to people, but I never thought it would happen to us,” Emma Meara said. “[It] makes me believe that there are still good people in the world.”