Meet Meijer Inc. Store Manager Awards Finalist

Category C: Minesh Patel
Meijer, St. Charles, IL

It says something about Minesh Patel that one of the things he likes best about his job is how his team makes him feel welcome every day. After all, he spends much, if not most, of his time making customers and employees feel welcome.

Creating a Positive Culture

Reciprocal appreciation isn’t just a feel-good sentiment: if all parties involved in the shopping experience feel listened to and assisted, the store will be a success, with engaged consumers, employees and leaders.

That’s definitely borne out at this Meijer store in the far outskirts of Chicago, which was named a company “White Glove Champion” last year.

There are many examples of how he works to create a positive culture, like the time he hired a team member whose mother posted on social media about how happy she was about his job. Struck by her positivity, Patel promptly interviewed and hired the mom for another role at the store. 

Beyond sentiment and into the nitty-gritty, sales are up under his watch, increasing almost 3% year over year.

To be sure, he watches those sales keenly. The first thing he does when he arrives at work is to run sales reports, read them on his own and send results to the leadership team before sharing the information during his daily huddle with all staff. On days with particularly good numbers, he will often quiz the team to see who can guess how much actual sales exceeded projected sales.

If sales fall short, he comes up with creative ways to offset them. Recently, after determining a sales miss equaled $3 a day per department, Patel challenged department leaders to bring items worth $3 to their meeting and, when all of the items were collected on a table, pointed out how it was realistic to fill that gap. The visual demonstration made an impact.

Mentorship is Key

Mentorship is a priority for Patel, who has worked in the food retail industry for 30 years and understands the importance of creating future leaders. In addition to shepherding employees through the company’s leadership development program, he is Meijer’s Western Regions Business Acumen Subject Matter Expert and delivers a leadership and business curriculum to line leaders and team leaders.

His welcoming nature extends to the community. The St. Charles team donates its time, talent and treasure to a variety of causes, including the local Salvation Army, food banks, service organizations and other groups. Patel’s store brings the fun, too, including its sponsorship of the community “Scarecrow Fest,”at which kids can make their own scarecrow at the Meijer booth.

Even in challenging times, Patel continues to roll out the welcome mat. It’s a testament to him that so many shoppers cross over it and into his store.

“His results are impactful, his future goals are even greater than his accomplishments to date.”