LANSNG – To applause from state retail industry leaders, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill Tuesday ending Michigan’s decades-old item pricing law.
Eliminating the law that has been in place since the 1970s is “a great day of celebration,” Snyder said, which should help consumers save money and help the state expand its economy.
And the sponsor of HB 4158 , Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R-Alto), said not having to deal with item pricing will be “good for Michigan shoppers, good for our economy and good for our state.”
Snyder, telling the story of how one of his first tasks working for a grocery store at age 14 was to apply price stickers to items (which he did not enjoy), said the measure should not cost the state jobs as opponents to the bill have said.
There will be some changing roles in the terms of overall retail workforce, he said, but “what we’re doing, again, is creating opportunity for lower prices and that creates jobs.”
Snyder said retailers should save billions of dollars in overall costs with the elimination of the requirement. He could not provide an estimate on what consumers might actually save with the item pricing requirement gone, though he was confident prices would actually be reduced.
The measure, known as the “Shopping Reform and Modernization Act,” will take effect September 1.
Under the bill, a price will be considered displayed if it is either on the item, or on signs or made available through an electronic reader, or “by any other method that clearly and reasonably conveys the current price of the consumer item, to a consumer when in the store at the place where the item is located.”
Snyder said the bill requires appropriate price displays for consumers and that the state would take seriously the requirement for consumer protection.
Meijer President Mark Murray, a former state treasurer, when asked if there would be any layoffs at his firm under the new law, said he saw the bill as providing further growth opportunities for his company. There could be an opportunity for a small adjustment in hours, Murray said, but he put the focus on the company’s opportunity to grow further with the law in place.
“The more competitive we are, the better the customer gets served and the more we can grow,” Murray said to reporters.
Plus the measure would allow Meijer to compete equally with retailers such as Costco and Sam’s Club that do not have to provide item pricing.
Asked if there were actual savings to specific items between Meijer stores in Michigan and other states, Mr. Murray said tracking individual prices is “challenging.” However, when a store can eliminate actions that cause losses, it will help lower costs, which in turn provides greater overall competition that in turn drives prices lower, he said.
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