Service Lines Leader Maxine Malburg has worked at our Ludington, Mich. store for more than a decade and she’s never seen anything like it. Fifteen kids giggling on a Saturday afternoon, watching a few impromptu magic tricks.
A special event with a local magician at your neighborhood Meijer? Nope, that’s just Peter the Greeter. He’s always doing things like that to catch a child’s attention so mom or dad can get a cart, check the grocery list and take a moment to remember that elusive item they always seem to forget.
“He brings so much of his own unique style and has really taken it to the next level,” said Maxine, who helped train him when he was hired in April 2021. “We want anyone who walks in our store to know they are welcome at their Ludington Meijer, but it’s amazing to see his enthusiasm and how much the community has taken to him.”
In less than a year, Peter Gregg already made a name for himself in Ludington. When hired, he made it a personal goal to greet every single person walking into the store with a hearty “‘Hullo,’ welcome to Meijer.” It’s an enthusiastic welcome that can be heard from the parking lot and one that customers expect when they shop on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
It also helped form a community fan club of sorts. He’s received cards from customers, gotten high fives and smiles from kids, and been offered tips (which he graciously declines) and so much coffee cake that he might need to find a good dentist.
He moved to Ludington 5 years ago to help his parents. Peter’s dad developed dementia and his mom, Dee, needed his help as the condition worsened. When his dad passed away a few years ago, he focused on helping his mom until deciding there was “only so much television he could watch,” so he sought a way to get out into the community.
When asked where his skill for engaging people comes from, he immediately credits his dad, who worked in advertising and specialized in the film business.
“I literally fell out of the crib and onto a sound stage,” he said, recounting the days of following his dad around Hollywood. “My dad was incredible with people and seemed to know everyone. I like to think some of it rubbed off on me.”
By the time he moved to Ludington, he already spent decades working behind the scenes on television and film sets. He studied audio and visual engineering and worked production on the sets of more than 90 low- and big-budget films. He also did production work with Universal, Nickelodeon and Disney.
“I warned him that Ludington was not as exciting as Los Angeles, but I am so grateful he came to help us when he did,” DeLoris (Dee) Gregg said. “It meant so much for us to be together as his dad’s condition worsened, and Peter continues to find ways to help make my life better.”
It turned out that one of the most surprising ways Peter helped was by applying for a job at Meijer. He came home and told her the HR person said she should also consider applying. She worked professionally in the travel industry her whole life but was sure her days in the workplace had long since passed.
“I’m 80 years old and was sure no one would ever hire me,” she said. “Peter brought me with to his interview and I talked with them. We were both hired the same day and it’s really been a lifesaver/godsend.”
As Peter and Dee approach their one-year anniversary, you can find them at the Ludington Meijer most every Saturday and Sunday afternoon or evening. There, you’ll hear Peter offering his trademark “welcome to Meijer” while Dee greets customers with a kind, low-key smile on the Pharmacy side of the store, occasionally sharing a story about Venice or many other travel destinations she’d like to revisit one day.
“Our customers love seeing Peter and having both Greggs on our team has really helped make a difference,” Meijer Grand Traverse Market Director Karl Keep Jr. said. “They make the best out of every day and always bring their true authentic selves as part of the community. That’s what it’s all about.”