I don't know where saturdaysaint is located, but people in West Michigan really do think of Meijer as a local grocery store. Many older people refer to it as "Meijer's", as in "Fred Meijer's Thrifty Acres", the old name for the store when it was far smaller than it is today.
They've enjoyed a lot of success, but Michiganders still think of it as "our" store, and they're headquartered in a Michigan town you may have never even heard of.
And even then, a large corporation that provides steady office jobs for an area at the center of the Rust Belt? That's going to make people look fondly on you, too.
I mean hell, people in West Michigan think highly of Amway of all places, because they pay well and employ a ton of people at their headquarters in the area.
> people in West Michigan think highly of Amway of all places
...not really. A very token few people actually think highly of Amway.
The majority will quietly put up with Amway, since they do give a few people a small living, but will always temper that statement with "of course Amway is a giant pyramid scheme scam and you shouldn't ever be a reseller, don't fall for the trap".
They'll just coat that statement in Midwest-nice language that sounds like praise. If you don't speak the language, it's easy to miss the subtleties.
Right, not 100% of Grand Rapids people love Amway. But if you talk to people who work for Amway (the corporate Amway, not as a reseller) or people who have family who work for Amway, you're not going to find many complaints about the corporate entity.
I say this because it's in stark contrast to what you mentioned, anyone who doesn't work for Amway corporate will generally have a negative opinion about Amway.
They've enjoyed a lot of success, but Michiganders still think of it as "our" store, and they're headquartered in a Michigan town you may have never even heard of.