Michigan Retailers Association

What Michigan Retailers Association does

Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) is a Michigan-incorporated, non-profit trade association founded in 1940, headquartered in Lansing at 603 South Washington Avenue. It serves more than 5,000 member businesses operating over 15,000 store and website locations across Michigan, with a regional business development team covering West-Central, Central, Southeast, Idaho, and Northern Michigan territories. The association operates six vertical divisions: Michigan Jewelers Association, Michigan Shoe Association, Michigan Floor Covering Association, Michigan Tire and Vehicle Services Association, Michigan Retail Hardware Association, and Michigan Grocers Association, providing industry-specific advocacy and resources within a unified membership structure.

MRA's core product surface spans three economic pillars. First, merchant processing services including credit card processing, surcharge and cash discount programs, gift card and loyalty programs, and ACH processing, delivered through referral partnerships with national processors. Second, insurance programs, including workers' compensation underwritten by the wholly-owned Retailers Insurance Company subsidiary and group health, dental, vision, and life insurance offered through partnerships with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Delta Dental. Third, advocacy and community, including legislative advocacy via the MRA PAC (which has designated 126 Friends of Retail legislative candidates), the Buy Nearby consumer campaign, Capitol Day, the Annual Meeting, and the Michigan Retail Index, a monthly survey conducted in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago since 1994. Additional member services include shipping discount programs, the annual $3,500 scholarship program (15 awards per year, $793,750 awarded since 1999), and the bi-monthly Michigan Retailer magazine.

Revenue is generated through three streams: annual membership dues (starting at $130 per year, with 19.92% allocable to lobbying), transaction-fee residuals from merchant processing, and insurance premium through Retailers Insurance Company. The company is governed by a Board of Directors of retail industry leaders, led by President and CEO William J. Hallan (joined 2011, CEO since 2013), COO and General Counsel Tom Clement, and SVP Finance Cheryl Medler. MRA is privately held as a non-profit, with wholly-owned subsidiaries Retailers Insurance Company, Michigan Retailers Services, and Michigan Retailers Foundation. The organization completed a full rebrand in 2025 and has no disclosed parent, private equity, or venture capital ownership.

Name

Michigan Retailers Association

Legal name

Michigan Retailers Association

Website

https://retailers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Michigan Retailers Association is a 1940-founded non-profit trade association serving 5,000+ Michigan retail businesses across 15,000+ locations via merchant processing, workers' compensation insurance (Retailers Insurance Company), group health benefits, legislative advocacy, and six vertical-specific divisions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees that provide access to cost-saving business services including merchant processing, group insurance, workers' compensation, shipping discounts, legislative advocacy, scholarship programs, and member resources.
2. Merchant Processing Services: Credit card processing, surcharge and cash discount programs, gift card and loyalty programs, and ACH processing services offered to members.
3. Insurance Programs: Workers' compensation insurance through Retailers Insurance Company, group health insurance including Blue Cross Blue Shield, dental insurance administered by Delta Dental, and other business insurance products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Michigan Retailers Association is a member-funded trade association that provides Michigan retailers with a bundled platform of services: merchant processing (credit card, ACH, gift card, loyalty, surcharge programs), insurance (workers' compensation through Retailers Insurance Company and group health/dental/vision/life), legislative advocacy, the Buy Nearby consumer campaign, shipping discounts, an annual scholarship program, and the Michigan Retail Index monthly survey conducted with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Services are accessed via annual membership starting at $130.

Product overview

Michigan Retailers Association is a trade association offering a platform of interconnected services for Michigan retailers. The core offerings include merchant processing services (credit card processing, surcharge programs, gift cards, ACH), insurance programs (workers' compensation via Retailers Insurance Company, group health/dental/vision/life), legislative advocacy, and the Buy Nearby campaign. Additional services include a scholarship program, discount programs on shipping, referral incentives, a PAC, and member resources including the bi-monthly Michigan Retailer magazine. The Michigan Retail Index provides monthly retail performance data in partnership with the Federal Reserve. Events include Capitol Day legislative advocacy and Buy Nearby Weekend. All services are interconnected through membership, with merchant processing and insurance providing revenue while advocacy and resources provide member value.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Buy Nearby: Campaign encouraging Michigan residents to support local businesses and shop at Michigan-owned stores

Products and services

• Merchant Processing Services A bundled payment processing offering for Michigan retailers that includes credit card processing, surcharge and cash discount programs, gift card and loyalty programs, and ACH processing, provided as a member benefit through MRA.
• Workers' Compensation Insurance Workers' compensation insurance for member retail businesses, powered by MRA's wholly-owned subsidiary Retailers Insurance Company.
• Group Insurance Programs Health, vision, dental, and life insurance programs offered to member businesses, including Blue Cross Blue Shield health coverage and Delta Dental-administered dental insurance.
• Legislative Advocacy Unified voice of Michigan's retail industry advocating for retail-friendly policies before the state legislature, including support from the MRA Political Action Committee (PAC).
• Buy Nearby Program Statewide campaign operated through buynearbymi.com to encourage Michigan residents to shop at Michigan-owned stores and keep money in the state, including the annual Buy Nearby Weekend in October.
• Michigan Retail Index Monthly survey conducted in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago that tracks sales, inventory, pricing, promotions, and hiring trends among Michigan retailers, providing benchmarking insight into the state's retail climate.
• Michigan Retailer Magazine Bi-monthly official publication of MRA providing news, member features, and industry updates, distributed digitally via Issuu with archives going back to 2011.
• Scholarship Program Annual scholarship program awarding 15 scholarships of $3,500 each (totaling $52,500 per year) to students connected to Michigan's retail community, administered by the Michigan Retailers Foundation in partnership with Kaleidoscope.
• Discount Programs Exclusive member discounts on shipping and freight services negotiated for Michigan Retailers Association members.
• MRA Political Action Committee (PAC) Political action committee that supports legislators standing with Michigan retail by accepting personal contributions to elect and re-elect retail-friendly candidates, with 126 candidates designated as Friends of Retail to date.

Quantifiable outcome

• $793,750 in scholarships awarded to 652 students since 1999; 15 scholarships of $3,500 each awarded annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Federal Reserve Bank of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994MRA partners with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to conduct the monthly Michigan Retail Index survey, tracking retail sales, inventory, pricing, and hiring trends. This partnership provides credibility and economic significance to the index data, which is used by legislators, media, and retailers statewide.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Illinois Retail Merchants Association: The Illinois Retail Merchants Association is a state-level retail trade association serving Illinois retailers with advocacy and member benefits. Comparable to MRA in scope and structure, it represents a peer state trade association rather than a competitor in the same geography.
• California Retailers Association: California Retailers Association is a state-level retail trade association providing advocacy, education, and member services to California retailers. It is a direct state-level peer to MRA, sharing the same association model, member-service bundling (payments, insurance, advocacy), and revenue streams, but operating in California.
• Retail Council of New York State: Retail Council of New York State is a state-level trade association serving New York retailers with advocacy, education, and member services. It operates the same membership-association model as MRA (dues + member benefits), making it a directly comparable state-level peer.
• Ohio Council of Retail Merchants: The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants is a state-level retail trade association providing advocacy, education, and member services to Ohio retailers. It shares MRA's model of state-specific advocacy plus member services, making it a directly comparable Midwestern state peer.
• Florida Retail Federation: Florida Retail Federation is the state-level trade association for Florida retailers, offering advocacy and member services. It mirrors MRA's structure and mission within Florida, making it a directly comparable state-retail-association peer.
• Texas Retailers Association: Texas Retailers Association is a state-level retail trade association providing advocacy and member services for Texas-based retailers. It directly parallels MRA's structure (membership-based association with advocacy, services, events) and serves as a peer association in a different geography.

Regional players

• National Grocers Association: The National Grocers Association is a national trade association representing the retail and wholesale grocery industry. After MRA integrated the Michigan Grocers Association as a division in 2018, the grocery-focused nature of this peer (rather than general merchandise) represents a partial-overlap peer rather than a direct competitor.

Others

• Chamber of Commerce (US Chamber): The US Chamber of Commerce is a broad business advocacy organization that competes with MRA in legislative advocacy at the federal level. While it overlaps on advocacy and member services for businesses generally, it does not specialize in retail-specific verticals and is not a direct retail-association competitor.

Broad incumbents

• National Retail Federation: NRF is the largest US retail trade association, providing advocacy, education, and member services to retailers nationwide. It is the national-level counterpart to MRA, with overlapping advocacy, data (Retail Monitor), and member-service offerings, but serves the entire US rather than a single state.
• Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA): RILA is a national retail trade association focused on large omni-channel retailers. While it overlaps with MRA on legislative advocacy and member services, its target member profile (large national retailers like Target and Walmart) differs from MRA's independent/small-chain Michigan focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/michretail
• Facebookfacebook.com/MichiganRetailers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/michigan-retailers-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Michigan Retailers Association