@Anthony Chavez that’s kinda weird about piggly wiggly. Down here in the south they buy up old Winn Dixie stores and take up shop and do pretty well here. But who knows the grocery business can change like a fart in the wind these days.
I used to go 'Krogering' with my father as a child in the 1950's. I use that term because I can still remember the jingle today: 'Let's go Krogering, the happy way to shop'. I'm glad they are still around!
Let’s go Krogering. Krogering. Krogering. Let’s go Krogering. A better way to shop. Let’s go Krogering. For the best of everything. Including the price!
@@mrbear1302 I shopped at Ralph's in California, but didn't know it was a part of Kroger. First time I heard of or saw a Kroger was when I went to visit a friend in Little Rock in 1980. Now I've seen Kroger labels at Food 4 Less.
Kroger had owned Ralph’s and Food for Less for probably 20 years or more, as Kroger purchased their parent company, Fred Meyer, about a year after it purchased Ralph’s and Food for Less.
I shop at Kroger all the time. Ironically, as a child in the 70's, my family rarely went to Kroger. 2 of my brother in laws worked for Kroger. One worked at the local Kroger bakery and the other was a truck driver for the company. In the late70's-early 80's, my bro in law who worked at the bakery would sometimes bring different types of breads and pastries to our house. My favorites were the white powdered donuts and the chocolate chip cookies.
@James Doolittle Yes Jimmy I was thin my whole life,Then the very thing I done for a living injured my back,So sitting in front of TV with nothing else to do... @70 Years old...Ahhh yes grab a box of Hostess Twinkies & a glass of homogenized milk...What else!?😊.. No speech please..🤪
@James Doolittle I am sure Harris Teeter is not the same as it was before Kroger. I worked at Kroger 25 years, And it was a good place to work before about 2010. But it started going downhill. I left in 2019 and I am glad I did I cannot say too much more here because I don't want to get sued. I do have some awful stories the way I was treated about my last 2 years.
I used to work for Kroger in the past for 7 years in the deli slicing meats and cheese and cook chicken the steam tablet lol it was better then no job. They are a union they give medical insurance and benefits. My boss for the deli was Kevin Jenkins lol once you knew him you'll never forget him lol. Thanks for sharing this history of Kroger's.
I live in Detroit, Michigan and the very first Kroger store I went to was in the Eastland Shopping Center in Harper Woods, Michigan. I remember when Kroger had stores in the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers. I, also remember when Kroger had a Bi-Lo Supermarket Division that did not give out Top Value trading stamps. When Kroger stopped giving out Top Value trading stamps and they renamed the Bi-Lo Supermarkets to Kroger. The first Bi-Lo Supermarket I went to was in Hamtramck, Michigan. It was located on Holbrook just west of Jos Campu in Downtown Hamtramck. After renaming the Bi-Lo stores to Kroger then, Kroger came out with the Kroger Plus Savings Card. P.S., Kroger had closed the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers stores permanently. Kroger also had quite a few stores located in the inner city of Detroit, which Kroger had closed permanently.
Funny thing I was watching your videos last night thinking to myself he should do one on Kroger. I open youtube and lo and behold my wish is granted. So awesome thank you for making this vid.
In N. Indiana, it’s Kroger’s. Much like Meijer’s, we tend to add the apostrophe S to everything up here, even though it doesn’t have it in a lot of cases.
One word: Superb, to describe this retrospective! Kroger is an American icon of the highest regard. Barney would be speechless but overflowing with pride. My Mom bought lots of lovely things for our home with Top Value stamps. My sister and I used to have pasting parties with her. It was fun!
Today Kroger is the sixth largest retailer by sales in the US, behind only Walmart, Amazon, CVS, Costco and Walgreens, and is the 17th largest of any US corporation.
@Proud Pastrami I suspect it's due to the nature of the business. Food retailing is a steady but unexciting industry. A well-run company like Kroger can almost always make money regardless of economic conditions, but given the very low retailer markups in the business it can't significantly grow earnings unless it keeps expanding into new territories or acquires other retailers. In Kroger's case, territorial expansion has gotten more difficult as its "footprint" has grown, and there are fewer and fewer acquisition candidates (not to mention antitrust concerns). What it means is that while the company is as close to a Guaranteed Sure Thing as you can get, with a risk of failure that's essentially zero, it's also not going to be the sort of fast-growing company that stock market investors like.
Kroger left my area in the early 1980s when I was very young, but I still remember "Let's go Krogering!" Now I have to leave the state to go to Kroger.
Not sure where you live, but it’s possible Kroger exists there under a different banner name, or soon will be if the FTC clears the way for the Kroger/Albertsons merger.
I miss those chocolate chip cookies the bakery used to sell. A dozen, wrapped in a styrofoam tray for $1.99 back in the 80's. They tasted really good, soft and chewy. Almost like they were homemade.
I was a truck driver in the late '80's and early '90's, and made a delivery to a Winn Dixie whse. in New Orleans in the middle of August! I got there the night before my delivery, so me and 4 other drivers got a cab and went to the French Quarters, and it was so hot that sweat was dripping off my finger tips at 11:00 at night! It was a fun night though!
I love Kroger, shop there for groceries & get my meds there, have for many years. After my husband died 5 years ago, the people at the pharmacy gave me hugs & comfort words & one young employee came out from behind the counter & hugged me one day & said " I just heard today about Jimmy dying ". I don't believe that happens at all pharmacy's unless they really care about their customers. I always remember that.
I am going on my 19th year at Eastland Kroger in Nashville TN... And we have a happy Crew to work with everyday!!! Live 3 blocks away from the store #880 and I am also play my keyboards at the store as well; been a musician for over 4 decades!!! Loved the video. Thanks for letting me be a great full employee!!!
Kroger once had a combination grocery store/department store concept (similar to the Kroger Marketplace stores today but with some differences) called Kroger Family Center. Coincidentally, the "five and dime" chain TG&Y had stores during the same period (60's, 70's, and at least part of the 80's) and in the same states (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and probably at least one more) called TG&Y Family Center, but no TG&Y stores had grocery departments. Ironically, there are two Big Lots stores today on FM 1960 Road in Houston (Texas) about five miles apart from one another... both have been Big Lots for over 30 years now, but the one further west is a former Kroger building, and the one further east is a former TG&Y building... but interestingly neither this Kroger nor this TG&Y were "family center" stores. And both buildings have spent over 30 years now as Big Lots, but the Kroger was only open for seven years before it closed (1978 to 1985) and the TG&Y barely lasted a decade (about 1976 to 1986) The current Hobby Lobby in Conroe, Texas (on the way from Houston to Dallas, but much closer to Houston) is a former Kroger Family Center. And today Conroe has a Kroger Marketplace store! The current Marketplace was a replacement for a Kroger which was a former Albertsons store. The Albertsons stores in the Houston area were VERY nice supermarkets... it was a sad day in 2002 when Albertsons sold most of their Houston stores to Kroger and closed the rest!
@@flyone8350 And I heard Kroger and his family were actually aliens from Mars disguised as humans. They were trying to take over the human species. Scary stuff huh? ✌🏻✌🏻
The first time I remember Kroger was living in Louisiana; we had a store in New Iberia on the eastern edge of Route 182 at the city line. IIRC, we tended to split our grocery shopping between Winn-Dixie, Kroger, A&P, and Delchamps. Most recently, within the last couple years or so, visiting with family members in Ohio often saw me with my wife and kids at Kroger. I loved the Kroger Spring Water; besides that, I also loved that they'd sell wine and liquor in the Krogers there(Manischewitz and Mogen David are my favorite wines).
My mother worked at a Kroger’s supermarket in the early 1960’s in Bloomington, Illinois. I remember going there to shop on several occasions when I was a little boy. We used have Dillons in our area in northeastern Kansas, but they moved out 12 years ago. It was our favorite grocery store. I still miss them.
I used to work for Kroger as a bagger in the 90's after i finished high school and had an uncle who worked in upper management at a Kroger warehouse in Salem VA and I worked at the Vinton VA store
I moved back to the midwest recently and after 30 some odd years in Oklahoma, I've rediscovered Krogers. One of the things I've really been impressed with is their store brand products. Most that I've tried have been very good quality. Their Big K cola is not bad for a generic store brand, and a 2 liter is less than half the price of Coke and Pepsi. With few exceptions, their store brands have been as good as their brand name counterparts.
3:59 A Kroger to the left of a Ben Franklin! In Swissvale, Pennsylvania there was this exact paring in the 1970s, But rather than on an Edwardian main street, It was in a late 1950's shopping center.
My wife's great-grandfather was offered a chance to go into business with Mr. Kroger. He figured it would never work so declined. Oh, well. If my wife was some kind of executive with the Kroger Company, I wouldn't have met her.
I shop Kroger at Smith's in Las Vegas, and their prices are definitely lower than the rest especially Albertsons and Vons. On some things, the price difference can be as much as a couple of dollars on a single item. I get sticker-shock if I have to go to Albertsons for something.
When Kroger expanded with their second store, they rented space from my great grandparents at their East End business called East End Cafe. The building caught fire a few years ago and was torn down.
I don't believe there are any actual Kroger stores on the west coast, but one of the chains shown on the list - Foodsco heavily features the brand, which I'm just as pleased with as other name brand products! In fact, when one of my cats was little she loved the instant cheese grits so much she used to chew on the unopened packets until I started bagging them out of her reach!
They’re not called Kroger, but Kroger owns the ‘Fred Meyer’ chain in the Pacific NW. FM has both Variety and Apparel sections, but the Grocery side features ‘Kroger’ labeled products..
Kroger owns the Ralph’s, Food for Less, Foods Co, Quality Food Centers (QFC), and Fred Meyer chains all on the West Coast, as well as Smith’s and Fry’s, just a little east of the west coast chains. Their presence in the western US is huge.
How well I remember shopping with my mom at our small Kroger as a child. We avidly saw ed and redeemed Top Value stamps. Kroger is still my favorite grocery store.
Despite what people think of Kroger, they did pioneer much of the modern supermarket concept. In fact, their willingness to build modern stores effectively finished off the A&P company in most of the USA.
I thought it was Piggly Wiggly that invented the self serve grocery shopping. But it was Kroger that brought many of the conveniences we take for granted today! Electronic scan is cool, but I wish they'd take back the self check lanes.
In the 1890s, John S. Dillon opened a general store in Sterling, Kansas, and learned that allowing customers to charge then pay later and delivering groceries to their homes was a financial and manpower strain on his business. In 1913, he opened his "J.S. Dillon Cash Store" in Hutchinson, Kansas employed a new marketing concept called cash and carry, where the store would not offer credit or delivery services. Dillon opened a second store in 1915 that he managed then placed his son, Ray E. Dillon, in charge of the original store. In 1917, the company was incorporated under the name "Dillon Mercantile Company, Inc". Due to his sons John and Ray both being overseas in France during World War I, Dillon sold his company to his investment partners, but soon afterward both sons returned. They opened a new store called "J.S. Dillon and Sons Store" in 1919 and incorporated in 1921.[1] After several decades of steadily building the chain, a burst of growth began in 1957, when John's son, Raymond, expanded with additional stores in the Wichita market when, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, then consisting of 16 stores. By 1968, J.S. Dillon and Sons had grown into Dillon Companies, Inc., and began acquiring regional banners, such as City Market, Fry's, Gerbes, and King Soopers, over 300 convenience stores in five states, and Jackson's Ice Cream dairy. Dillon Companies, Inc., joined the Kroger company in 1983 and brought with it two future CEOs: Joe Pichler, who served as CEO of Kroger from 1990 to 2003, and Kroger's former CEO, Dave Dillon. Dave is the great grandson of J. S. Dillon. Today, more than 12,000 employees work at 93 stores in the Dillon Stores Division, which includes 26 stores in Wichita, Kansas, area; 11 stores in the Omaha, Nebraska, area; nine stores in Topeka, Kansas; and 24 fuel centers. The format for most locations is the traditional combination of food, general merchandise, and pharmacy, with an average of 49,000 square feet per store. The division offers Dillons Marketplace stores in Kansas, located in Wichita, Andover, Derby, and Hutchinson. In 1983, Dillon Companies, Inc., was acquired by The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, creating a nationwide grocery chain. Several years later, David Dillon was named Kroger's President and COO and became CEO in 2003. Dillon retired from that position effective January 1, 2014.[2]
When I was little there was a Kroger on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's East Liberty section across from the Nabisco bakery adjacent to Mellon Park. It closed down in 1969 when I was seven. It broke my heart. Kroger would leave the area 15 years later.
When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my mom would go to Kroger. We did not have a car but the store was close by. On Friday or Saturday it was the big shopping day. She took one of those personal carts you pull. I was horrified especially as a teen. Because she made me go with her. You know how teens throw little hissy fits!! We did have a local grocery store that my mom would go to for staples during the week while I was in school. My mom did all the shopping dad did not get involved. We did have an A&P, Great Scott and a Wrigley's but they were too far to walk. Now as a senior I am thinking about getting one of those personal carts. I am sure my mom is laughing on the other side🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. PS still shop at Kroger to this day😊😊.
Excellent documentary about an innovative retail entrepreneur. Those open refrigerator aisles burn through electricity especially in warmer months - many stores now have switched to rows of door fridges and freezers.
I worked at the Kroger in Fayetteville NC for about two years while in college; since then, they closed all stores in NC due to the “over saturation” of grocers in the state…..ironically, each store was replaced by NC based Harris Teeter which is a Kroger subsidiary
Oh well, at least they left behind a small piece of the company. Kroger's time in Toledo, OH was quite the opposite, often leading to other non-Kroger supermarkets shutting down.
Kroger was my childhood grocery store in my home area Detroit. We don’t shop there at often but I love it there and I always say hi to them and there animated characters “Kroji”
We always went to Kroger in the 60s and 70s in Wheeling, WV. Its still there (but a new larger store) 50 years later. Kroger seems to come and go in the south where I'm at now. They can't compete with Food Lion at the low end or Harris Teeter at the high end. EDIT: I didn't know they owned Harris Teeter.
Food Lion is a lot better than Kroger the only thing I didn’t like about Food Lion was the higher prices in the Atlanta area before they went out of business, and Harris Teeter don’t remember that place except my parents been to one in the Atlanta area once, it’s basically a Publix and Ingles from my understanding as well. 🤷🏻♂️
I go Krogering 2 times a week.Ive been to other grocery stores through out my life,but i always seem to go back to Kroger.I like the new large stores.But we still have a small,well comparitivly small,neighborhood Kroger.It will always be my favorite. Sad to say though that the bakery has declined over the years.And rarely do i see stuff actually made at Kroger.
I never shopped in a Kroger but have shopped in groceries owned by Kroger (Dillons, Food for Less, Fred Meyer). I enjoyed learning how Kroger brought what I think of as the modern grocery store into being. Thanks for the upload.
We mostly went to A&P, Spartan, D&W, and IGA stores. For some reason we were never a Meijer family and I don't recall any Kroger around when growing up.
In Chicago when I was a child Kroger was established in the market. Then they pulled out maybe 50 years ago. The closest Kroger to me, aside from Food 4 Less is in Kankakee, IL.
I emailed them a long time ago and they said 1971 so you're about right. I wasn't around when they had stores here, I first learned about Kroger from y grandparents because they had a location here in Park Ridge which became a Dominick's. I learned later they took over all of most of the former Kroger's here.
I still shop Kroger. It certainly has grown since I was growing up in the 60's and went there with my Mom and older sister. I loved the little child size shopping carts. Still love to shop there.
I am surprised that there is something very significant that is missing - Kroger at one time, and still may be, the largest florist in the country. I don't shop at Kroger a lot but if I need flowers to take somewhere, I always go to Kroger.
I grew up going to Hoggly Woggly and Winn Dixie. When I got older usually went to Ingles. Krogers at time, unless you bought their brand was little on expensive side. It has gotten better.....they have best tomatoes now and love the gas perks.
Piggly Wiggly sucks can’t stand them, Winn Dixie is okay but Ingles is so much better than Winn Dixie actually, other than that they are both basically the same atleast Ingles is more like Kroger with Publix like mentality actually and they have things like Winn Dixie that other stores don’t have including Publix either, and Kroger is nothing like they used to be they ran Lucky’s Market in Panama City Florida out of business and sold off Tom Thumb, so I take it your from Georgia like I am originally. 🤔
Well now, there is one of life’s forgotten treasures. Top Value stamps! I remember them well. Those and S&H green stamps were like cash. People always wanted their stamps when they would checkout at the store. Thanks for the memories.
Kroger closed one of their oldest bakeries in Columbus without notice several years ago, which dealt a blow to a few people I know. It made me sad, but also reminded me that every old business is in business for a reason, and its not to loose money.
My 88 year old mother, in Michigan, won't shop anywhere else, and I can see why. I remember her sending me to Kroger's when I was a kid, with a list, and I knew that if I couldn't find something, one of the Kroger employees would help me find it or a suitable alternative. This video really brings back the memories. We don't have Krogers or any of its subsidiaries around here.
I grew up in St. Louis in the 50's as well. We shopped at the Kroger at Grand Avenue and N. Florissant. In the early 70's, Kroger pulled out of the St.Louis area, however there is one in Troy, MO (60 minutes northwest of STL). I still shop at that store today.
Kroger was king in Houston until a few years ago when HEB came into town. Since then more and more customers switched to HEB and Kroger is almost a ship out of water.
HEB should come north to ohio and would do the same to kroger in its company headquarters! I have been in HEB stores and they are amazing and the price is well below that of kroger.
My Dad worked for Kroger for 39 years at the warehouse on Lindbergh in St. Louis county.
Grew up in Kirkwood and went to KHS.
Such an awesome career! Back when employers cared for their employees.
30 years in Cincinnati!
He probably unload my trucks!
@Anthony Chavez that’s kinda weird about piggly wiggly. Down here in the south they buy up old Winn Dixie stores and take up shop and do pretty well here. But who knows the grocery business can change like a fart in the wind these days.
I used to go 'Krogering' with my father as a child in the 1950's. I use that term because I can still remember the jingle today: 'Let's go Krogering, the happy way to shop'. I'm glad they are still around!
As soon as i saw the video title ,i sang the song😂
Let’s go Krogering.
Krogering. Krogering.
Let’s go Krogering.
A better way to shop.
Let’s go Krogering.
For the best of everything.
Including the price!
Sounds like great memories!
@@dalebailey754I remember that song.
"Don't sell anything that you wouldn't want yourself" words of Wisdom from the video
Except they do just that nowadays.
When he sold the meat, did he put his thumb on the scale? Was any of the meat formerly the horses that were delivering the meat?
Basically, the rule was "Do unto others as you would want it done unto you." It's as it should be and that's why it has been successful.
Never even heard of Kroger until we moved to TX (from CA) in 1995. Suddenly they were everywhere. Loved the store.
You never shopped at Ralph's?
@@mrbear1302 I shopped at Ralph's in California, but didn't know it was a part of Kroger. First time I heard of or saw a Kroger was when I went to visit a friend in Little Rock in 1980. Now I've seen Kroger labels at Food 4 Less.
Kroger had owned Ralph’s and Food for Less for probably 20 years or more, as Kroger purchased their parent company, Fred Meyer, about a year after it purchased Ralph’s and Food for Less.
I shop at Kroger all the time. Ironically, as a child in the 70's, my family rarely went to Kroger. 2 of my brother in laws worked for Kroger. One worked at the local Kroger bakery and the other was a truck driver for the company. In the late70's-early 80's, my bro in law who worked at the bakery would sometimes bring different types of breads and pastries to our house. My favorites were the white powdered donuts and the chocolate chip cookies.
1970s they had farmers jack supermarket:::A&P Supermarket;;etc etc
"Let's go Krogering for the best of everything, including the price"🎶🎶🎶I still hear that jingle when I step into the store to grocery shop.❤🐘❤
That must be me you hear, I sing it every time I shop there. They're getting used to me, lol...
"Kroger - the happy way to shop"
@James Doolittle ...oh no, I'm sorry to hear that about your Kroger experience.
@James Doolittle Yes Jimmy I was thin my whole life,Then the very thing I done for a living injured my back,So sitting in front of TV with nothing else to do... @70 Years old...Ahhh yes grab a box of Hostess Twinkies & a glass of homogenized milk...What else!?😊..
No speech please..🤪
@James Doolittle I am sure Harris Teeter is not the same as it was before Kroger. I worked at Kroger 25 years, And it was a good place to work before about 2010. But it started going downhill. I left in 2019 and I am glad I did I cannot say too much more here because I don't want to get sued. I do have some awful stories the way I was treated about my last 2 years.
An awesome documentary!
$372 to open a business. Now those were the good 'ole days!
You have to rephrase that with inflation $372 is equivalent to $10,475.25 today. $10,500.00 to open a business. Now those were the good ‘ole days!
Part of my supper tonight was a slice of Kroger-baked marble rye...and I loved it. :-)
I lived in Dayton, Ohio from 1972 to 1985. We shopped at Kroger's all the time. Thanks so much for the fascinating history! 😊👍
I was just at Kroger yesterday. I'm surprised you didn't mention the 'Let's go Krogering" jingle of the 80s
I get the best deals at Kroger. Love the deli and bakery at my store. They put Walmart, Aldi's and Meijer to shame. Love Turkey Hill peach ice tea!
I used to work for Kroger in the past for 7 years in the deli slicing meats and cheese and cook chicken the steam tablet lol it was better then no job. They are a union they give medical insurance and benefits. My boss for the deli was Kevin Jenkins lol once you knew him you'll never forget him lol. Thanks for sharing this history of Kroger's.
I live in Detroit, Michigan and the very first Kroger store I went to was in the Eastland Shopping Center in Harper Woods, Michigan. I remember when Kroger had stores in the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers. I, also remember when Kroger had a Bi-Lo Supermarket Division that did not give out Top Value trading stamps. When Kroger stopped giving out Top Value trading stamps and they renamed the Bi-Lo Supermarkets to Kroger. The first Bi-Lo Supermarket I went to was in Hamtramck, Michigan. It was located on Holbrook just west of Jos Campu in Downtown Hamtramck. After renaming the Bi-Lo stores to Kroger then, Kroger came out with the Kroger Plus Savings Card.
P.S.,
Kroger had closed the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers stores permanently. Kroger also had quite a few stores located in the inner city of Detroit, which Kroger had closed permanently.
Funny thing I was watching your videos last night thinking to myself he should do one on Kroger. I open youtube and lo and behold my wish is granted. So awesome thank you for making this vid.
This channel is the Kroger of TH-cam! :-)
Cause you tAlK in yOuR sLeEp. We heard you.
We shop at a Food4less which is the where a lot of Kroger's overstock ends up at reduced prices
Wow! I never knew that Barney Kroger was such an innovator.
My relatives from Kentucky always say we're going to "The Kroger"!
In N. Indiana, it’s Kroger’s. Much like Meijer’s, we tend to add the apostrophe S to everything up here, even though it doesn’t have it in a lot of cases.
@@lindawolffkashmir2768 I had to work hard at not adding the 's to both stores! Think I finally stopped at age 50!
@@lindawolffkashmir2768 I thought only in Michigan we added the 's on the end of all store names that didn't have it already. Lol
@@JL-sm6cg Happens in Indiana, too!
i live in ohio and i say krogers or meijers
One word: Superb, to describe this retrospective! Kroger is an American icon of the highest regard. Barney would be speechless but overflowing with pride. My Mom bought lots of lovely things for our home with Top Value stamps. My sister and I used to have pasting parties with her. It was fun!
That sounds like a great memory!
✌🏻🙂✌🏻
Today Kroger is the sixth largest retailer by sales in the US, behind only Walmart, Amazon, CVS, Costco and Walgreens, and is the 17th largest of any US corporation.
@Proud Pastrami I suspect it's due to the nature of the business. Food retailing is a steady but unexciting industry. A well-run company like Kroger can almost always make money regardless of economic conditions, but given the very low retailer markups in the business it can't significantly grow earnings unless it keeps expanding into new territories or acquires other retailers.
In Kroger's case, territorial expansion has gotten more difficult as its "footprint" has grown, and there are fewer and fewer acquisition candidates (not to mention antitrust concerns). What it means is that while the company is as close to a Guaranteed Sure Thing as you can get, with a risk of failure that's essentially zero, it's also not going to be the sort of fast-growing company that stock market investors like.
Kroger used to earn CVS years ago
Kroger left my area in the early 1980s when I was very young, but I still remember "Let's go Krogering!" Now I have to leave the state to go to Kroger.
Not sure where you live, but it’s possible Kroger exists there under a different banner name, or soon will be if the FTC clears the way for the Kroger/Albertsons merger.
Kroger was the first job I ever had when I was 17
Plus with the Kroger points you can save on gas and that's great.
I miss those chocolate chip cookies the bakery used to sell. A dozen, wrapped in a styrofoam tray for $1.99 back in the 80's. They tasted really good, soft and chewy. Almost like they were homemade.
Behind every big company, there was a innovative, motivated and great person.
With the death of every great company, there are fools.
Kroger is an American icon and your channel is awesome.
This was interesting! Thank you! Kind of funny that we've come full circle with grocery deliveries. They are more popular than ever.
Do a video on Winn Dixie, I would like to know the history of that chain. These videos are awesome.
I was a truck driver in the late '80's and early '90's, and made a delivery to a Winn Dixie whse. in New Orleans in the middle of August! I got there the night before my delivery, so me and 4 other drivers got a cab and went to the French Quarters, and it was so hot that sweat was dripping off my finger tips at 11:00 at night! It was a fun night though!
I used to work for Winn Dixie working there sucks on pay, but shopping there is better than they were in the early 2000’s. 🤔
I love Kroger, shop there for groceries & get my meds there, have for many years.
After my husband died 5 years ago, the people at the pharmacy gave me hugs & comfort words & one young employee came out from behind the counter & hugged me one day & said " I just heard today about Jimmy dying ". I don't believe that happens at all pharmacy's unless they really care about their customers.
I always remember that.
I grew up in Union, Kentucky and remember trips to Kroger’s in the 50’s and my mother getting Top Value Stamps.
My mom bought me an HO scale train and slot car racing set with the stamps! In Cleveland.
Another great video by Recollection Road. Hope you do one about Jewel-Osco
I never heard of that.
I second that request
And this past week Kroger opened a bigger store in Teays Valley, WV! I visited that new store for the first time just today!
Is there one at the St Albans mall?
@@romangedz730 Their Kroger is still there, but they haven't made that one bigger yet!
Yep, we have a Kroger in downtown Cincinnati. I was there today.
My Grandfather managed a Kroger during the Great Depression in West Virginia.
I am going on my 19th year at Eastland Kroger in Nashville TN... And we have a happy Crew to work with everyday!!! Live 3 blocks away from the store #880 and I am also play my keyboards at the store as well; been a musician for over 4 decades!!! Loved the video. Thanks for letting me be a great full employee!!!
Kroger once had a combination grocery store/department store concept (similar to the Kroger Marketplace stores today but with some differences) called Kroger Family Center. Coincidentally, the "five and dime" chain TG&Y had stores during the same period (60's, 70's, and at least part of the 80's) and in the same states (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and probably at least one more) called TG&Y Family Center, but no TG&Y stores had grocery departments. Ironically, there are two Big Lots stores today on FM 1960 Road in Houston (Texas) about five miles apart from one another... both have been Big Lots for over 30 years now, but the one further west is a former Kroger building, and the one further east is a former TG&Y building... but interestingly neither this Kroger nor this TG&Y were "family center" stores. And both buildings have spent over 30 years now as Big Lots, but the Kroger was only open for seven years before it closed (1978 to 1985) and the TG&Y barely lasted a decade (about 1976 to 1986) The current Hobby Lobby in Conroe, Texas (on the way from Houston to Dallas, but much closer to Houston) is a former Kroger Family Center. And today Conroe has a Kroger Marketplace store! The current Marketplace was a replacement for a Kroger which was a former Albertsons store. The Albertsons stores in the Houston area were VERY nice supermarkets... it was a sad day in 2002 when Albertsons sold most of their Houston stores to Kroger and closed the rest!
its amazing how the Kroger company did things right and kept the company not only alive but brought in other stores. obviously a well run company
@@flyone8350
Haha Freddie Freddy??
@@flyone8350 And I heard Kroger and his family were actually aliens from Mars disguised as humans. They were trying to take over the human species. Scary stuff huh? ✌🏻✌🏻
The first time I remember Kroger was living in Louisiana; we had a store in New Iberia on the eastern edge of Route 182 at the city line. IIRC, we tended to split our grocery shopping between Winn-Dixie, Kroger, A&P, and Delchamps.
Most recently, within the last couple years or so, visiting with family members in Ohio often saw me with my wife and kids at Kroger. I loved the Kroger Spring Water; besides that, I also loved that they'd sell wine and liquor in the Krogers there(Manischewitz and Mogen David are my favorite wines).
I used to go to Kroger all the time. I don't have any near me now. I had no idea how diversified the company became.
My mother worked at a Kroger’s supermarket in the early 1960’s in Bloomington, Illinois. I remember going there to shop on several occasions when I was a little boy. We used have Dillons in our area in northeastern Kansas, but they moved out 12 years ago. It was our favorite grocery store. I still miss them.
I used to work for Kroger as a bagger in the 90's after i finished high school and had an uncle who worked in upper management at a Kroger warehouse in Salem VA and I worked at the Vinton VA store
Great video as always, After Kroger bought Harris Teeter here on the East Coast they lowered prices which is great
@James Doolittle Albertsons bought Safeway and Acme, Giant bought Food Lion
Harris Teeter prices weren't lowered enough. They are still expensive except for sale items.
Now we've almost gone full circle back to delivering groceries and packed pickup orders. Soon Kroger is launching drone delivery rather than horses.
Not quite because the quality is not the same now as then with most but I do love Kroger better than walmart.
They will arrest me and say I attacked their drone.
@@b.savage8953 Hell, I like 7-11 better than Wally world. 😜
I work in ClickList and we have several customers that hire Instant Cart to pick up their order.
I did this very morning.
Giant Foods also gave out Top Value stamps. My brother ordered a pocket knife in the mid 60s from the stamps collected.
I used to shop at Kroger when I lived in Cincinnati for around 9 years but there aren't any where I live now.
I moved back to the midwest recently and after 30 some odd years in Oklahoma, I've rediscovered Krogers. One of the things I've really been impressed with is their store brand products. Most that I've tried have been very good quality. Their Big K cola is not bad for a generic store brand, and a 2 liter is less than half the price of Coke and Pepsi. With few exceptions, their store brands have been as good as their brand name counterparts.
3:59 A Kroger to the left of a Ben Franklin! In Swissvale, Pennsylvania there was this exact paring in the 1970s, But rather than on an Edwardian main street, It was in a late 1950's shopping center.
Thanks for sharing😊
My wife's great-grandfather was offered a chance to go into business with Mr. Kroger. He figured it would never work so declined. Oh, well. If my wife was some kind of executive with the Kroger Company, I wouldn't have met her.
Wow::: I hear that story about Starbucks coffee ☕shop too;;:
I shop Kroger at Smith's in Las Vegas, and their prices are definitely lower than the rest especially Albertsons and Vons. On some things, the price difference can be as much as a couple of dollars on a single item. I get sticker-shock if I have to go to Albertsons for something.
So true!
Wow! That’s a huge difference!
I work at Kroger in Michigan. Good place to work!
When Kroger expanded with their second store, they rented space from my great grandparents at their East End business called East End Cafe. The building caught fire a few years ago and was torn down.
I remember Piggly Wiggly which I spotted that grocery store in this video.
Had one in Sulphur Springs Texas 15 years ago and Clarksville Texas 18 years ago
@@lyleswavel320 I remember them when I lived in the midwest as well as Red Owl.
I don't believe there are any actual Kroger stores on the west coast, but one of the chains shown on the list - Foodsco heavily features the brand, which I'm just as pleased with as other name brand products! In fact, when one of my cats was little she loved the instant cheese grits so much she used to chew on the unopened packets until I started bagging them out of her reach!
They’re not called Kroger, but Kroger owns the ‘Fred Meyer’ chain in the Pacific NW. FM has both Variety and Apparel sections, but the Grocery side features ‘Kroger’ labeled products..
I have never been to a Kroger. I don't think I've seen one anywhere in California and probably not the only one.
Kroger owns the Ralph’s, Food for Less, Foods Co, Quality Food Centers (QFC), and Fred Meyer chains all on the West Coast, as well as Smith’s and Fry’s, just a little east of the west coast chains. Their presence in the western US is huge.
How well I remember shopping with my mom at our small Kroger as a child. We avidly saw ed and redeemed Top Value stamps. Kroger is still my favorite grocery store.
I shop at Kroger 2x a week and love their coupons and points on ⛽
There are several Kroger stores here in Illinois, i still go here and there .
Down near St. Louis. Kroger has made a comeback as Ruler Foods
@6:59; it's been a long time since seeing a Kroger that looked like that!
Despite what people think of Kroger, they did pioneer much of the modern supermarket concept. In fact, their willingness to build modern stores effectively finished off the A&P company in most of the USA.
Piggly Wiggly was the first to use to have self service concept buying groceries . 1916 , Memphis.
@ But Piggly Wiggly didn’t have the influence Kroger had in spreading the self-service idea in a food market.
@Sacto1654 you're certainly right .
I thought it was Piggly Wiggly that invented the self serve grocery shopping. But it was Kroger that brought many of the conveniences we take for granted today! Electronic scan is cool, but I wish they'd take back the self check lanes.
They did.
Me too. That’s what the video on Piggly Wiggly said.
In the 1890s, John S. Dillon opened a general store in Sterling, Kansas, and learned that allowing customers to charge then pay later and delivering groceries to their homes was a financial and manpower strain on his business. In 1913, he opened his "J.S. Dillon Cash Store" in Hutchinson, Kansas employed a new marketing concept called cash and carry, where the store would not offer credit or delivery services. Dillon opened a second store in 1915 that he managed then placed his son, Ray E. Dillon, in charge of the original store. In 1917, the company was incorporated under the name "Dillon Mercantile Company, Inc". Due to his sons John and Ray both being overseas in France during World War I, Dillon sold his company to his investment partners, but soon afterward both sons returned. They opened a new store called "J.S. Dillon and Sons Store" in 1919 and incorporated in 1921.[1]
After several decades of steadily building the chain, a burst of growth began in 1957, when John's son, Raymond, expanded with additional stores in the Wichita market when, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, then consisting of 16 stores. By 1968, J.S. Dillon and Sons had grown into Dillon Companies, Inc., and began acquiring regional banners, such as City Market, Fry's, Gerbes, and King Soopers, over 300 convenience stores in five states, and Jackson's Ice Cream dairy. Dillon Companies, Inc., joined the Kroger company in 1983 and brought with it two future CEOs: Joe Pichler, who served as CEO of Kroger from 1990 to 2003, and Kroger's former CEO, Dave Dillon. Dave is the great grandson of J. S. Dillon.
Today, more than 12,000 employees work at 93 stores in the Dillon Stores Division, which includes 26 stores in Wichita, Kansas, area; 11 stores in the Omaha, Nebraska, area; nine stores in Topeka, Kansas; and 24 fuel centers. The format for most locations is the traditional combination of food, general merchandise, and pharmacy, with an average of 49,000 square feet per store. The division offers Dillons Marketplace stores in Kansas, located in Wichita, Andover, Derby, and Hutchinson.
In 1983, Dillon Companies, Inc., was acquired by The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, creating a nationwide grocery chain. Several years later, David Dillon was named Kroger's President and COO and became CEO in 2003. Dillon retired from that position effective January 1, 2014.[2]
We lost Dillons in the Kansas City area in 2009. We miss them - Dillons was our favorite grocery store.
When I was little there was a Kroger on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's East Liberty section across from the Nabisco bakery adjacent to Mellon Park. It closed down in 1969 when I was seven. It broke my heart. Kroger would leave the area 15 years later.
I miss going to Kroger. It was so convenient.
I love this! So nostalgic! 👍👍👍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😍😍😍😻😻😀😀😀😀😄😄😇
When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my mom would go to Kroger. We did not have a car but the store was close by. On Friday or Saturday it was the big shopping day. She took one of those personal carts you pull. I was horrified especially as a teen. Because she made me go with her. You know how teens throw little hissy fits!! We did have a local grocery store that my mom would go to for staples during the week while I was in school. My mom did all the shopping dad did not get involved.
We did have an A&P, Great Scott and a Wrigley's but they were too far to walk. Now as a senior I am thinking about getting one of those personal carts. I am sure my mom is laughing on the other side🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. PS
still shop at Kroger to this day😊😊.
Did you grow up in Detroit? I remember Great Scott and Wrigley's from when I was a kid, in Detroit.
Loved your personal story!!
Some people go to the grocery store and they steal the shopping carts to take their groceries home. Then they leave the carts at the curbside. 😮
There was a Kroger in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroevile, PA.
Fast forward to now and Chick Fil A line during 2020 lockdiwn went around that entire Miracle Mile lot lol
Excellent documentary about an innovative retail entrepreneur. Those open refrigerator aisles burn through electricity especially in warmer months - many stores now have switched to rows of door fridges and freezers.
I remember shopping Kroger with my mom on Friday nights. Free samples and fill whole basket for $25.00.
At one time, kroger's had 2 stores in meadville Pennsylvania. Sadly the chain left in the early 80s.
We had a few in Erie as well and they left in the late 70s or early 80s .
We had a few in Erie as well and they left in the late 70s or early 80s .
I worked at the Kroger in Fayetteville NC for about two years while in college; since then, they closed all stores in NC due to the “over saturation” of grocers in the state…..ironically, each store was replaced by NC based Harris Teeter which is a Kroger subsidiary
Oh well, at least they left behind a small piece of the company. Kroger's time in Toledo, OH was quite the opposite, often leading to other non-Kroger supermarkets shutting down.
Until one year old I lived in an apartment across from the Kroger elephant. Troy st. In Dayton Ohio. My first learned word, elephant.
My great grandfather drove a horse and wagon for Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio
I was a bag boy at the Kroger store in High Ridge Missouri when it opened in 1981 still have my black clip-on tie LOL
@Proud Pastrami Nooooooo!
@Proud Pastrami you were a bad boy to huh? LOL
Kroger still thrives in my city when all others have died. It's sad but I'm glad we still have Kroger.
Aren't you lucky? 😁
@@luisreyes1963 Perhaps, but I liked a local chain more (Food Town).
Not sure a choice of ‘oneI’ supermarket is great.
@@xr6lad I know. But that's the crap I deal with now in my old age and the way things have become.
Kroger was my childhood grocery store in my home area Detroit. We don’t shop there at often but I love it there and I always say hi to them and there animated characters “Kroji”
So far Kroger is still around we still shop there thanks for this upload.😘😊
I grew up on Kroger Ave in Cincinnati, about 500 ft. away from Barney's front door.
Kroger was the first Instacart! I really enjoy your videos.
There are 2 Kroger-owned markets here in the Chicago area, Food 4 Less & Mariano's.
And we gladly shop at them quite often. 🍎
We always went to Kroger in the 60s and 70s in Wheeling, WV. Its still there (but a new larger store) 50 years later. Kroger seems to come and go in the south where I'm at now. They can't compete with Food Lion at the low end or Harris Teeter at the high end. EDIT: I didn't know they owned Harris Teeter.
Food Lion is a lot better than Kroger the only thing I didn’t like about Food Lion was the higher prices in the Atlanta area before they went out of business, and Harris Teeter don’t remember that place except my parents been to one in the Atlanta area once, it’s basically a Publix and Ingles from my understanding as well. 🤷🏻♂️
I go Krogering 2 times a week.Ive been to other grocery stores through out my life,but i always seem to go back to Kroger.I like the new large stores.But we still have a small,well comparitivly small,neighborhood Kroger.It will always be my favorite.
Sad to say though that the bakery has declined over the years.And rarely do i see stuff actually made at Kroger.
We have Food 4 Less out West, but many of my East coast/Midwest friends use Kroger. Thanks for a great episode!
Kroger is my favorite grocery store. Although I do miss Meijers they don’t have them in the south.
My town has both!
Fact check, the first barcode scan was at Marsh supermarket in Troy Ohio. It was for a pack of gum.
This video has a lot of inaccuracies
I never shopped in a Kroger but have shopped in groceries owned by Kroger (Dillons, Food for Less, Fred Meyer). I enjoyed learning how Kroger brought what I think of as the modern grocery store into being. Thanks for the upload.
We mostly went to A&P, Spartan, D&W, and IGA stores. For some reason we were never a Meijer family and I don't recall any Kroger around when growing up.
In Chicago when I was a child Kroger was established in the market. Then they pulled out maybe 50 years ago. The closest Kroger to me, aside from Food 4 Less is in Kankakee, IL.
I emailed them a long time ago and they said 1971 so you're about right.
I wasn't around when they had stores here, I first learned about Kroger from y grandparents because they had a location here in Park Ridge which became a Dominick's. I learned later they took over all of most of the former Kroger's here.
THEY ALSO STARTED THE FIRST DOUBLE MANUFACTURER'S AND TRIP COUPONS PROGRAMS AS WELL.
I still shop Kroger. It certainly has grown since I was growing up in the 60's and went there with my Mom and older sister. I loved the little child size shopping carts. Still love to shop there.
I am surprised that there is something very significant that is missing - Kroger at one time, and still may be, the largest florist in the country. I don't shop at Kroger a lot but if I need flowers to take somewhere, I always go to Kroger.
I buy flowers and plants almost every time I shop at Krogers. Their plants are of high quality.
Wow!! Didn’t know all that!! I really enjoyed this video.. super interesting!!! Thank you so much for posting it!!
I grew up going to Hoggly Woggly and Winn Dixie. When I got older usually went to Ingles. Krogers at time, unless you bought their brand was little on expensive side. It has gotten better.....they have best tomatoes now and love the gas perks.
Piggly Wiggly sucks can’t stand them, Winn Dixie is okay but Ingles is so much better than Winn Dixie actually, other than that they are both basically the same atleast Ingles is more like Kroger with Publix like mentality actually and they have things like Winn Dixie that other stores don’t have including Publix either, and Kroger is nothing like they used to be they ran Lucky’s Market in Panama City Florida out of business and sold off Tom Thumb, so I take it your from Georgia like I am originally. 🤔
My mother always said Kroger was too expensive. She always bought the cheapest of everything.
Well now, there is one of life’s forgotten treasures. Top Value stamps! I remember them well. Those and S&H green stamps were like cash. People always wanted their stamps when they would checkout at the store. Thanks for the memories.
I shop at King Soopers here in Colorado.
Kroger closed one of their oldest bakeries in Columbus without notice several years ago, which dealt a blow to a few people I know. It made me sad, but also reminded me that every old business is in business for a reason, and its not to loose money.
My first job ever Kroger Alcoa Tennessee in 1989♥️♥️
Great video I hope you continue withmore info on Kroger. I love this channel ❤
My 88 year old mother, in Michigan, won't shop anywhere else, and I can see why. I remember her sending me to Kroger's when I was a kid, with a list, and I knew that if I couldn't find something, one of the Kroger employees would help me find it or a suitable alternative. This video really brings back the memories. We don't have Krogers or any of its subsidiaries around here.
I grew up in St Louis, but remember Krogers in Indiana at my Grandparents' house. Good store.
I grew up in St. Louis in the 50's as well. We shopped at the Kroger at Grand Avenue and N. Florissant. In the early 70's, Kroger pulled out of the St.Louis area, however there is one in Troy, MO (60 minutes northwest of STL). I still shop at that store today.
Kroger was king in Houston until a few years ago when HEB came into town. Since then more and more customers switched to HEB and Kroger is almost a ship out of water.
HEB should come north to ohio and would do the same to kroger in its company headquarters! I have been in HEB stores and they are amazing and the price is well below that of kroger.
@Joe Nickell I haven't seen a Kroger in California though. LoL
@@runrafarunthebestintheworld hate to burst your bubble, but Kroger owns Ralph’s....