Why Is Kroger the ONLY national "regular" grocery?

Okay, I don't usually shop at Kroger, but the one in Holiday Manor is the closest one to my house, and my children drank all of the good, grass-fed raw milk in the house, so I managed to get out there yesterday to buy a gallon of Horizon organic milk.

My verdict: Kroger sucks. It's got horrible, horrible produce. The bakery has insipid, flavorless bread. I won't get into the cheese or the meat counter, and the natural food selection consists mainly of energy bars.

There are lots of other big national chains out there. Take Publix. It's brighter, it has better produce, and it has a good selection of organics. It's deli actually makes a pretty decent sandwich. Yet not a one in Louisville. The ones in Ft. Lauderdale and Atlanta are about a million times better than Kroger.

There is a large, upscale market (Whole Foods), there are a few independents (Burger's, Doll's, Valu-Market), there are discount places (Aldi's) but there isn't any competition in the area of traditional, national, "regular" grocery stores. Why? When it seems that if they got in the market they'd wipe the pavement with Kroger.

Sorry for the rant. I've been locked up with the kids for several days now except for brief snow fort building, and I'm running out of cheerful songs to keep them busy.

You know..I think it may be the Kroger you shop at. I shop at the huge one in Middletown and have never had a problem with produce or bread. I have also shopped at the one off Old La Grange road and their produce stinks!! I hate going to the Walmart Supercenter on Shelbyville road also for the same reason (among many other problems with shopping there.) The Middletown Kroger is always friendly, and well stocked.

I'll add in a couple of cents -- it does matter which Kroger you go to. Some specialize in more gourmet selections, some are adding to their organic/natural selections. I don't see much quality difference between Kroger and say Wal-Mart (I don't buy produce at Wal-Mart except for very very rare occasions). I have seen the produce at Meijers and think it is horrible for the type of things I look for.

Another thought ... although Kroger is a national chain, it is LOCAL to this area with the headquarters in Cincinnati. I don't think the same can be said for the other nationals that you mention.

I've only shopped at Kroger since moving to Old Louisville in 2006. I grew up in a mixed-grocery family (my mom went where the coupons took her). In college (Dayton) I shopped at Meijer, as did most Daytonians (which is interesting as Kroger is based in Cincy). Kroger, at least in the Dayton area, really as a red-headed stepchild relationship to Meijer.

The quality at Kroger varies from store to store. The downtown Kroger is horrible, the one on Central is so-so w/poor customer service, the one on Goss is pretty decent, and the one near Douglas Loop is quality. You can come to your own conclusions in regards to the relationship between neighborhood demographics and Kroger quality.

I'm about done with Kroger. Currently I split my shopping between Kroger and Aldi. I want to do more shopping at Rainbow Blossom and Valu Market which will probably result in Kroger getting cut. Solely based on convenience, Kroger would get my business as three are located with 2 miles of my place.

As for competitors, Meijer is in the market although they always build in suburban areas. That's the case with the one on Preston @ 265, Wesport @ 265, and the one I can think of in IN.

I started doing some research and then decided I didn't really want to start digging. I was researching if there any any true "national" grocery chains other than Wal-Mart (and not counting places like Super Targets).

Meijer is located in 5 states (founded in Michigan, OH, IN, IL, KY). I'd wager Kroger is located under one name or another in 20 something states. Is there any other chains that are in, say, 1/2 or more states? Seems to me that besides Wal-Mart, groceries tend to locate within regions.

And I have to second what Rebecca says. Quality (lighting, organic availability, produce quality, etc.) really has so much to do with the target demongraphic.

Saying all Krogers suck after visiting one of them is like saying all McDonald's suck after eating at only one. Wait a second...


Jokes aside though, I'll have once more assert the fact that location really does matter. Highlands Kroger (just past Douglass Loop on Bardstown) really does have a fairly wide selection of organic food, their bakery puts out pretty good bread (I like their honey-oat baguette and their fruit and seed baguette), their sushi bar is just as good as whole foods (although both no competition for Oishii restaurant), and their cheese selection is fairly expansive.

Of course you're not going to find the same variety of organic food at a Kroger that you would at Whole Foods though, but that's because it isn't Whole Foods. Their target demographic is different, and therefore their inventory is different.

You do see similarities at places like the HIghland Kroger, because that's where the demographics overlap. If you go to a place like Kroghetto though, you can't expect them to carry products that likely won't sell. As for your energy bar observation, the reason they likely carry those is because they don't go bad quickly.

On the topic of the Publix in Fort Lauderdale, you've got to look at the demographics again. Those stores are targeted to people who are spending a decent sum of money to vacation on the beach. They're probably also more likely to be interested in organic produce and specialty cheeses. I'd be willing to wager that if Publix were to open a store in the exact same location as the Kroghetto, the similarities would be staggering.

I'd be willing to wager that if Publix were to open a store in the exact same location as the Kroghetto, the similarities would be staggering.

I'm not a bread/produce/cheese expert, but I have trouble telling the difference between most major chains (Meijer, Kroger, even local chains like Valu) that are targeting a similar demographic. So on that point, I'd have to agree with you Paul - from my perspective, the grocery business is more about targeting a specific population than providing unique products. As a result, the location is more important than the name on the building.

The real distinctions start=s, I think, when you move away from the regiona/national grocery chain to specialty shops (Whole Foods). Meijer, is Kroger, is Publix...

Traditional grocery stores operate on a very slim margin, ( 2-3%) so every penny in operations counts. I'm not aware of any truly national grocery chains: they tend to be regionally-focused with a centralized distribution center so they can keep the distribution costs to a minimum- transportation is a huge cost to the industry. Whole Foods can do national distribution because they have much higher prices to absorb the additional transportation costs

That said, our Kroger at Springhurst gets a reasonable amount of our grocery purchases- but the produce selection and quality at Meijer is much better.

Deb

Actually in some ways Louisville has a better selection of grocery than many cities. I've lived in multiple cities and it seems that in each one theres a dominant chain and a few secondary ones. Louisville also meets this criteria as has been mentioned. We have not only a couple of smaller chains are also several very good Louisville based in dependents that give us quite a few options. Region chains, Publix's is in the southeast, based in Florida, Bilo is in the coastal Carolina's, based in Greenville,SC, etc. normally only cover 4-5 states. Other than Wal-Mart (and the Target) is no real national chain they're just regional.

The one chain I wish would really move here is Wegmans. They're based in Rochester New York and are constantly among the top rated in the nation not only as a store but also is a place to work. Unfortunately they have no stores very close to us.

We probably don't have the best selection in the nation but we definitely don't have the worst and you can find whenever item and quality you want here which is something I haven't been able to do every place I lived.

We left Louisville (Highlands) 18 yrs ago and my wife has missed the Highlands Kroger ever since. Of course it looks alot different than it did 18 yrs ago. Living in Chattanooga the last 16 yrs we have been shopping at Food Lion. It's Belgian owned, started in the Carolina's, has 1300 stores in 11 states. Mainly in the southeast and mid-atlantic. Publix recently opened 2 stores in Chattanooga, one near my home. We would always shop Publix in Fla. It's been big news in Chatt, Publix, as they are planning a few more stores in the near future.

We left Louisville (Highlands) 18 yrs ago and my wife has missed the Highlands Kroger ever since. Of course it looks alot different than it did 18 yrs ago. Living in Chattanooga the last 16 yrs we have been shopping at Food Lion. It's Belgian owned, started in the Carolina's, has 1300 stores in 11 states. Mainly in the southeast and mid-atlantic. Publix recently opened 2 stores in Chattanooga, one near my home. We would always shop Publix in Fla. It's been big news in Chatt, Publix, as they are planning a few more stores in the near future.

Wes,

We visit friends of ours in Ooltewah several times a year (be there in two weeks) and they are just loving the new Publix off of (I think) exit 11.

Getting back to the subject of Kroger's I think we would be narrow minded to assume (that like all other retail establishments) grocery stores don't factor in local and regional demographics. Let me just say that living in Minnesota the past 18 years there wasn't a lot of shelf space devoted to "grits" and I certainly don't see any weekly specials for "Lutefisk" down this way (thank you God for small favors). We've been in the "search" mode for grocery stores since we got here and have more or less taken to shopping wherever we happen to find ourselves on any particular day. WalMart is what a WalMart is ANYWHERE you go...for better or worse. The Krogers do seem to be all over the map and I would have to say our least favorite is the one in La Grange. Where I think we have it over most locales are in the number of independent specialty type stores in the area (Lotsa Pasta comes to mind). When we lived in "food hell" (Oklahoma) I would have given anything...anything...to have had even the promise of some of the quality and selection we enjoy here in "The Ville".

Well . . . we used to have Winn-Dixie, but they're all gone. Buehler's (an attempt at a regional chain), tried to come in and challenge Kroger, but that failed. We have the local chain of Valumarket.

I'm pretty sure that Kroger and Wal-Mart are now the nation's two largest grocers, so it is hard for other national chains to compete.

Doogy likie Kroger at Summit. Also likie Meijer at Springhurst. I do also shop at local ethnic stores.

I miss my Publix from the good old days in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

We lived in St Louis for 17 years before moving here in 2005. There, you really had two local chains that dominated the market - Schnucks and Dierbergs, both owned by local families in STL. Schnucks was like Kroger, but Dierbergs was like Fresh Market, only with slightly lower prices. I had a choice in my neighborhood of either one, and it was great. They also had a few Walmart Supercenters and Targets with groceries, but not too many. There weren't any Krogers any more (I think they pulled out of that market a long time ago), or Safeway. There was another chain called Shop N Save, where you bagged your own groceries, but the meat, deli, bakery, and produce was not as good as either Schnucks or Dierbergs. I had a hard time when we moved here, really missed my grocery stores! Now I shop at either Kroger in Holiday Manor or Prospect. Not terribly impressed with either one, though.