Kroger - Why They're Successful
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
- Kroger is one of the biggest, most successful owners of grocery stores. This video takes a look at how they grew so large while identifying what I believe to be some of the main reasons behind their success.
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I worked at Kroger in the Cincinnati Region for 4 years, my mom, brother, and grandmother have all worked there as well. All of us were miserable. Management didn't care, the union was ineffective/generally unhelpful, you were asked (more often told) to work in other departments. They often cross trained their employees on front register just so they had back up since they were often understaffed. I was only ever officially a cashier and a floral clerk but I have worked produce, grocery, liquor, etc. just to cover because their turnover rate it terrible!!
Yes! I work there now and I literally have to work in 4 different departments
I do the same as you lol and they wont pay us for it
I’m 18yo and I work there trying to switch grocery from front end but seems like they wanna keep it from happening. And they are cutting hours for no reason.
I've actually had a similar experience. Started as a bagger, promoted to grocery in a few months, ended up handling all departments, but did manage to dodge cashier up until I quit. I also find it amusing that corporate kept cutting department manager payrates and hours for no real reason despite the financial success of the company. Also, this might have just been my store but I wouldn't put it past it being company policy, but we'd regularly put spoiled food on markdown instead of throwing it out. Led to a string of food poisonings in my city a few years back, and somehow they got away with it.
@@Manablade117 yeah theymarkdown some expired stuff but not much. The pay stays the same but it’s just the hours
As a current Kroger employee, it's sad yet sort of validating to see how many employees and ex employees also hate working for kroger.
I worked at Kroger for 3 1/2 years as a cashier. I was told multiple times I had the fastest ring time in the whole area. I was praised by management for my work. I was in the union. All sounds great right? Well for all that hard work, I got about 50 cents of raises in 3 1/2 years. The union was worthless, took $9/week from me and didnt back me up when I had a legitimate issue with an assistant manager. They wouldnt ever make anyone full time, and so i was "part time" with wildly inconsistent hours, and no benefits. Everyone that worked there part time was on SNAP, WIC and expanded Medicaid. Kroger is successful on the backsof low income workers they don't pay squat no matter how hard they work.
Unfortunately the main purpose of a union is to enrich the union bosses.
@@palaceofwisdom9448 and keep subpar employees on the payroll. You can't forget that. Unions are the arch enemy of overachievers, because in a union, everyone gets treated the same. That is the progressive way! 🤣 It is also why companies like Costco have blown by them in growth.
As a person that worked at a Kroger place. Sounds about right and your speed time doesn't matter.... Former Front end supervisor.
Tell that to the idiots at Starbucks who all think they have hit the lottery by unionizing dozens of stores.😂😂
Those fools are gonna get a huge wake up call.
Sadly, this is the case with most grocery stores that are part of the UFCW. My Aunt Nancy worked for Strack and Van Til for 22 years, before retiring from them, and only worked part-time in the meat department. The most she was able to get was 28 hours a week. The store she works at was Strack and Van Til in NW Indiana.
As a Kroger employee I can verify that each store is ran like a shit show. Each store is like each warzone. Management is terrible and Employees are constantly harassed and are always stressed. Management needs to step up and actually do their job.
It really depends on the managers/locations. Like my Kroger that I have been working since 2021 (being a Producer Worker). It has a rich neighborhood area, and tons of great managers. I've been treated so well and love working there. Yes I know not every store is great, and it's hard to say "Don't judge a book by it's cover moments". But here me out as long as you get a good known working area in your town, it will be a better managed store.
Me as a Albertsons formal employee can relate to this 100%
THEY NEVER WILL!
facts as a publix employee its way better #publixgang
Managers need to face hard jail time. Then it might change. As for the driven by greed Corp structure. It needs to be destroyed. Corp has destroyed humanity ever since it's inception.
I worked for Kroger in Texas from 1987 to 2001. I worked my way up from being a sacker to managing a store. What I learned in my time with Kroger was that retail work is a burn-out job, more so the higher up you go. The company relied heavily on the proverbial carrot and stick method of motivating people. I stayed just long enough to discover that there was no carrot at all, just another stick. When 9/11 happened, I resigned to join the Amy. I was in Iraq shortly after that. I worked way less hours. I was home most nights and weekends. My worst day in Iraq was far better than my best day at Kroger. I retired from the Army last year and regret nothing about my decision to leave Kroger.
I know Iraq was no walk in the park, so for you to feel the way you do says a lot about Kroger. Thanks for your service and congratulations on your retirement.
Thank you for sharing! I also worked for Kroger for 14 years. I quit last year. Your worst day in Iraq was far better than your best day at Kroger comment is the perfect way to describe working at Kroger. I hope you have a great life, I will probably reference this comment for the rest of my life.
You were in the Army for 20 years and that was better than retail. I did 10+ years retail in many different companies and I am in no way surprised.
I've worked at Kroger for over a decade and, to put this politely, there has been a steady decline in satisfaction among employees at the store level. (I know someone who had been with the company for longer than me who was fired just last week for speaking negatively about the company on social media... I'd better watch out LOL)
I called my store manager a bitch on social media. My dept. boss screenshot it but I didn't get fired lol
Most businesses have a written policy about what employees cannot say publicly about that company. Seems reasonable to me 🤷🏻♀sounds like your co-worker violated it.
Yeah, the company is pretty awful. The people in high positions are total assholes. Although one of the biggest assholes/ golden child of the company just got let go and everyone is happy about it lol
@@calebtitler1847 then talk to your boss, don't air your dirty laundry
All I see are these comments. If you let a company exploit and treat you like garbage for years, then I don't feel sorry for you. Quit. Find another job. There's millions of jobs out there. Stop whining and do something about it. As long as you allow a company to exploit you, they will. No one is making you guys stay there.
Kroger is such a messed up company that DOES NOT care for their employees.
It's sickening what they get away with.
as someone who works at kroger can confirm
Elaborate.
VERY. This is coming from an former Assistant Manager.
Coming from an assist manager in Produce I can do nothing but agree with you
Yes
I put 20 years into Kroger here in OH as a union member. I had fun, made a lot of friends (and enemies,) and helped raise a family. I basically worked in every department except the pharmacy, and I learned so much about the industry and the products that I still use today. It is a powerful company, and they need to refocus their efforts back into their employees to take that next step.
I've been working at Kroger since 2021 of july, and man I love all my mangers and my cool produce working people.
@@S0l0Xglad you're enjoying your job. I started in produce too. Learn all you can, from writing orders to counting inventory and once you feel you have a good understanding, start applying for spots in different departments. Good luck to you!
@@treyphan420 Tysm. 😊
Is this a bot account. lol This has to be a bot conversation. No way a real person would talk so high of a company that paid the minimum wage for years on end without a serious wage increase until COVID. I mean seriously. lol Take a step back and remember those who actually put in work at those companies. It's sad, but the truth. Just look at the other comments in this section ... They HATED that job.
@@RealRed01 speak your truth! I'm not saying yay Kroger, but I worked up the ladder fast. I was pulling in $18 per hour when I was 19-20 years old. I actually left and then came back 8 years later, mostly out of boredom. I like the mad scramble.
I guess some people are born to do that shit
I worked at Kroger for 15 years. Most of that time I was an alcoholic. I was either hung over or drunk every day and nobody seemed to notice or care. They were just glad I showed up, even if I was 2 hours late. The attendance policy would reset so often I never got suspended. It's a great job if you don't want to apply yourself in life. I wish I would have quit sooner.
Man I currently work at a gorcery store and this comment hits close to home
Quit drinking or quit the job?
I just put in my 2 weeks with Kroger. What you say is absolutely true, I am absolutely blazed everyday. I feel like I'm wasting myself.
My last day is wednesday, and then I'm moving on to a much greener pastures in EMS where I can actually apply myself in a meaningful way
Good luck I currently am looking for a job
@@ohnobigmeatgaming9860 Both. The drinking was a lot easier to quit after quitting the job. You don't realize how unhappy you are because of the mindless routine.
The "free" Kroger card gives the company free market research, in the past few years they changed the policy from carrying over fuel points each month to ending with each month
Cheap bastards!
Someone once said "if the product is free then YOU are the product"
@@judcrandall6762 I know, right? So cheap for not letting you roll over points that they give you as a perk and many stores do not give at all. Damn. It will really affect all those people who visit a gss station less than once a month.
a masterstroke in marketing
Albertsons did that to the Vons Fuel points too!
It's very inspirational how terribly they treat the employees. Kroger has some of the lowest worker satisfaction in America. The CEO Rodney McMullen pays himself 900% more than the average person he employs. The company has known for years they don't pay living wages to the extent that many Kroger owned stores have employees that live in their car the parking lots. THEY KNOW THIS. During the middle of the pandemic they chose to close stores to punish employees in CA when the city of Los Angeles voted to give grocery workers a temporary $5 raise. The company spends millions on union busting every year. Workers in every Kroger store nation wide had to literally beg for the company to provide safety precautions for covid. They go out of their way to cover up employee suicide stemming from management harassment. They recently made a massive multimillion dollar stock buyback and immediately began blaming employees wanting a fair living wage for price inflation used to pay back the buybacks.
Kroger is a terrible company and you would be doing a disservice to 500,000 overworked, underpaid employees if you did not do a follow up video discussing the awful, sometimes illegal business practices used by this company.
@Reemyx Company Man doing a future video titled Kroger: Why They're Hated are my thoughts exactly. I'll pitch that to him on his website.
A few counterpoints. There are several companies that decided to close stores during the pandemic. It isn't surprising that Kroger would close stores that were already nearing the chopping block. There is absolutely no big box retailer that would give all their employees a $5 raise. Some of their employees, those who are full time and occupy key positions possibly. But not your part time baggers and cashiers. You can argue that it is not right, but the profit margins in the grocery business aren't as impressive as you think -- the success is having numerous stores compiling slimmer margins.
The company might spend millions on union busting, but a great many Kroger stores are unionized, probably much higher then most of their competitors. And having worked at both a unionized and non-unionized Kroger store, it's basically a wash. You get more protections as a worker in a union store, but you are also picking up the slack of those people that should rightfully be fired but manage to get a pass because of the union. You pay less for insurance in a union store, but a non-union store typically pays better wages.
I am not sure of your point about workers begging for covid precautions as the company reacted to implementing them in a timely manner. I am sure for some it wasn't quick enough, but it is a massive chain with various divisions. It would take some time to identify what needs to be implemented and how. Kroger was actually commended for this methodology in addressing the pandemic. And while I have heard about the employee suicide, this is an example of poor management at one store among thousands. If the company dismissed the managers in question and settled with the family, then you have to make a case that management at many Kroger stores could create a situation like this, or else you have an isolated example which isn't an argument for much.
I have many problems with the corporate culture at Kroger, beyond the division leadership. They seem detached from the company as a whole. But Kroger is not a terrible company. I would say as a gay man, it is a company that can do a lot of good. Kroger gets high marks when ranked by LGBT+ organizations. They are also involved with several charitable organizations.
Your complaints are isolated examples, misleading or hyperbole.
@@DeveusBelkan Here's my counterpoints to you. Kroger and the rest of these big box companies need to recognize the changing culture that this type of low pay culture is unacceptable. Our politicians usually on the Democratic side are trying to make laws in which $15 an hour will become a federal thing and not just for certain areas of the country. If it grew as it's supposed to over the years, it currently should be no lower than $30 an hour. People can say you have to work for what you earn, but I think there's not enough people who give the type of support that it's even worth working for. We can't excuse these companies if it turns out because of such practices many of their former employees end up homeless as a result.
@@DeveusBelkan
' but the profit margins in the grocery business aren't as impressive as you think '
ooo reallyy?
$2,500,000,000 net profit in just 1 year is not impressive?
each ONE off the store maade $1 million in PROFIT is not impressive?
REALLLY???????????????????????????????
@@ssllsg9439 Yes that is about a 5% profit on a nonstandard where shrink was low and the shelves were emptied of most goods. Kroger tend to sit around a 1.5% to 2%.
$1 million in profit for many small businesses is just keeping their head above water as that profit is used to buy new tools, pay and train new employees, and make needed repairs and renovations to equipment and buildings.
I'm currently a Kroger employee, and there's a lot of things I have gripes with. Most specifically, the wage, the lack of sick time entirely and how hard it is to get PTO. Everyone I work with who isn't a manager is underpaid, and so am I. Three call offs is a warning, four is a write up, five is a suspension. The write up is permanent. There are no expectations. I was writen up for bringing a doctor's note proving a muscle injury near my ribs.
Certain write ups do disappear after a few years. If your store has a union, did you use it in your case? You really have to cover your own ass in those situations.
Sooo.... why haven't you quit?
This sounds like Walmart. We had a cashier at my Walmart who had a heart condition. Multiple times, she left the store on a stretcher and was in the hospital. Management saw this. They knew it. They spoke to the paramedics.
Yet she still got written up for "excessive absences".
I'm out of Walmart-they terminated me-and now at Costco. My only regret is staying at Walmart for so damn long.
When Kroger bought fred meyer there was a noticable decline in service and quality at fred meyer stores. It was sad to see. Almost everybody in the PNW laments the loss of fred meyer to kroger.
I noticed the electronics department in the last 20 years went from huge selections of CDs when I was a kid of the '90s to absolutely nothing worth visiting for. Fred Meyers used to even be a good place for video games or at least trying them out. And they used to have lots and lots of movies. Now the electronics department is mostly cheapo inexpensive boombox radios and one or two TV sets and a bunch of cables and adapters and maybe batteries.
I use to live in the PNW and noticed a lot of Fred Meyer stores seemed to be a bit more expensive yet nicer than other stores, I live in Phoenix now and shop at Fry's and I tell you that Fry's is a much better value and their prices are a lot cheaper, there is a bunch in Phoenix too, not just a few.
As a life-long Portlander (who still remembers the stores with rooftop parking, and the original 6th and Alder location), I can wholeheartedly agree with this statement. At least Freddy's is still unionized.
That's because the traditional Kroger branded store is at first a grocery store with a pharmacy. While stores like Fred Meyer are a completely different beast from the default Kroger store
I went to my local Fred Meyer yesterday. There were no baskets anywhere. They told me to push a cart around the store instead.
I worked for this company for nearly 2 years and it was so apparent that all they saw in us was a number. So overworked and understaffed a 4 paged employee schedule sheet was reduced to 1 page from everyone quitting
I used to work at Kroger too but didn't find it to be bad until the panic buying started happening
I’ve heard this so often about Kroger. I work at Meijer and I feel similarly but I don’t think it’s quite as bad as some other places.
I worked as a full case picker in the grocery dept this last summer and I can see why. It's union so the new guys get the rough end of the deal. Was on my 13th or 15th STRAIGHT DAY OF 16 hr shifts when I realized I was tired physically, mentally, emotionally. Made more than 1k a week great job but it has its cost and the turnover is insane. Only recommend short term honestly
Do you think it's a family gathering ? Yes, you're a number, too bad, they'd replace people with robots if they could.lol at you expecting more than a pay check for labor.
Kroger literally robs the paychecks of anyone who doesn't submit to the exp-rimental m-dical injection.
I'm not joking. They take money from their employees paychecks. From their families.
Side note, they will never see another cent from me, and they were my grocery store for over 20 years.
*When a corporation behaves as though they are so big that they don't care about destroying customer relationships, Buh Bye.*
As a current worker at Kroger, my poor store is constantly understaffed. Causing great stress on my coworkers. The store is small, cramped, and the amount of thieves is ridiculous.
Same here! Im about to find another job
Our store is severely understaffed, so product sits in coolers and the back rooms for weeks and they end up expiring. It is a consistent waste of money.
I think Kroger's acquisitions have hurt consumers. The lack of competition in the industry now is not good and I don't feel Kroger has maintained their quality standards. It's also made it so there's less competitive pay for grocery employees.
The benefit is that Kroger purchases more in bulk lowering the prices. The pandemic may change the system.
The Kroger employees in my area are all unionized. They do alright for themselves.
@@benhatcher2603 the union is a joke
Each year there is a new contract and basically doesn't uphold the original one
@@benhatcher2603 UFCW is shit though. They give Kroger more and more ground with every contract, and the turnover rate among employees is so high that most don't give enough of a shit to hold their feet to the fire; Most employees are either new to the company or already one foot out the door. It's virtually impossible for UFCW to get a strike vote passed and Kroger knows it, so they stonewall during negotiations.
@@benhatcher2603 Around here, it's the same union for most of the other grocery stores. The pay isn't great, but the benefits package is pretty good. I've definitely had worse jobs over the years, but as the pandemic winds down, I'll be far better off as a result of working at one of their stores.
That's not to say that it isn't tough, but you could say that about most retailers in modern America.
As someone who worked from kroger for 3 years, and im sure many others share this sentiment, dont shop at kroger. They truly treat their employees as expendables.
And it was most noticeable within the last 2 years, during the pandemic
So what is Walmart a better option. Those are my choices here. And Walmart is worse than Kroger
Sounds like most store chains. Suck it up
Are the employees forced to work there?
To be blunt, any employee that can be easily replaced within a week's time will often be seen as more expendable by large corporations. The larger a company is the easier it will be for them to absorb the odd employee turnover. If you want to make yourself less expandable then either acquire an in demand skill or work for a smaller business.
@@chriswbaty "Suck it up"? How about use collective action to force change?
I always looks forward to Wednesday, or as I call them "Company Man Upload Day"
It’s better than Brussel sprout appreciation day 😁
Same
Don't have one next to me lol
Same, broski i'm sometimes enthusiastic about discovering & learning these obscure high-profile companies :D
Companymansday
Forgot to mention when Kroger tried to get all their money back from their employees after giving out Hero Pay for about a month. They tried to be sneaky about it and send out letters a little at a time to prevent attracting too much attention, which failed. Kroger is successful because it cuts costs, much at the expense of its employees
I've worked for a Kroger store and the pay and insurance is awful. I was there for a year and the raise they gave me was our states bump in minimum wage. In my experience they treat the employees awful. My manager had been there 15+ years and was being paid $17.
Why did you stay if it was so bad?
@@treffensaintjohnllc2913 The reality is people are in need of income to pay rent and will stay at a crap job to pay the bills.
Underpaying their employees, low budget marketing, firing the people they do have/closing stores, AND doing well in stocks are why they're successful.
Also firing loyal employees via flimsy bullshit reasons who have been with the company 20+ because they command too much money. Ask me how I know....
@@CC-bm3wb Unfortunately, the investors LOVE Kroger so..........that unfortunate practice of firing loyal workers (when they should be actually raising their wages imo) is going to continue.
Good thing I never shopped at krogers in my life
I work at a DC, and they treat us really friggin awesome.
@@Jamfanwp not so here in the south. We are about to strike.
Speaking of those smaller stores that Kroger owns, I'd love to hear about regional grocery chains like Publix and HEB
i'm from Texas i'd love to hear about HEB. love that store far more than Kroger or Walmart
@@Dan_1022 Same. I love HEB!
@@Twisted_Logic Kroger tried to open stores in San Antonio in the early80's. HEB, Wal-Mart and the 4 military commisaries made it rough to compete with and they pulled out after 5 years.
I live in Texas and I don’t have a HEB
@@realluser-smore-2519 I have to drive 40 minutes to get to my nearest one, but it's worth it. The selection and store brand quality is so much better than Walmart
Ex Kroger employee here. When you get hired, they show you a video similar to the beginning of this one. They tell you the entire in depth history of the company and the man himself. It was kinda cultish not gonna lie but it was aight working there
They may be successful, but everyone I talk to that currently works there or did in the past all say Kroger is operated by terrible people. The management is horrible from the CEO on down.
100% accurate. I quit after 14 years. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I agree. I work there right now and we actually have a district manager who yells and cusses at their own employees. we've hired and lost 10+ employees in my department alone. my boss and co-managers treat me better now though cause I'm the only one who has stayed in the department for 2 years now lmao.
I think it depends where you're located and which subsidiary you're working for. Once I figured out how to manage the work load, I stopped having to work very hard to get the stuff done most days. There were definitely times when I was doing more or less an entire department's worth of work by myself. But, for the most part, I usually get everything I need to get done done, and can slack off by going to a different department to get some of their stuff done. Around the store I see other folks that get it and are super productive without having to destroy themselves, the targets are tough, but they can usually be hit if you're not an idiot.
There's a definite difference between the people who get it and those that don't though.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade All I know is here, we are overworked, underpaid, cussed out and then they turn around and wonder why 80% of the employees are always new
@@jakethestampede47 I'm jealous.
I worked at Kroger at one point, I hated every second of it, the location was doing bad, it was a mess inside, understaffed, no automatic cart pushers like Walmart has, the deli had mold in the ovens and it was just a complete disaster, the bosses were rude and weren't understanding of employee needs. I do not recommend working at a Kroger.
Should have called a health inspector on them out of spite over the oven
I was a courtesy clerk and didn't find it to be all that bad until the panic buying started happening
@@thecultofcaged never crossed me to do it
Yup! Delis are always neglected and have SOOO MANY health violations. They had to close the one I once worked at because of how bad it was. The union basically sanctioned tf out of them.
KROGER IS TRASH! They wrongfully terminated me, and I just recently got my job back at a different location with a much, much better pay. If it wasn’t for the wage (thanks union) I’d go in there and kick the store manager’s ass. No joke he’s a pervert too fuck him
I've been to a lot of different Krogers and they really vary in quality depending on the area
I live in the southwest part of the US (Smiths grocery stores down here), and around 3 years ago, they fired every top level manager in my city to "restructure" management. Basically the people that have been there the longest were under an old contract and made more money than newer people so they fired them all, I think it was like 50 people they let go, and I knew 2 or 3 from working there back in 2016. Ridiculous after putting 20+ years in a company and they fire you because you're inconvenient. I don't work there anymore thankfully. Kroger is a company that started out well and slowly turned into a greedy oligopoly.
I worked at Kroger for 11 years (I know, long time) I didn’t expect to see an episode on it, it’s surreal. I knew the company was around for a long time, I actually didn’t know Kroger invented so many common grocery store standards though
I drive for work roughly 8-10 hours a day. I look forward to your new uploads and wish they came more frequent, I finished all your old episodes in like a week and hate waiting😅🤣 it's like a favorite TV show
Kroger - Why They're Successful:
My towns Kroger: *Shuts down due to no business*
Apparently Kroger is looking to come back into my area (San Antoniio metro), but we're dominated by H-E-B (which is headquartered here) and Walmart, with Target also a presence.
Actually, H-E-B might be a great video -- yes, they're super regional (they're concentrated in south/central Texas, and are just now expanding into the DFW metroplex, and I think they have some stores in Mexico...but that's it), but they are super popular, very innovation-driven, and their public outreach (especially disaster response) is insane.
I too would love to see a video about H-E-B and everything they do. From the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Houston, to the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, and the pounds of animal food they donate to Austin Humane Society (that's all I'm aware of).
HEB is king in Texas and becoming king in much of Mexico too. Kroger doesn't stand a chance in your Market. Just ask Albertsons.
I am so excited that HEB is coming to Plano, Tx. We have the smaller, more specialty HEB owned Central Market but they are pricey to do the big grocery shopping…I go there for “fun” stuff not necessities….but I’m anxious to see what this will do to Kroger. I shop Krogers sale cycles … have a good stock up so that’s all I really need to do is shop the cycles…but I will be shopping HEB as soon as they open….SOON
Kroger is like a kid in Texas coz of HEB
HEB absolutely DWARFS Kroger here lol
Aint no one goes to that shithole coz of tge insane popularity of HEB
I’m a bagger in the Louisville division. I’ve been here since September 2020 and here it is April 2022 and have no plans to leave. I enjoy working here and it’s a great place. That’s because we have really good management and they are very caring. Everyone I work with is great, good people and the discount is great. We are the busiest store in this area (southern Illinois) so it gets pretty hectic but it always is good in the end. Highly recommend for a good little job (I’m 18 about to graduate high school and plan to work here through college)
I worked at kroger for 2-3 years. Started pushing carts and the csm who was in charge was awful she was so rude and drove customers and cashiers out routinely. It was so bad with the turn over rate. I ended up working in the dairy department which wasn't bad considering I got to work on my own away from everyone else but the lackluster union, horrible pay and the fact management would use me to help other departments that were short handed made something ok into something bad. Before I eventually left I just did my work and hid myself in the warehouse/cooler to avoid getting dragged to do anything else lol
I once worked for Walmart. It was not a good experience. In my current town we have Krogers, Martin's, a Walmart grocery and an Aldi. Kroger was old, dark, expensive and the food looked bad. Even after a makeover I had no desire to go back. My favorite is Aldi but even at the Walmart grocery, the employees are cheerful and helpful, the food quality is good and Walmart even raised the pay. I always ask them how it is to work there when no managers around and they seem positive. For me to shop at my old nemesis shows what a bad impression Kroger made on me. Hope you found something better.
@@angelachouinard4581 "The food quality is good" lmao. Bruh I went to Walmart and saw a produce working wearing NO GLOVES, and I was disgusted by that.. like god knows what they touched before they unload the food off the dolly.
At least at Kroger, we actually WEAR GLOVES to unload are fresh fruits, vegetables ,etc. Because you know are motto fresh is are way.
@@S0l0X Maybe is has to do with the store managers. I've seen gloves in my store. I do wash all my food, even organic, no matter where I buy and did before COVID. Just to clarify, good is like OK, a C grade, if it was really high quality I would have said great.. I am glad you can say good things about your store. My friend won't go the Kroger here but moans about how the one where he used to live was really great. So again, maybe the store managers have something to do with it. Thanks for working to keep people safe, stay safe yourself.
@@angelachouinard4581 Np, thx for replying.
@@S0l0X Just respect for your work
As a customer, I generally found Kroger pretty enjoyable (while I lived in Montana, I often shopped at Smith's, the name of Kroger in that region). As an employee, I concur with many of the other comments here: low pay, high demand. To be fair, I didn't especially like working at Target, but at least they pay their employees more.
Better than Wal*Mart and AutoZone though.
I worked at Target as well and I feel you.
i’ve lived in cincinnati my entire 23 years of life and never knew kroger began here in 1890s.. crazy history right under my nose. sheesh. another great video tho! thanks again!! 🖤💜
My father worked for Kroger from 1936 until 1968 in the General Office in Cincinnati. He started in the Food Foundation that you mentioned briefly regarding quality control. While he was there he invented the consistometer which was used to test the consistency of creamed corn. Our family always got all the new frozen foods before they went to market. Thank you for this video, very interesting.
I worked at a Fred Meyer when Kroger took over. Fred Meyer's old management was very good to their employees. IMO Kroger's management style was very anti employee. I moved on shortly after Fred Meyer became a member of the Kroger family.
Agreed. Mr. Meyer used to check on the stores personally. Eve's Buffet, an in-store diner, was named for his wife. After she died, they were all shut down. Mr. Meyer and Mr. Kroger did similar things at similar times, but Freddy's ( as it's called here) also added parking lots to its suburban stores as they were built.
When I was traveling in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1980s, I shopped at a couple of Fred Meyer stores and was immensely impressed with the size, inventory selections, the discount pricing, and the overall good vibes there were in those stores. It was an example of a store chain maintaining quality by not getting too ambitious with expanding the amount of retail locations.
True, I almost never saw the same employees working there more than twice. I even remember an employee protest. Also, new management was bad with keeping food in stock & never had enough shopping karts. & this was years before Unnamable Bug That Gets Comment Auto-Deleted hit. But there's another one on the opposite end of town that's totally decent. Dunno about ALL Fred Meyers, but the two I go to got rid of their jewelry sections half a decade ago. No wait, I know of three. There's an absolutely massive one in Tillamook, Oregon. You could get lost there.
I used to work for Fry's Food & Drug which was bought by Kroger and I hated every minute of it. Everyone I knew who worked there also hated it (not to mention the countless health violations, underpaid employees, and things I could go into detail on, but won't). I am surprised that they have made it this far and still many people do not realize how they **really** treat their associates.
Exactly. Same with King Soopers
They must be doing something right
delete this comment please
so much cant be judged without being a co worker im gonna have to admit every job i have had was a bunch of slackers, young kids that don't give a damn or they are dumber than nails 99% of the time. Only one of my many jobs even had a boss/owner that is even excellent at the job at hand. And i have worked with 2 other co workers that actually work hard enough to break a sweat in an air conditioned environment
The more evil you are, the better life you’ll lead.
Before Kroger bought Kings we were a thriving company and the owner actually used to let people use his cabin in the mountains for vacations. Lloyd King used to go talk to the people to see if anything was going wrong and see how he could fix it. We used to have the best of everything, when Kroger took over they started a bidding system so whoever put in the lowest bid always got the contracting deals, this unfortunately ruined our stores. Everything constantly breaking down, management act like a holes because they are constantly fearful of losing their jobs. Employees are doing the jobs of 2-3 people. Constantly being yelled at about OT. It’s a very degrading job these days. The only reason people stay is because they have accrued a lot of years and are scared to go somewhere else. Our union UFCW 7 actually works really hard for us and got us a good Raise. Unfortunately Kroger just took advantage of our current situation in the country and prices have skyrocketed so the raise has done nothing for us. I agree that Kroger is a very successful company but it comes off the backs of all their thousands of workers and they don’t like to acknowledge that. Unfortunately with new hires they see this right away and they don’t last more than a couple weeks. I understand their corporate mentality but I’ve always been a person for the people and they really couldn’t care less about their employees. Just a little insight from a employee thanks for reading.
xactly what is happening in ojr city in jackson mississippi,but it wasnt like that until the pass 7 years or so
Kroger has developed a very large Click- list internet order and pickup system, and more recently started a drone delivery capability - suburban Dayton, Ohio area store. It looks like they don’t intend to allow Walmart or Amazon to defeat them.
Fred Meyer was also one of the first “one stop shopping” stores. Founded in 1931 by Fred G Meyer. One of their largest locations that’s still open today opened in 1979, a year after Fred died. He actually sought out the land the store sits on himself, back when the area was still farm land and a nearby freeway was still under construction. In the early 90s they opened a store that had 3 entrances. A Grocery, clothing and home entrance. They opened a similar location in Chico that later closed and o believe it’s a Lowes now.
They are pretty decent. For those who don’t know think of them as sort of like a Walmart. You have everything from Groceries, to health and beauty aids, to a pharmacy to clothing, home goods etc. plus a bank and the Jewelry department. (Jewelry is high quality though. Not that costume jewelry that Walmart has)
The stores are a lot nicer though but lately Kroger has been aggressively messing with the store that some long time Fred Meyer customers and even employees don’t like.
Fred Meyer and Fred Meijer both had the same idea and opened the same kind of stores. Kind of funny. Meijer is the dominant hypermart chain in the midwest, especially Michigan where they have many more locations than Walmart. Walmart has actually retreated in recent years and hasn't built a new store in MI since 2012.
Fred Meyer was actually first open in 1922. They are currently celebrating their 100-year anniversary.
the West Fairbanks Fred Meyer is a 3 entrance store. one of the largest by floor area and typically one of if not *the* busiest store in kroger's entire network. In fact the fairbanks area is number 1 in terms of cities for kroger. I do miss how it looked before the big remodel. Had some nice neon in the meat department. Glad they kept the cows above the milk case though. including the mechanisms to swing the tails and even one moves its head up and down!
I guess they are like Walmart, but the stores look less disheveled & with less dented cans & they have twice as many cashiers. Prices are about even too. None of the Freds where I live sell jewelry though. Got rid of em a long time ago. Walmart has a salon & Subway, Fred doesn't have those. Both are always out of stock on just about everything & neither have enough shopping karts, forcing people to leave for other grocery stores. One of the Freds spent 2 years reorganizing the entire store & to this day I still don't remember where anything is, only where it used to be.
Kroger closed their last stores in NC within a couple of years after they acquired Harris Teeter. I shopped at Kroger almost exclusively before they pulled out. Although Kroger generally had very attractive prices, Harris Teeter is among the area's highest priced grocery stores for non-sale items. I rarely bother with them.
I used to live in NC and I would always go to Food Lion because HT and Publix had much higher prices.
Can’t argue this. I made a much longer reply detailing this very fact. Harris Teeter is very expensive. And they cater to that more upscale affluent urban buyer who’s upper middle class & drives the near luxury to luxury car. They better hope that type of buyer continues to be plentiful within the cities & suburbs they have all their stores located in. Just one major market crash & they’ll be redlined by the corporate parent. The 2008 financial crisis nearly stalled the company due to the credit crunch we’ve now learned in recent years.
Yes! I just commented about this. My family still mourns the loss of Kroger. And we’ll go almost anywhere before we step foot in a Harris teeter.
I really like our local Kroger here in East Tennessee. I’ve saved a lot of money there. My other options are places like Whole Foods or Publix. They’re expensive on almost every item I buy.
Can we get a "Publix - Why They're Successful" next? My personal favorite supermarket.
I don't think you will like what you learn about Publix when their company story comes out. It's really bad. Recently, they have been heavily boycotted because the founding family donated $300,000 to the Trump rally that preceded January’s deadly Capitol attack.
Yess they should do publix
@@swrpggm Not everyone is a trump hater, personally I think supporting trump makes me like them even more.
@@zata1197 Same here. 👍
@@swrpggm most people don’t care about that, esp in Florida
Trump didn’t incite violence regardless
If only Kroger would treat their employees better. Worked there during summers from college for a little while, staff at the grocery store level were treated like complete garbage
I was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH so for me it was Krogers or nothing for the supermarket experience. We lived 15 mins from 4 different Krogers so it was just a staple of life in cincy. There were smaller grocery and butcher shops of course that we used for specialty items or we knew the owners from years of being customers.
I know they may not treat employees as best as they should and service can be hot or miss but until the day I die I’ll always say to my family. “Let’s go Krogering”. Of course my kids hate it when I say that.
I really hate these mergers towards 'secret' monopoly like situations.
I wish there was a regulation that at the very least forced these corporations to rebrand to the controlling corporation's name so that regular people could recognize these vast organizations.
Like Nestle is a bad company who does terrible things, but you wouldn't know what various products they own that they benefit from without having to dig to find it.
There is a lot of regulation when it comes to conglomerates, Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 for example. Note that Nestle isn't a United States Company, they are from Switzerland. The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA) limits the extraterritorial scope of US antitrust law by excluding conduct involving non-import trade or commerce with foreign nations.
Kroger has come a long way in this regard. If you buy a store-branded gift card, it lists all the subsidiaries on the back!
The story here in Denver is that when Kroger bought King Soopers, Kroger was not allowed by the sale to change the name.
@@jimroth5522 Do the King Sooper stores carry the Kroger private label brand or do they have their own?
I don't know how it is in your area, but it's not a secret that Kroger own's Fry's. Half the store brand items are branded under the Kroger label, with Private Select being the next largest group of store brand items sold. (Private Select is marketed as more upscale items over the Kroger branded items. I won't comment if they're actually better, but the Private Select label items aren't bad in of themselves.) Even my Fry's Food Card has the Kroger logo on it. Hell, most of the grocery chain acquisitions of the stores in my market were all above the board as far as the public knowing who bought whom.
As a Ralph's employee I can attest it's a horrible place to work now under Kroger
Growing up in Indiana, my city had a store called Ralph’s T-Mart. I’ve always wondered if it had been part of the Ralph’s chain.
I suggested "Kroger bigger than you know" years ago. Glad it's finally on your radar.
I once worked for Copps Corporation, which was a family-owned chain of grocery stores here in Wisconsin. They saw an opportunity to sell their stores to Roundy's in 2001 and did so that spring. In turn, Roundy's changed the store names to Pick 'N' Save, and then Roundy's "merged with" (read: were bought by) Kroger in 2015.
I knew a dude who got so much of a living wage at Kroger, he turned into one of the bigger rave organizers and cocaine dealers in the area.
After getting out of prison, he worked at Walmart.
😂😂
The rise and fall of Andrew Murray's friend.
@@nslouka90 stay tuned for "And rise again"
Kroger has an insanely large history. In my case, I have King Soopers, Smiths, and City Market near me; of the three, I personally have only gone to King Soopers.
I live in denver metro where king soopers has the biggest presence actually making a lot Safeway stores close down. Theres a bunch of experimental stores with city market/king soopers fusion where they sell furniture, clothew, jewelry, soopers credit union, and all the other normal "one stop shop" stuff.
@@UnluckyKsan 100% true! I can think of several Safeway/Albertsons stores (including FoCo, Longmont, Aurora) that closed and also have a Kingsoopers located two blocks or less away!
Do they look like the same thing? Just with a different name?
@@saulalvarez220 Yes and no; Older ones tend to look at lot different than Krogers. Kingsoopers of today are very similar in interior, but products do vary a bit from one brand to another (Smiths may have something Kingsoopers or Kroger don't, vice verca). The Kingsoopers MarketPlace are probably the most similar compared to Kroger Marketplaces.
I work for king soopers not to bad I like all the managers at my store which is a plus my last job had a lot of bad managers
I've worked at kroger over the past few years over my breaks from college. Been a pretty positive expierience overall. I think I'm at a better run store than most tbh (even though I'd say it's not run well, still better than a lot if I had to guess). They schedule me for the hours I want and the time of day I want even when we're shorthanded. All my managers and supervisors are pretty cool and understanding people
My late dad worked for the warehouse in Houston, TX for 29 years until he retired. He was a proud Teamster served as Shop Stewart. I worked (his son) at the smaller wh in Health & Beauty care as an order selector. While it was a sometimes hot & fast pace work environment. I got paid well + had weekends off! They have really good bakery! Yes! The private label stuff is great too.
Now Kroger tests to see how much customers will pay also only having 2 registers open on a Sunday. because over half the employees are fulfilling rich people's pick up orders.
I grew up in Kansas where Dillon's (nice, clean stores) was huge and now live in Nebraska where we have Baker's. It's interesting to see the store brand logos of both Kroger and Dillon's in a Baker's store! Great recap of this empire, Company Man!
My daughter is in Fremont at college- the closest store is Baker’s!
Grew up with Dillons in Kansas too. Love shopping there, but I hated working there.
Iowa and Nebraska are dominated by Hy-Vee.
I generally stick to a regional chain called Meijer, I don't mind Kroger but their stores in my area are very hit or hiss in terms of cleanliness and employees.
I'd love to see an episode on Meijer if you ever get down that far on the list of companies. They're often credited as the originator of the supercenter.
I work for a company who does most of the telecommunications for them east of the Mississippi. All their low voltage wiring, cameras, phones, computers and wireless. I’ve been in the industry for almost 20 years and the IT budget for them is more than any company I’ve ever done work for.
You mentioned all the chains they’ve bought but didn’t mention the 17 fulfillment centers they’ve building in the next 24 months or the spokes that support them. At 55 million a piece for their fulfillment centers they are spending crazy money right now
I used to work at a Kroger in the fuel bay. I liked my team out there, we had a lot of camaraderie and worked great, but, main store management was the worst to us. One manager often threatened women who worked in fuel and we even had a violent customer incident with said manager where he sided with the threatening customer, causing misery to fuel team and everyone else to where our work was affected. We couldn't close the booth unless no customers were there, we had to call the store if we needed change (which was often) instead of sending the second person at the station. We had to delay shift change and cigarette counting. The list goes on. It's successful at the expense of its employees.
Side note before I rant: A great way to tell if Kroger has its hands in a store is to check if they have any simple truth products, since almost all the stores they've acquired have that brand in stock.
I worked at Kroger's for about 4 years and like a lot of people, it was pretty rough. They understaff the place, overwork employees, and the management usually don't have a clue on what to do. A lot of the managers on the floor are out there that understand but people like the store managers and those that don't have to get their hands dirty are clueless. They only recently raised the wages to make it somewhat desirable to work there, I think they did it back in August around here? But either way around it, its pretty miserable. I wouldn't recommend working there. The employees on the floor are almost always great people to talk to though, and it isn't trashy like Walmart.
As a current employee I agree with everything you said. Kroger is successful off over working understaffed employees. Wages has been stagnant for two yeat
You worked at KROGER. NOT KROGERS
@@bigredmachine6650 lmao exactly
They raised wages right before inflation really took off, almost as if they knew it was coming...
I'm impressed at the sheer number of chain stores mentioned in this video that I have never heard of due to them being very regional. I've been to a Harris Teeter in Virginia while visiting a friend and I've stopped once or twice at Krogers in the southeast.
I remember before I moved to the Ohio/NKY area, I’ve never heard of Kroger coming from Chicago. And then I found out how big of a company they were after they bought out Mariano’s, which was a store I used to go to when living in Chicago. And now I just learned from your video that they bought out Harris Teeter! I loved those stores whenever I’d go down to South Carolina. It’s crazy to think that Kroger is literally a supergiant of all the supermarkets in the nation. What could be their next move?
Kroger is insanely huge and successful, so much so that they don't feel the need to care for their employees.
Yeah 🙃
Delta represent! McMullen gon get his 30 mil bonus! We gon work our ass off for it
They really do work their employees off, not caring for them much
Are all the stores not union? My local one is
@@MutleeIsTheAntiGod nope
I worked at King Soopers, for more years than I like to admit, as well as Cub Foods, Safeway, Wal*Mart and Sam's Club. I HATE retail grocery and am so glad I escaped that industry and have not looked back.
Been waiting for this one!
I worked at Fujitsu, we made the self checkouts for Kroger and many of these other companies. Cool to know about the start ot the company.
Growing up in the northeastern us, I never saw any Krogers until I moved to Ohio. What I always found interesting about them, is that i've been in some ghetto, as well as upscale Kroger's. They certainly have their bases covered. Kroger was closer to my place and more affordable, but I enjoyed going to Meijer a bit more, given the extra time and finances.
In Columbus, where Kroger locates its stores has changed somewhat. The one I went to the most often until I graduated high school was the closest to the bad neighborhood, it was the one that ended up closing in early 2014. Even after at least one significant redesign, and the addition of a service station. What probably got it targeted for closure was that it didn't have a Starbucks. I want to say they haven't completely left their stores away from bad neighborhoods, but three locations do cater to a wide economic base.
In AZ, I remember Smith's teaming up with another grocery store called Smitty's. For a while it was one store called Smiths & Smitty's, before turning into Frys.
Also, had no idea about the Frys Electronics story, that's crazy!
Smiths bought Smitty`s and then Fred Meyer bought Smiths, and then Kroger turned the Fred Meyers into Fry`s stores. So the store near me in Gilbert,Arizona went from a Smittys (I miss their restaurants they had inside the stores.kind of like a Denny`s ) to a Smiths,then a year later became a Fred Meyer then a year later became a Fry`s . crazy stuff !
@@rick2Tails I do remember seeing smittys when I was a kid, but then again I had to go to down the hill to Phoenix where you’re at to shop at one
I miss smittys that was the place to work they took care of the workers and shoppers
We have Kroger Superstores in this area that compete directly with Walmart & Meijers - Thank you for that background
of this store. They came into this area years back when they bought out Farmer Jacks & A&P and have since taken over.
They bought Ralph’s from the DeBartolo Company in Youngstown, Ohio. Really interesting story how an Ohio real estate development company briefly owned a west coast supermarket chain. Kroger also introduced the shopping cart… and paid models to walk around the store with them in the beginning because customers were reluctant. Great video once again Company Man!
My first job was with Jay C Food Stores in southern Indiana. I pushed carts and bagged groceries. I worked with some good people, but the store manager Greg was terrible. When I asked to be a cashier to make more money he told me that only women can be cashiers. When I found out that people hired in the same position as me were starting out at a dollar per hour more than me (I had been there a year and was very efficient with no complaints), Greg had the nerve to get upset with me for taking issue with it. He was terrible and I should have reported him to the labor board.
Worked at the Bedford store didn't you?
@@NathanielHart1988 Charlestown
Loved Kroger. My son worked there in Indy. Grew up in Lafayette Indiana with PayLess, before and after they were acquired by Kroger. Also shopped at JayC's in southern Indiana. Now living in KS and shop at a nearby Dillons. Very loyal customer. Still use my Kroger rewards card at the Dillons. Great video.
I live in Idaho and we have Fredy Myers and Smiths and love them both!
Ngl. Love your vids. You’re one of my fav youtubers. Keep up the great work! Which I’m sure you will 😬
Bro is nigular show still coming out?
@@Fb6_Joel no time soon. youtube demonetized all my vids. i’m focused on actually making money rn
When I saw the title I legit shouted out KROGER
I worked for Fred Meyer for 8 years as a transitional job. Something to get me by until I got into my auto repair job and haven't looked back since. Met my wife through Fred Meyer however so that's one thing good about my time with the company. But as my wife can attest; most of the time you get a crappy manager in your dept. She requested full time hours on paper but never got it; she was PT20 as a cashier and basically they shafted her every chance they could to move up to self check until they had no choice. She knew codes and still does that new-ish casheirs have to take almost a minute to look up. They often called her in either early or on a day off to help with demand. Usually because other workers called in. She made only 2 mistakes in her 10 years as a employee with the company. So basically it's a company that will give you a basic job and that's about it. Anything further you really need to leave it or kiss your manager's butt to get ahead. She even had a brand new cashier trying to tell her how to do her job when she was doing it for 3 years already.
Kroger also helped create the ZipPak system used widely today. I met one of the inventors and he informed me about everything. Kroger funded the development of the method of sealing the Ziploc strip to the plastic meat bags so they can reseal. I thought that was really cool.
There's a Kroger 1 mile from my house with a bar that serves beer and wine for very cheap. I hit it several times a week then walk around the store buying groceries while hungry and a little tipsy. Great strategy overall.
Even to this day, I’m still amazed that Mariano’s is owned by Kroger. I’ve never been a fan of Kroger stores, feels like the k-mart for grocery shopping. I have heard (and read in these comments) about a decrease in quality once bought out, but Marianos is still pretty much the same store. I have loved shopping at Marianos in the Chicago area for over a decade now and never saw a noticeable decline in quality.
That's because for now, Roundys is operating separate from Kroger. This buyout has created a dilemma for Kroger, as their original plan, after getting Food 4 Less in the Chicago market, that they wanted to bring Kroger back to Chicago. With Marianos in Chicago, this might prevent them from bringing the Kroger brand stores to Chicago, if they want to please the Marianos customers. Another reason Kroger has not fully integrated Roundys into Kroger, last I remember, was because Roundys handled all store brand products in house. They had a plant in Kenosha Wisconsin, making many of their store brand products. Not sure if it's still operating, or if the stores under Roundys, switched to Kroger products.
I shopped at Frys this morning and was talking to my friend in Utah about how friendly their online ordering and substitutions are. Lived in VA last year and would shop at a Harris Tetter, I wanted them to be more like Frys and other Krogers, but their transition wasn't completed yet.
Also, the Smiths to Fred Myers to Frys that happened to my local store as a child makes so much more sense now.
Living in Dallas, Texas we have Kroger stores. I absolutely love them. Their stores are always clean, well stocked, and wonderful customer service. But traveling throughout the U.S., I have seen plenty of the stores listed under the Kroger name.
First off, enjoyed the video and in no way mean any ill will toward Company Man, I love his channel. I have to say though, As a former employee, I don’t care how successful they are, they treated so many of their employees like crap and tried to cut corners at every turn when it came to things like the hazard pay other companies were giving out during the pandemic. Wasted way too much of my life there for a company that just doesn’t care on the ground level.
preach the truth. they get so much money that they treat their employees like hot garbage.half the holidays we got no pay. I started off at like $9 an hour. I'm up to $11 after working there for 2 years, I started working there like 4 months after the peak of the pandemic
In Michigan, we've had Kroger since forever, certainly before I became aware of such things. I prefer Meijer and Wal-mart, though. They seem to have better selection, and of course, both those chains are hypermarts, so I can get things I might need that I never could at Kroger.
They must be doing something right, though. When I was younger, there were a lot more grocery chains here. Now, Kroger is one of four big-chain survivors, and one of those is Aldi, which only recently came to SE Michigan.
I just became aware of Howard Johnson's and it immediately made me think of your channel. Was surprised to see you hadn't made a video on it yet since apparently it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Thanks for covering Kroger. I grew up in Kansas with lots of Dillon's stores, and now that I live in Indiana, my wife shops at Kroger a lot.
Let me just say that personally I’ve never shopped at a kroger or at any place owned by them because I live in Iowa and the grocery stores that we have in my city are Hy-Vee, Fareway, Aldi, and Trader Joes. I mostly shop at Aldi and Hy-Vee and the thing I love about Hy-Vee is the people are friendly, its easy to find everything you are looking for and some locations have either a starbucks or a Caribou Coffee! 😋
The only Kroger brand I ever dealt with was Ralph’s in Southern California. Of all the grocery chains in the region, they were usually the highest in terms of price, lowest in terms of service, and greedy in terms of their operations. I had a friend who was in management and about 10 years ago, he had to inform thousands of employees that they no longer had jobs because the company was shutting down stores that were not clearing $5 million in annual profit. This included a lot located in low-income neighborhoods. I have since moved out of the state; there are no Kroger stores in our area, but I would still avoid Smith’s if one were nearby.
Those stores were closed due to high shrinkage. You see it 5x a day on tiktok now. Then you hear the complaining about self-inflicted food deserts.
Food 4 Less in SoCal also sells Kroger products.
Whenever I see you upload I stop and watch. Please keep being the goat
I used to live in Eugene, Oregon and have shopped at Fred Meyer (Lovingly nicknamed Freddy's by the Oregon shoppers) many times. I now have recently moved to Arkansas and am working as a courtesy clerk at Kroger and despite the aches and pains at the end of my shift, I love my job!
I knew that Kroger had bought Fry's, but didn't remember the details. I also remembered the connection between the founder of Fry's Food and Drug with his children who founded Fry's Electronics. (Yeah, I shopped there, but it was kind of a joke to the computer building hobbyists. Still is.) But here's the history and reason behind why the Arizona stores owned by Smith's got rebranded into Fry's.
Fry's was a long time local chain to Arizona and parts of California before Dillon's (and then Kroger) bought them. Around the same time (at least in the Phoenix Market, I don't remember how big they were) there was a chain called Smitty's. They were all over the area, and my family frequented the one at 83rd Ave and Indian School Road in the 80's. Smitty's was a grocery store that also sold personal goods like clothing and luggage. Some of their stores had spaces for other shops, and even a few had restaurants branded in the store's name. (Mine did, as well as a Subway and Taco Bell.) Phoenix became a hot market for grocery stores in the late 80's, so both Fred Meyers and Smith's moved into town. This, along with other stores, like Safeway, Basha's/AJ's, Independent Grocers Alliance/IGA, the defunct Alpha Beta/ABCO, Albertsons, etc., made the market very crowded. Then chains started merging. Mid 90's, Smith's bought up Smitty's. However, because Smitty's was such a strong brand in Arizona, the chain was called Smith's and Smitty's because management couldn't figure out what to do with the Smitty's name. (Individual stores were left with their names, leading to funny situations where stores would compete against each other under both brands, despite being owned by the Smith's company.) Then they got gobbled up by Fred Meyer's, who started rebranding many of the Smith's and Smitty's stores as Fred Meyer's, only to have that changed with their acquisition by Kroger. And Kroger would rebrand those stores as Fry's for the grocery stores, and (at least in Arizona) rebranded Fred Meyer's to be a department store to compete with the likes of Sears, JC Penny's, Wards, Mervin's (RIP), Macy's, etc. (I don't know the fate of the Fred Meyer's department stores, as there wasn't one near me.
With that history out of the way, the reason Kroger rebranded everything in Arizona under the Fry's label is that it was the strongest brand in the state, even stronger than Smitty's, the other home town favorite. Even in the 1970's, it was seen as a direct competitor to regional and national chains operating in Arizona. Another factor is that Smith's muddied the brand during it's acquisition of Smitty's with the whole "Smith's and Smitty's" branding. They couldn't commit to branding all of the Smitty's as Smith's due to the name recognition of the Smitty's brand, and they wouldn't rebrand the Arizona Smith's stores as Smitty's for whatever reason. This weakened the brand recognition to the point Fred Meyer's had no problem rebranding those stores into Fred Meyer's, killing off the Smitty's brand entirely. (I believe Smith's still operates under it's own name in Utah.) However, even if Smith's and Fred Meyer's had doubled down on the Smitty's brand, making all of their stores Smitty's, I don't think even then Smitty's would have enough clout to retain it's identity.
Sadly, the landscape is much different now. For most people in Arizona, it's Fry's, Safeway, Basha's, Food City, or Walmart. There are AJ's (Basha's high end stores) if you live in a rich neighborhood, some Trader Jo's in select areas. IGA's used to be all over the place, but most of them closed down. Same with Albertson's. Fresh n Easy took a stab at it at the wrong time to enter the market and failed. WinCo (Part of Winn-Dixie) has entered the market with a few stores, mostly in newer neighborhoods. There are Costco's and Sam's Clubs all over the place, but I don't think they count as grocery stores. And with all the acquisitions, I would dare to even suggest that Kroger/Fry's sees Walmart as it's only real competition in the state, even over Safeway (another national chain) and Basha's.
Fascinating!
Your time lines are messed up, and WinCo has no relation with Winn-Dixie.
Kroger is like the only grocery store available where I live (besides some tiny generic ones) and they are EVERYWHERE, I have to take the freeway to get to the nearest Target/Walmart/Meijer or any other chain store for that matter. I live in Kroger hell, atleast the one by my house is decent
Well Seattle is unique where it's mostly either Safeway or Kroger owned QFC or Fred Meyers with smaller chains like whole foods, Metropolitan Market, trader Joe's & PCC market. Seattle is unique that it physically doesn't have any Walmart locations within the city limits but at least a half a dozen or so Target locations that sells food
In NOVA we loved Harris Teeter and since moving to Wisconsin, Copp's and Pick and Save are our stores.
I was such a good worker in the Kroger deli they offered me the position of assistant manager of the deli within two months of being there! The store manager himself told me after I got back from vacation he wanted to get me to training right away for the position…. I get back and they gave the position I was promised to a guy who never worked deli a day in his life… Was often caught slacking, was often disappearing… The people from his old department hated him… And all he does is tell people what to do without contributing much himself… I love Kroger💕
There actually used to be a Kroger in my area that competed with the nearby Walmart for the longest time. Eventually a Meijer opened up here and unsurprisingly the Kroger closed down. Even now the Walmart here is bleeding thanks to the Meijer. Meijer would be a great topic for a “why they’re successful” video.
Sturgis, MI? Story sounds familiar 🤔
@@SilentEcho9194 Yeah! You from around here?
@@poobix1300 was in Bronson now in Ohio.
@@SilentEcho9194 That's pretty cool!
@@poobix1300 Nice to meet you! I've been to Sturgis many times. I lived in Branch County for over 20 years.
Kroger is definitely unique among supermarkets, guess that's why It's a Warren Buffett stock.
I work at Fry's as a manager. Been here for 6 years, and this video was very insightful.
Mariano's is in my area and I see the Roundy's, Simple Truth and Kroger brands on seemingly half of their inventory. The Mariano family actually rescued our local supermarket scene when Dominic's went under, buying up all of their stores. It's a little sad how corporate the chain has become, but I still strongly prefer them to Jewel.
Jewel has been shitty lately
I worked at Fred Meyer for about six years back in the mid 2000s. It was a fun company to work for then, and the influence of Kroger was relatively minimal. I think that's changing these days, but back then it was obvious that Kroger wanted to let the company keep doing what it was doing. It certainly kept them around.
@ghost mall Anchorage, AK
My city passed a $4 an hour "hero pay" raise for grocery workers that would last a whopping 120 days. Rather than shut their fucking mouths and just pay their employees during a pandemic while they were making record breaking profits, Kroger claimed that the pay increase was insurmountable and they had to close down a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less. The thing is that they had already announced these closures before the hero pay and even before the pandemic. They chose to blame a miniscule, temporary wage increase for something they'd already planned, just to color the narrative in a way that made them look like victims while they were experiencing unprecedented windfall profits. Truly one of the worst.
I been living in a Very Small Town in Georgia than had a Kroger....I NEVER got a sense for how Huge of a company Kroger is until I went to the West Coast...Ryan's in California and Smith's in Las Vegas.
You mean Ralph's?
East coast here but enjoyed as always
Video should be called "Kroger- Bigger than you know."