In October 1963, Kroger acquired the 56-store chain Market Basket, providing them with a foothold in the lucrative southern California market. Dillon and Sons Stores Company, then headed by Ray S. All of these chains adopted the Kroger banner in 1966.ĭuring all the acquisitions, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, which consisted of 16 stores, to J. In January 1956, the company bought out Big Chain Stores, Inc., a chain of seven stores based in Shreveport, Louisiana, later combining it with the Childs group. of Jacksonville, Texas, and operated 25 supermarkets in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. In July, it purchased Child's Food Stores, Inc. In June, Kroger acquired the Krambo Food Stores, Inc. In May, Kroger entered the Houston, Texas, market by acquiring the Houston-based 26-store chain Henke & Pillot. 1950s Įarlier variants of the Kroger logo, including one used from 1939 to 1961 ( top), and the previous variant, 1961 to 2019, still extant on Kroger brand products ( bottom)īeginning in 1955, Kroger began acquiring supermarket chains, expanding into new markets. The facility, which was surrounded by a 75-car parking space, allowed the company to determine the close relationship between parking facilities and gross sales. In 1932, the company tested a pilot project after it opened a grocery store in Indianapolis. It also became the first company with a store surrounded on all four sides by parking lots. In the 1930s, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company became the first grocery chain to monitor product quality and to test foods offered to customers. It took nearly a century before this rumor became reality, when Kroger announced in 2022 that it would acquire Safeway's parent company, Albertsons. In 1929, it was rumored that Safeway would merge with Kroger. Customers would ask for them, then clerks would deliver them to customers. Before this, all articles were kept behind counters. In 1916, Kroger company began using self-service shopping. In addition, Kroger became the first grocery chain to have its own bakery. By this time, the company had grown to forty stores and sold $1.75 million worth of merchandise each year. By 1902, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company had been incorporated. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.' He experimented with marketing products his company had produced so that his customers would not need to patronize separate stores and farms. The son of a merchant, he ran his business with a simple motto: 'Be particular.

In 1883, 23-year-old Bernard Kroger, the fifth of ten children of German immigrants, invested his life savings of $372 (equivalent to $11,683 in 2022) to open a grocery store at 66 Pearl Street in downtown Cincinnati. Ībout two-thirds of Kroger's employees are represented by collective bargaining agreements, with most being represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Kroger is ranked #17 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

The company is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States. The Kroger Company is the United States' largest supermarket operator by revenue and fifth-largest general retailer. Kroger's headquarters are located in downtown Cincinnati. Kroger operates 33 manufacturing plants, 1,642 supermarket fuel centers, 2,254 pharmacies, 225 The Little Clinic in-store medical clinics, and 127 jewelry stores (782 convenience stores were sold to EG Group in 2018). įounded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger operates 2,719 grocery retail stores under its various banners and divisions in 35 states and the District of Columbia with store formats that include 134 multi-department stores, 2,273 combo stores, 191 marketplace stores, and 121 price-impact warehouse stores. The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries ) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.

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