Fresh Fare Kroger in Kenwood

[Kelfly1]

I agree, the parking is very strange -- If the holiday mall season is back to normal next year, you probably can't even find a spot near the grocery store!

I didn't find anything great at all about this store. The Kroger Marketplace in Lebanon is just as nice and has just as good of a selection on produce, seafood, etc.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Joe 4520832257

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way! When I moved to Cincy- having never been to a Kroger - people kept talking about how the nearby Kroger (Hyde Park/Oakley) was really nice and was where most people shopped. Needless to say, we were very confused, as the Hyde Park Kroger generally has the look and feel of a discount chain. ....

[Kroger is] surprisingly inferior to my expectations of a city's "primary" grocery chain.

I hope that Kroger looks at other dominant chains (such as Publix and Wegmans) for ideas about how to improve cleanliness, selection, layout, decoration, and so forth. In some ways, I think the new "Fresh Fare" has borrowed a bit from Wegmans, which is nice.

Definately -- Kroger constantly monitors other its competition as well as other retailers.
Two things you have to bear in mind.. 1st, not all Kroger, Wegmant, Meijer, etc are the same. Store design and operations are strongly determined by the neighborhood in which they operate. So trying to compare a Kroger in, say, Westwood with a Wegmans in the equivalent of West Chester would be stupid - there just isn't any comparison.

The second concept is Kroger has different brand names ranging from Food 4 less to Kroger to Market Place to Fred Meyer. Again, comparing an upscale Wegmans to a downscale Kroger may not be helpful. Kroger has plenty of upscale impressive store formats.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I have talked to a number of friends about the various Kroger concepts. People who love to cook find the new fresh concept to be ridiculous. Why pay for products that I can produce at home at a fraction of the price?

Ok, so you have a two income family or a single person. Works all day; gets home at say 5:30. It sure is convenient to be able to open some containers and enjoy a nutritious (as compared to Mc-Wendys) rather than to start cooking. Even the most simple recipe takes at least 30-45 minutes to prepare.

Don't forget, time is money also.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by The Don

Ok, so you have a two income family or a single person. Works all day; gets home at say 5:30. It sure is convenient to be able to open some containers and enjoy a nutritious (as compared to Mc-Wendys) rather than to start cooking. Even the most simple recipe takes at least 30-45 minutes to prepare.

A wedge salad - the item that I referred to - takes perhaps 45 seconds to prepare.

I get home at 8 pm most night and have a hot meal by 8:30pm. I *might* be tempted to buy "take out" but not at Kroger's prices.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

A wedge salad - the item that I referred to - takes perhaps 45 seconds to prepare.

I get home at 8 pm most night and have a hot meal by 8:30pm. I *might* be tempted to buy "take out" but not at Kroger's prices.

Well you wouldn'd be a very good candidate then would you. Most people like a little bit more for supper.

[wilson1010]

I go to Sams and get a whole rotisserie chicken for $4.84. Piping hot, juicy, and less than I can prepare it for at home, and delicious. When I have my three meals from it, I make the scraps into a chicken pot pie with some veggies and a pie crust and have two more meals.

[HuskerDu]

I was originally going to have/order a ready-meal from Rusty Bucket, or even thought Max & Erma might be good. Instead, we had a delightful little ready-dinner from PF Chang this evening... no parking issues at Rookwood.

You see?

Kroger needs to do some thinking for this location.

EDIT for Don: I know what the response is going to be, "how much more did you pay?", but for most people in Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt. Lookout etc. it really is not a matter of cost and I would be amused if anyone else south (Norwood/Pleasant Ridge) of the Kenwood exit would want to venture up there for groceries on a regular basis. As much as I would love to see the general population (threaded heavily with food stamp wielding masses/mutants) fight the purfumed/mutant Crate & Barrel crowds to shop there... it really is not going to happen. Aside from the entire development project being on hold while the girders rust and the financial situation is sorted, I would be happy to listen to more of the bright side of things here.