Amazon plans to become major threat to Kroger (Cincinnati, Lebanon: flat fee, credit)

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Kroger dominates Cincinnati. Any concept store they open here will get new customers only from other Kroger stores...

Nonsense. As a food retailer, Kroger dominates its hometown namely because it attracts a broad swath of customers like no competitor; subsequently, if it implements a concept store embracing all the right elements, Cincinnati shoppers from other specialized food store venues will be impressed into becoming regular customers. For example, envision a new Kroger store brimming with Simple Truth and Private Selection products that marries the magic of a Mariano's with that of a Dorothy Lane Market or a Heinen's with that of a Findley Market. Game over for Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, etc.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by motorman

Nonsense. As a food retailer, Kroger dominates its hometown namely because it attracts a broad swath of customers like no competitor; subsequently, if it implements a concept store embracing all the right elements, Cincinnati shoppers from other specialized food store venues will be impressed into becoming regular customers. For example, envision a new Kroger store brimming with Simple Truth and Private Selection products that marries the magic of a Mariano's with that of a Dorothy Lane Market or a Heinen's with that of a Findley Market. Game over for Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, etc.

I agree with you. Ten years ago with the demise of Thriftway, Kroger's did have close to monopoly. However, I know a good number of people who prefer to shop Meijer's and Walmart.

Competition is a great thing. Monopolies are NOT good for the consumer. Remember Delta Airlines???

[motorman]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

...And what's to keep Amazon from directly competing with Walmart, Home Depot, etc.? They could have stores using this tech to sell anything. They could even combine their distribution centers with storefronts to maximize efficiency. Like a Super Target and Home Depot combined, all with no checkout lines. These Amazon "mega stores" could act as shipping centers and storefronts all in one. They may even incorporate local same day drone deliveries from these locations.

And to top it off, they have already cornered the cloud computing market giving them nearly free access to a vast array of computing resources under the hood. Something their competition would have to purchase at a much higher cost.

It's an interesting high tech chess game they're playing, no? .

Originally Posted by ms12345

I shop Amazon for online convenience. If I have to drive there then it better be closer or better than the competition.

Originally Posted by Fletchman

Amazon's shrink would probably go through the roof with brick and mortar stores, along with the costs of having more physical locations.

Unquestionably, Amazon has revolutionized retailing in hard line goods by attracting online shoppers by the millions to its gargantuan distribution centers, but this model fails big time with food shoppers.

In an industry dominated by the likes of Walmart and Kroger, Amazon's merely an insignificant player who will be forced to go to them moreso than they to it; henceforth, it just may encounter its own Waterloo as it ventures forth onto their turf.

Here, on the playing fields of these food lords, Amazon will undoubtedly squander billions of $$$ to do what its competition already does all too well. While Amazon wrestles with putting feet on the floor in some little Aldi sized, robot staffed food outlets, the masses of food shoppers will continue to do what they truly appreciate doing: experience food shopping most enjoyably in palatial food stores already entrenched, which will not be abandoned anytime soon. Let's not forget that both Walmart and Kroger utilize secretive, powerful retail technology and other resources of their own that rival anything Amazon possesses.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by motorman

Nonsense. As a food retailer, Kroger dominates its hometown namely because it attracts a broad swath of customers like no competitor; subsequently, if it implements a concept store embracing all the right elements, Cincinnati shoppers from other specialized food store venues will be impressed into becoming regular customers. For example, envision a new Kroger store brimming with Simple Truth and Private Selection products that marries the magic of a Mariano's with that of a Dorothy Lane Market or a Heinen's with that of a Findley Market. Game over for Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, etc.

Did you say "nonsense?"

Kroger has a 60% market share in Cincinnati as of October 2015. Probably more now. I doubt there is a more dominate grocer in any mid-size (1,000,000) retail area in the entire country. And, a market area that has lots of locations for all of the big players: Walmart, Meijer, Target, etc.

There is nothing nonsensical about my correct observation that a smaller boutique or special interest store would just move customers they already own to a more expensive venue.

You really need to check your facts before typing.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by flashes1

Say good bye to the hundreds of thousands of grocery store jobs as Amazon disrupts the traditional grocery store model...

...It will take several more years to roll out on a grand scale, but the writing is on the wall. Jeff Bezos is the most ruthlessly efficient business executive we've seen in a long time.

Agreed. Perched atop his 37-story Seattle Death Star like some bizarro Darth Vader sighting in the entire retail industry as a target, Jeff Bezos has declared that whatever is aimed at will be completely destroyed.

Talk about a man, a myth, a legend - Bezos was probably conceived by Skynet mating with the Borg. In our country alone, the legacy of "JB" rivals that of Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and Steven Jobs all rolled into one personage. Now the world's third richest individual, this megalomaniac's every move and utterance is recorded like some rock star and he's attended to by an army of business associates, admiring media and adoring public. In fact, Bezos has become such an overwhelming business phenomenon, the mere mention of his name excites more awe, fear and loathing within C-suites of the competition than any other man of the modern age.

Ironically however, this frightful business warlord may end up following Hitler and Stalin into the shadows. Just as Hitler destroyed the Wehrmacht and Stalin decimated the Red Army to achieve their ends, so too is Bezos ruthlessly squandering his own personnel to meet his own goals. Inside the dog-eat-dog Death Star exists one of the most bewildered, maladjusted and terrified assemblage of white-collar workers anywhere. It is within these confines that the Biblical story about wheat being separated from the chaff gets a 21st century CE retelling...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/te...lace.html?_r=0

Outside this place it's important to also pay close attention for all is not quite what it seems. For example, there are all those grandiose Amazon pronouncements about such wondrous things as its aerial drones, driverless cars, Uber assisted Prime deliveries and breeze in-and-out, computerized grocery stores - all which promise to revolutionize the very fabric of our entire retail experience. In actuality, though, Amazon's drones are proving to be one bad joke, the company's already back peddling on its autonomous delivery promises and it's overblowing the importance of its Uber connections. Just delight in the Amazon promo below for insight into what will be the future. (Spot any inherent problems?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXo_d6tNWuY

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Did you say "nonsense?"

Kroger has a 60% market share in Cincinnati as of October 2015. Probably more now. I doubt there is a more dominate grocer in any mid-size (1,000,000) retail area in the entire country. And, a market area that has lots of locations for all of the big players: Walmart, Meijer, Target, etc.

There is nothing nonsensical about my correct observation that a smaller boutique or special interest store would just move customers they already own to a more expensive venue.

You really need to check your facts before typing.

You misunderstand. "Nonsense" was a response only to your assertion: Any concept store they open here will get new customers only from other Kroger stores.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by motorman

You misunderstand. "Nonsense" was a response only to your assertion: Any concept store they open here will get new customers only from other Kroger stores.

Either side of that question is a supposition based upon available facts and opinion.

With Kroger having 60+% of the market now, where will boutique Kroger customers come from? Certainly not its downscale competitors, Walmart or Meijer. Target? You think Target shoppers are likely boutique grocery customers?

I'd guess that Kroger, Target, Walmart and Meijer have 90% of the market combined.

Are you asserting that the boutique Kroger stores you propose will come from Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Fresh Market? They have the highest store loyalty in the market.

You may have a different opinion (and a wrong one in my view) but my explanation of this is anything but "nonsense." So watch your language.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

...You may have a different opinion (and a wrong one in my view) but my explanation of this is anything but "nonsense." So watch your language.

I'm not accustomed to conversing with someone who finds the expression "nonsense" offensive and needing of censure. When one can't or won't allow for their judgment to be questioned or challenged, further discussion won't be productive and such a nonsensical conversation doesn't warrant my continued participation.

[Sarah Perry]

I haven't followed the entire thread, and hope I'm not repeating. But it seems to me that with a well-executed "boutique" concept, Kroger might attract some customers from existing upscale grocers. Especially in areas of town like the west side, where there are few, if any of them. And they probably have the expertise to go head-to-head with some of the established ones. That said, I also would guess those customers would still comprise only a very small percentage of total grocery sales in the area. So given the very tight profit margins of the business as a whole, it seems questionable to me whether it would be worth Kroger's effort.

It seems a shame the experimental store in Kenwood was done in apparently by the failure of the larger development it was located in. It would have been interesting to see how that concept caught on.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by motorman

Nonsense. As a food retailer, Kroger dominates its hometown namely because it attracts a broad swath of customers like no competitor; subsequently, if it implements a concept store embracing all the right elements, Cincinnati shoppers from other specialized food store venues will be impressed into becoming regular customers. For example, envision a new Kroger store brimming with Simple Truth and Private Selection products that marries the magic of a Mariano's with that of a Dorothy Lane Market or a Heinen's with that of a Findley Market. Game over for Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, etc.

There is one major difference between Dorothy Lane Market and ANY Kroger's affiliate. If I head into DLM at 5:00 pm ANY day, I will see the general manager of the store or one of the assistants in a suit standing in front of the registers ACTIVELY interacting with the customers as they head to the check outs.

It is a subtle difference BUT it is the difference between being a manager and a merchant. To be a merchant, you have to care enough to actually interact with them DIRECTLY as opposed to directing them to some website to fill out a survey.

I think that I would have a heart attack if someone from Kroger's would ever call me to respond to my concerns on the survey as opposed to sending me the same old online form letter that we always kindly refer to you as an "FU" letter.