Whole Foods' worst nightmare? Kroger (Columbus, Cleveland: loans, prices, groceries)

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by ghostrider7811

The employees are an odd bunch of people. I mean many of them have odd dyed hair or piercings, but the biggest issue I have is that they are never friendly. The cashiers seem miserable.

Oh, my dear heavens!

But seriously, the not friendliness and miserable attitudes can stink. I don't care for fake over friendliness, but there should be a sense that the employees are there to provide good, attentive customer service. I'll take a pink-and-blue haired, pierced, but enthusiastic employee over a clean cut, preppy dullard who looks at customers like a spill in aisle 7.

As for your Kroger not being up to snuff, it is common in many chains that there is a "class system" of sorts with not all stores being equal. Stores in ghetto areas (not saying your area is ghetto) are often a pale reflection of the chain's flagship stores.

[Wilson513]

Of course, Liberty Township does have a lot of folks that look like they just stepped out of a horror film, and it is a bit of a mixed bag up there, but Kroger has a pretty comprehensive policy on employee appearance. So, the poster above must have been looking at the customers and not the staff.


As for Publix, they target the blue collar and food stamp crowd. And, my experience with them is that they do appear friendly, at least to what appear to be paying customers. Usually their stores are located in strips whereas Kroger develops their own sites where they are always the anchor.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

Oh, my dear heavens!

But seriously, the not friendliness and miserable attitudes can stink. I don't care for fake over friendliness, but there should be a sense that the employees are there to provide good, attentive customer service. I'll take a pink-and-blue haired, pierced, but enthusiastic employee over a clean cut, preppy dullard who looks at customers like a spill in aisle 7.

Well if you want to buy food from people who care about food patronize your local farmer's market, Findlay Market, or the Clifton Market.


Barbers care about hair. Record store clerks care about music. You can expect some enthusiasm in places like that because people are doing what they want to do. Nobody pushing carts or restocking shelves is happy to be there. The pay sucks, benefits are nearly non-existent, management looks at you with suspicion, and the customers are annoying.

[motorman]

Taking discussion back to the struggle between Kroger and Whole Foods, a new Cincinnati Business Journal article describes how surveyed food shoppers perceive the two stores...

* http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/05/03/kroger-beats-whole-foods-in-brand-battle.html

[motorman]

This Business Journal article touches on big changes Whole Foods is making to compete with Kroger - not only in price cuts, but also in major management changes, implementation of a customer rewards program and making Kroger's former associate, Dunnhumby, its own key marketing research partner...

* http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/05/11/whole-foods-taking-aim-at-kroger-with-price-cuts.html

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Of course, Liberty Township does have a lot of folks that look like they just stepped out of a horror film, and it is a bit of a mixed bag up there, but Kroger has a pretty comprehensive policy on employee appearance.

If you want to see a Kroger store mostly with "folks that look like they just stepped out of a horror film", check out the Kroger at I-675 and Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd. Somehow I was able to sneak in -- I don't think they allow people inside who don't have tats all over their arms and necks. Or at least that's what it looks like inside.

Surprising. Newer store, out in the burbs, and it's like you walked in on a photo session for the People of Walmart.

Originally Posted by Wilson513

As for Publix, they target the blue collar and food stamp crowd. And, my experience with them is that they do appear friendly, at least to what appear to be paying customers. Usually their stores are located in strips whereas Kroger develops their own sites where they are always the anchor.

Publix doesn't impress me. I'll take Kroger, Meijer and Giant Eagle over Publix each and every day of the week. Last time I checked, most of the Publix stores in Atlanta close at 10. If they were that busy, they'd stay open longer.

Even in Georgia, where Publix opened its first store in Savannah in 1991, the grocer is third in terms of market share, even though it has the most stores compared with its competitors. Publix has 22.7 percent market share in the Atlanta-Athens-Macon-Rome region with 155 stores, according to the Shelby Report, a trade publication and research firm. Walmart is second in the region with 25.5 percent and 103 stores and Kroger is the dominant player at 30.1 percent with 148 stores.

In the Tennessee market, where Publix first began opening stores in 2004, the supermarket chain is fourth in market share with 38 stores and 6 percent. Walmart is the dominant player with 129 stores and 35.8 percent share and Kroger is second with 95 stores and 21.7 percent market share.

In the South Carolina-East Georgia region, Publix is fourth behind Walmart and Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo stores. Next up: Virginia, where Publix announced this month that it will open two stores in the next two years.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...e-turf/2265099

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by motorman

This Business Journal article touches on big changes Whole Foods is making to compete with Kroger - not only in price cuts, but also in major management changes, implementation of a customer rewards program and making Kroger's former associate, Dunnhumby, its own key marketing research partner...

* http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/05/11/whole-foods-taking-aim-at-kroger-with-price-cuts.html

Competition is a good thing and Kroger's new approach means I can get a lot of the natural/organic foods I used to have to travel to WF or another natural foods store to obtain. WF used to be the only option for many things and (as a vegetarian who wanted options) the consumer had no choice but to pay their outrageous asking price. Meijer is doing better on that front as well, but they still have a ways to go.
My short stint stocking shelves in the middle of the night for minimum wage and surly managers at Kroger was the worst job ever had by far, but I do appreciate them horning in on the overpriced organic market to make it more realistic for the consumer. They're no Costco as far as a progressive company philosophy goes, but the retail aspect is improving.

[Renownedtheworldaround]

I don't mind Publix myself, but I can't say they are much better than a good Kroger. Some people say they're eating Kroger's lunch, but I don't really believe that's the case.

In my area of NC, Whole Foods actually pushed back a new store opening by six or seven because of their financial woes.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Renownedtheworldaround

I don't mind Publix myself, but I can't say they are much better than a good Kroger. Some people say they're eating Kroger's lunch, but I don't really believe that's the case.

In my area of NC, Whole Foods actually pushed back a new store opening by six or seven because of their financial woes.

Do you think Publix aims to a lower income customre than Kroger? Seems whenever I am in Publix I see economy packages and cheaper meat cuts, etc. But, maybe it is just a difference in zipcodes because all of the stores target the type of customer they are likely to get in the store location.

[Renownedtheworldaround]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Do you think Publix aims to a lower income customre than Kroger? Seems whenever I am in Publix I see economy packages and cheaper meat cuts, etc. But, maybe it is just a difference in zipcodes because all of the stores target the type of customer they are likely to get in the store location.

I think Kroger has slightly more of a blue collar following/reputation than Publix, but both have overlapping customer bases. Outside of Florida, Publix is seen as a pretty upmarket grocer (much like Harris Teeter, who it often gets compared to).

I