Kroger VS Walmart...why we are going back to the devil (price, discounts)

[kentuckydad95]

Our little town has limited choices when it comes to grocery shopping. The two biggies being Kroger and Walmart, both being across the street from each other. We have been die-hard Kroger shoppers for years, mixing it up once in a while by going to Walmart. Recently I have been studying what items Walmart has that Kroger doesn't. The difference is massive. Walmart has food items that Kroger, I am guessing, refuses to carry. What I don't understand is that Kroger (at least in our town) has a massive size store, yet has little variety. Why do they refuse to carry more variety? People like change on some things. I guess we are going to start shopping at the devil store for a while.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Buying power. Wallyworld can negotiate with vendors and suppliers for larger discounts than any supermarket chain. Also, Wally has a greater willingness to try stocking a new or unknown commodity, if the price is right.

[PurpleLove08]

^What they said.

The Krogers around here tend to have a bigger organic and vegetarian selection so a lot of times I go there to buy my organic meat.

[kentuckydad95]

Originally Posted by PurpleLove08

^What they said.

The Krogers around here tend to have a bigger organic and vegetarian selection so a lot of times I go there to buy my organic meat.

Yeah...the Walmart meat is freaking gross. We usually buy Laura's Lean.

[ademoney]

I actually work for the kroger company and I can tell you that we can offer just as much as walmart. If you have a list of items that you would like us to carry all you have to do is ask for a manager and fill out product request cards and as long as the items are not a competitor generic brand and the are not discontinued by the manufacturer then we can get it for you. I cant gurantee that it will be added to the section because they are all based on specicfic item movements in the area and cost. As well as the demographics of the area. All stores in the kroger company are rated on a scale of value,mainstream or upscale so depending on which yours this could be a factor. Now you might say that well if walmart has it then Kroger should too and I can tell you the company tries very hard to compete with the evil empire but we dont have the kind of space that they do for products but we appreciate your business and I encourage you to request the items you want and let us get them for you and start shopping with us again because I think everyone can agree walmart has terrible customer service and while they may be cheaper on some things, the product value is lacking. Well thats just a little something to think about and I hope you make the right choice. Also next time you go to walmart look closely at the way the employees act towards you, do any of them ask you if you need help, do they look professional or do they even seem to care. The answer is NO because they take no pride in there work and dont get paid enough to care because there pompous employer will get business whether they are there or not and they fail to treat employees like they should.

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

Yeah...the Walmart meat is freaking gross. We usually buy Laura's Lean.

Since most has to be shipped 5,000 plus miles to get to the nearest distribution center, yeah it's going to have to be handled and treated a certain way to keep it fresh looking. It's all safe to eat, but you have to expect some negative visual , taste, and smell after the long trip in a refrigerated metal container aboard a ship to the US or in a truck stuck for hours at the US border.

If you have any concerns about knowing how long ago your meat stopped breathing, force your rep in congeess to pass a County of Origin Label law. WalMart has fought it tooth and nail saying their customers don't care if the meat was from the US so long as if its cheap, but if you do care ask for the regulations to be passed.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by ademoney

Also next time you go to walmart look closely at the way the employees act towards you, do any of them ask you if you need help, do they look professional or do they even seem to care. The answer is NO because they take no pride in there work and dont get paid enough to care because there pompous employer will get business whether they are there or not and they fail to treat employees like they should.

The employees at Walmart treat me a lot better than the Kroger employees at the local store. That is, when you see any employees other than the ones smoking out in front of the stores.

For the record, I have several family members working at Kroger's ... They have been working for them for years and still have not been made "full time."

[katie45]

There are many posters who dispise Wal-Mart and the answer for them is to just shop elsewhere...no one is holding a gun to their head. No matter what, they will never have anything positive to say about WM.

That being said...one of the most frequent complaints I've read against WM is about the employees' rudeness.

I shop at several different stores, WM, Target, Big Lots, and our local 'chain' grocery stores...and over the last 15 years have experienced or observed rude employees at each of those stores. And I have also seen employees in all of the stores who are pleasant.

It's a case-by-case situation; it's the people, not the stores - you will find rude people everywhere, just the same as you will find pleasant people everywhere.

I will not allow a rude employee to make the decision as to where I shop...that is my choice, not their's.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by ademoney

I actually work for the kroger company and I can tell you that we can offer just as much as walmart. If you have a list of items that you would like us to carry all you have to do is ask for a manager and fill out product request cards and as long as the items are not a competitor generic brand and the are not discontinued by the manufacturer then we can get it for you. I cant gurantee that it will be added to the section because they are all based on specicfic item movements in the area and cost. As well as the demographics of the area. All stores in the kroger company are rated on a scale of value,mainstream or upscale so depending on which yours this could be a factor. Now you might say that well if walmart has it then Kroger should too and I can tell you the company tries very hard to compete with the evil empire but we dont have the kind of space that they do for products but we appreciate your business and I encourage you to request the items you want and let us get them for you and start shopping with us again because I think everyone can agree walmart has terrible customer service and while they may be cheaper on some things, the product value is lacking. Well thats just a little something to think about and I hope you make the right choice. Also next time you go to walmart look closely at the way the employees act towards you, do any of them ask you if you need help, do they look professional or do they even seem to care. The answer is NO because they take no pride in there work and dont get paid enough to care because there pompous employer will get business whether they are there or not and they fail to treat employees like they should.

I don't ask the manager to order it, I just go to Whole Foods or Sprouts or Tom Thumb and get it myself. Easier that way. I did ask the other week at Kroger where the canned pumpkin was. The stock guy snickered and said "No, what month do you think this is?"

Uh...OK. Went across the street to Whole Foods and they had it. And canned butternut squash too. It was surprising because Kroger's canned vegetable section is enormous and Whole Foods's is tiny.

The whole "low prices plus more" ad campaign for Kroger seems to be paying off...my local Kroger is busier than ever (prices are still the same) but service has really fallen by the wayside. When I first started shopping there 2 years ago the service was OK; not excellent, not terrible, but adequate. Now it's awful. Does Kroger have any plans to address their awful customer service in their stores? It's not just this location that's bad; they are all pretty much like this now.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

The whole "low prices plus more" ad campaign for Kroger seems to be paying off...my local Kroger is busier than ever (prices are still the same) but service has really fallen by the wayside. When I first started shopping there 2 years ago the service was OK; not excellent, not terrible, but adequate. Now it's awful. Does Kroger have any plans to address their awful customer service in their stores? It's not just this location that's bad; they are all pretty much like this now.

The "Big 4" chains (Ahold, Krogers, Safeway, and SuperValu) started to lose market share in most markets at the beginning of this recession. After all, 90% of the grocery business is volume, volume and volume. For example, when people found that Jewel (Supervalu) was charging $2.39 for its store brand saltines and Aldi was charging $0.99, they were choosing lower prices.

The problem is that the large grocery stores cannot just lower their prices as they are burdened with a lot of overhead. So they have done two things. First, they have done aggressive selective price decreases (note all of the 10 for $10 deals) and major cutbacks on staff.

However, some of these actions are the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot. I was in a local Kroger's store on a Friday night at 7 pm and their deli (a high margin item) was closed. Yes, you CAN run a grocery store with three or four people in the entire store; however, a lot of the highest margin transactions require human interaction.

No problem. I ran down to the local independent Italian market, paid less for really first rate deli selections.