Kroger
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Template:Infobox Company Image:Cincinnati-kroger-building.jpg
The Kroger Co. Template:Nyse is an American retail supermarket chain, founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It has over US$56 billion in sales per year and is the top grocery retailer in the country, and third place general retailer in the country, with Wal-Mart and Home Depot filling slots one and two, respectively. Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, houses the world's largest Kroger store.
Kroger operates under many trading names, including:
- Bakers
- Cala Foods
- City Market
- Dillons
- Food 4 Less
- Foods Co
- Fred Meyer
- Fred Meyer Jewelers
- Fry's Food and Drug
- Gerbes
- Hilander
- JayC Food Markets
- King Soopers
- Kroger
- Kroger Convenience Stores
- Owens Market
- Pay Less Food Markets
- QFC
- Ralphs
- Smith's Food and Drug
It has its headquarters in Cincinnati, but it spans many states with store formats that include supermarkets, hypermarkets, department stores, convenience stores and mall jewelry stores. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia are among those with Kroger stores carrying the Kroger name.
Kroger Marketplace
Kroger Marketplace is a relatively new style of store for Kroger. The brand started in 2004 in the Columbus, Ohio, area, which lost the Big Bear and Big Bear Plus chains in Penn Traffic's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Similar to rival chains Meijer and Super Kmart, and modeled after Kroger-owned Fred Meyer, these stores contain multiple departments. In addition to the grocery department, they contain a Fred Meyer Jewelers, Donato's Pizza, and an in-store bank, as well as sections for toys, appliances, and home furnishings, something that Big Bear once had in their stores in the Columbus area. As of 2005, Kroger operated only five Kroger Marketplace stores, all in Ohio.
Market entries and withdrawls
Kroger had about 50 stores in St. Louis until it left the market in 1986, saying that its stores were unprofitable. Most of their stores were bought by National, Schnucks and Shop 'n Save.
Kroger exited the competitive San Antonio, Texas, market in mid-1993. On June 15, 1993, the company announced it would close its 15 area stores 60 days later. San Antonio-based H-E-B was the market leader at the time; its 37 area stores held a 43.2 market share. Kroger and Albertsons (10 stores) were the area's other two top grocers, Kroger holding a 13.7 share and Albertsons a 13.1 share. Albertsons would eventually also succumb to H-E-B and exit the market by closing its 20 remaining area stores in April 2002 after previously shuttering three other stores in December 2001. By the time Albertsons exited San Antonio, the 44-store H-E-B chain had reached a 61 market share, while second-place Albertsons held a 15 market share.