Kroger

The Kroger Co., or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.<ref name="ourbusiness" /><ref name="opera"/>

Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company operates 2,719 grocery stores in 35 states (mostly in the South, Midwest and West) and the District of Columbia.<ref name=opera>Template:Cite web</ref> Its store formats include 134 multi-department stores, 2,273 combo stores, 191 marketplace stores, and 121 price-impact warehouse stores.<ref name=ourbusiness/><ref name=opera/> Kroger operates 33 manufacturing plants, 1,642 supermarket fuel centers, 2,254 pharmacies, 225 The Little Clinic in-store medical clinics, and 127 jewelry stores (782 convenience stores were sold to EG Group in 2018).<ref name=ourbusiness /><ref name=opera /> Kroger's headquarters are located in downtown Cincinnati.<ref name="10K">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Kroger Company is the largest supermarket operator in the U.S. by revenue<ref name="SupermarketNews">Template:Cite web</ref> and the country's fifth-largest general retailer.<ref name="Kantar">Template:Cite web</ref> The company is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Additionally, Kroger is ranked No. 25 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest U.S. corporations by total revenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some sources list the company as a dividend-paying stock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

About two-thirds of Kroger's employees are represented by collective bargaining agreements,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with most being represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

History

Early history (1883 to 1950s)

In 1883, 23-year-old Bernard Kroger, the fifth of ten children of German immigrants, invested his life savings of $372 (Template:Inflation) to open a grocery store at 66 Pearl Street in downtown Cincinnati.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He ran his business with a simple motto: "Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself."<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He experimented with marketing products his company had produced so that his customers would not need to patronize separate stores and farms.Template:Cn

In 1884, Kroger opened his second store. By 1902, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company had been incorporated.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By this time, the company had grown to forty stores, with annual merchandise sales of $1.75 million. In addition, Kroger became the first grocery chain to have its own bakery.<ref name="ohiohistorycentral.org">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1916, Kroger company began using self-service shopping. Before this, all articles were kept behind counters. Customers would ask for them, then clerks would deliver them to customers.<ref name="ohiohistorycentral.org"/>

In 1929, it was rumored that Safeway would merge with Kroger.<ref name=wsj-1929oct01>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="steinman">Template:Cite book</ref> Kroger announced in 2022 that it would acquire Safeway's parent company, Albertsons, but in December 2024 the merger fell through when a federal judge blocked the merger and Albertsons backed out of the deal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the end of the 1920s, Kroger, through its acquisition of smaller chains, controlled more than 5,500 stores, mainly in the Midwest and South.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref>

In the 1930s, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company became the first grocery chain to monitor product quality and to test foods offered to customers. It also became the first company with a store surrounded on all four sides by parking lots.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1932, the company tested a pilot project after it opened a grocery store in Indianapolis.<ref name=":3" /> The facility, which was surrounded by a 75-car parking space, allowed the company to determine the close relationship between parking facilities and gross sales.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref>

1950s and 1960s

Template:Multiple image Beginning in 1955, Kroger began acquiring supermarket chains, expanding into new markets. In May, Kroger entered the Houston, Texas, market by acquiring the Houston-based 26-store chain Henke & Pillot.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> In June, Kroger acquired the Krambo Food Stores, Inc. of Appleton, Wisconsin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July, it purchased Child's Food Stores, Inc. of Jacksonville, Texas, and operated 25 supermarkets in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In January 1956, the company bought out Big Chain Stores, Inc., a chain of seven stores based in Shreveport, Louisiana, later combining it with the Childs group. All of these chains adopted the Kroger banner in 1966.Template:Cn

During all the acquisitions, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, which consisted of 16 stores, to J. S. Dillon and Sons Stores Company, then headed by Ray S. Dillon, son of the company founder.Template:Cn

In October 1963, Kroger acquired the 56-store chain Market Basket, providing them with a foothold in the lucrative southern California market. Prior to this time, Kroger had no stores west of Kansas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger, however, failed to make significant headway, only managing a 5 percent market share. By 1982, it withdrew from the California market.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Kroger opened stores in Florida under the SupeRx and Florida Choice banners from the 1960s until 1988, when the chain decided to exit the state and sold all of its stores; Kash n' Karry bought the largest share.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company also exited the Washington, D.C., market in 1966 after it sold its stores to another grocery chain operating in the area.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1967, the first bar code scanner was introduced in a Kroger supermarket in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name=":5" /> The adoption of this technology, however, was slow until the 1990s when supermarkets converted to its use.<ref name=":5" />

1970s

In the 1970s, Kroger became the first grocer in the United States to test an electronic scanner and the first to formalize consumer research.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Although Kroger has long operated stores in the Huntsville-Decatur area of northern Alabama (as a southern extension of its Nashville, Tennessee, region), it has not operated in the state's largest market, Birmingham, since the early 1970s, when it exited as a result of intense competition from Winn-Dixie and local chains Bruno's Supermarkets and Western Supermarkets.Template:Cn

Kroger built an ultra-modern dairy plant (Crossroad Farms Dairy) in Indianapolis in 1972. At the time, it was considered the largest dairy plant in the world.Template:Cn

Kroger exited the Chicago market in 1970, selling its distribution warehouse in Northlake, Il. and 24 stores to the Dominick's Finer Foods grocery chain.Template:Cn

Kroger exited the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area in 1970, selling 16 stores to Quality Foods, which rebranded the stores to Piggly Wiggly.Template:Cn

Kroger exited Milwaukee in 1972, selling a few stores to Jewel. Kroger would later return in 2015 upon its acquisition of Roundy's.Template:Cn

Kroger entered the Charlotte market in 1977 and expanded rapidly throughout the 1980s when it bought some stores from BI-LO. However, most stores were in less desirable neighborhoods and did not fit in with Kroger's upscale image. Less than three months after BI-LO pulled out, that company decided to re-enter the Charlotte market, and in 1988, Kroger announced it was pulling out of the Charlotte market and put its stores up for sale. Ahold bought Kroger's remaining stores in the Charlotte area and converted them to BI-LO.<ref name="ReferenceA">Charlotte Observer, Kroger will Close Charlotte, Charleston Stores in January. Nov 17, 1988</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

In 1978, sixteen retail members of Parkview Markets Inc., filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Kroger.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1980s

Kroger had a number of stores in the Western Pennsylvania region, encompassing Pittsburgh and surrounding areas from 1928 until 1984 when the U.S. began experiencing a severe economic recession. The recession had two significant and related effects on Kroger's operations in the region. One of them was that the highly cyclical manufacturing-based economy of the region declined in greater proportion than the rest of the U.S., which undercut demand for the higher-end products and services offered by Kroger.Template:Cn

Kroger sought wage rollbacks in several areas during this time period including in Western Pennsylvania,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eastern Ohio, the West Virginia Panhandle<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The second effect of the economic recession was to worsen labor-management relations, causing a protracted labor strike in 1983 and 1984. During the strike, Kroger withdrew all of its stores from the Western Pennsylvania market, including some recently opened "superstores" and "greenhouses", selling these stores to Wetterau<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (now part of SuperValu), who promptly flipped the stores to independent owners while continuing to supply them under the FoodLand and Shop 'n Save brands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger's exit ceded the market to lower-cost, locally owned rivals, most notably Giant Eagle and the SuperValu-supplied grocers. (Kroger purchased Eagle Grocery company, whose founders went on to create Giant Eagle.) Kroger still maintains a presence in the nearby Morgantown, West Virginia, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Weirton, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio, areas where Giant Eagle has a much smaller presence and the SuperValu-supplied stores are virtually nonexistent, though in all of these cases, Walmart remains a major competitor, with Aldi and IGA affiliate Reisbeck’s Food Market.

Kroger entered the San Antonio, Texas, market in 1980 but pulled out in mid-1993. On June 15, 1993, the company announced the closure of its 15 area stores. From 1984 to 1986, Kroger exited the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, and St. Louis markets. The company cited that higher wages for union employees made it unable to compete.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The chain closed several stores around Flint, Michigan, in 1981, which were converted by local businessman Al Kessel to a new chain called Kessel Food Markets.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger bought most of these stores back in 1999 and began reverting them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several other Michigan stores were sold to another Flint-based chain, Hamady Brothers, in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Hamady acquisition was short-lived.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1982, Kroger sold the 65-store Market Basket chain it had operated for several years in southern California. The stores were reverted to the Boys Markets branding, after acquiring the chain. Boys Markets was acquired by the Yucaipa Companies in 1989. When Yucaipa acquired Ralphs, the Boys brand disappeared.Template:Cn

In 1983, The Kroger Company acquired Dillon Companies<ref>Dillon Companies, Inc. Template:Webarchive, answers.com</ref> grocery chain in Kansas along with its subsidiaries (King Soopers, City Market, Fry's and Gerbes) and the convenience store chain Kwik Shop. David Dillon, a fourth-generation descendant of J. S. Dillon, the founder of Dillon Companies, became the CEO of Kroger.Template:Cn

In northeastern Ohio, Kroger had a plant in Solon, Ohio, until the mid-1980s. When that plant shut down,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kroger closed its northeastern Ohio stores in the Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown areas. Some of those former Kroger stores were taken over by stores like Acme Fresh Markets, Giant Eagle, and Heinens.Template:Cn

Kroger opened and had about 50 stores in St. Louis until it left the market in 1986, saying that its stores were unprofitable. Most of its stores were bought by National, Schnucks, and Shop 'n Save. Most of the remaining Kroger stores in eastern Missouri and west-central Illinois became a western extension of the Central Division (headquartered in Indianapolis).Template:Cn

Kroger also experienced a similar withdrawal from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1989. Many of these stores were sold to the local grocery chain Red Food, which was in turn bought by BI-LO in 1994. Today, Chattanooga is the only metropolitan market in Tennessee in which Kroger does not operate with the nearest location being Dalton, Georgia, with 2 stores (Walnut Avenue and Cleveland Highway).Template:Cn

1990s

File:Kroger in Fort Worth, TX.png

A regional Kroger in Fort Worth, Texas, opened in 1997 (2014) (Store #035-00536)

In the 1990s, Kroger acquired Great Scott (Detroit), Pay Less Food Markets, Owen's Market, JayC Food Stores, and Hilander Foods. Additionally, the Houston market was strengthened when Kroger bought several stores from AppleTree Markets, which were former Safeway stores in early 1994.Template:Cn

In 1998, Kroger merged with the then fifth-largest grocery company Fred Meyer, along with its subsidiaries, Ralphs, QFC, and Smith's.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the late 1990s, it acquired many stores from A&P as it exited many markets in the South.Template:Cn

Kroger also swapped all ten of its Greensboro, North Carolina-area stores in 1999 to Matthews, North Carolina-based Harris Teeter, for 11 of that company's stores in central and western Virginia. Kroger in turn would acquire Harris Teeter 15 years later.Template:Cn

2000s

Long the dominant grocer in western Virginia, Kroger entered the Richmond, Virginia, market in 2000, where it competes against market leaders Martin's (including former Ukrop's stores) and Food Lion. Kroger entered the market by purchasing Hannaford stores that either already existed or were being built in Richmond. Hannaford purchases also included the competitive Hampton Roads market, where it now competes with Farm Fresh, Harris Teeter (which is owned by Kroger), and Food Lion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Hannaford locations in these markets were purchased from Delhaize by Kroger as a condition of Delhaize's 2000 acquisition of the Hannaford chain, which had previously competed against Food Lion, also owned by Delhaize.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Walmart Supercenters are also major competitors in both markets, and the chain briefly competed against Winn-Dixie, which has now exited Virginia.Template:Cn

In 2001, Kroger acquired Baker's Supermarkets from Fleming Companies, Inc.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Albertsons exited the San Antonio and Houston markets in early 2002, selling many of the Houston stores to Kroger.Template:Citation needed

In 2004, Kroger bought most of the old Thriftway stores in Cincinnati, Ohio, when Winn-Dixie left the area. These stores were reopened as Kroger stores.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007, Kroger acquired Scott's Food & Pharmacy from SuperValu Inc.,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in the same year, also acquired 20 former Michigan Farmer Jack locations from A&P when A&P exited the Michigan Market.Template:Cn

File:Wright Brothers Memorial Kroger.jpg

A plaque commemorating the Wright Brothers in a Dayton, Ohio Kroger

In 2008, Kroger began a partnership with Murray's Cheese of New York City.<ref name=Lippman>Template:Cite news</ref> Murray's Cheese counters within Kroger stores sell various artisanal cheese from all parts of the world.Template:Cn

2010s

On July 9, 2013, Kroger announced that it would acquire the 212 stores of Charlotte-based Harris Teeter in a deal valued at $2.5 billion and that it would assume $100 million in the company's outstanding debt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris Teeter's stores are in eight Southern states, with a major portion of them in its headquarters state of North Carolina.<ref>News & Observer Staff Reports. "Kroger buying Harris Teeter in $2.5 billion merger" Template:Webarchive. newsobserver.com. Retrieved July 9, 2013</ref> Doing so, Kroger acquired Harris Teeter's click-and-collect program, which allows online ordering of groceries. Some industry experts saw this as a competitive move against online grocers such as AmazonFresh.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Harris Teeter acquisition marked Kroger's return to the Charlotte market after a 25-year absence. It also allowed Kroger to enter Asheville for the first time. Charlotte and Asheville had been the only large markets in North Carolina where Kroger had no presence.Template:Citation needed

In 2013, Kroger announced that the spouses of the company's unionized workers would no longer be covered by the company's insurance plan. The company cited the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a prime reason for the move. The benefit cut affected roughly 11,000 workers in Indiana.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company announced in April 2013 that full-time employees would maintain their health insurance benefits.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, Kroger was noted for carrying 17 out of 22 Red List species, four of which are in the top list of said species.<ref name="Greenpeace">Template:Cite web</ref>

On February 11, 2014, Kroger announced it would acquire YOU Technology, a digital coupon/identity company founded by Ajay Amlani, that pioneered the ability for shoppers to load digital coupons onto their loyalty card profiles.<ref>"Kroger Announces Acquisition of YOU Technology"</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also specialized in being one of the earliest companies to use AI/ML to personalize digital coupons to shoppers based on their past purchase history and intent to buy. The company enabled the loading of billions of coupons <ref>"YOU Technology Hits 4B Digital Coupon Downloads"</ref> and singlehandedly drove the demise of paper coupons. It was later sold to by Kroger to Inmar with a $565 million price disclosed.<ref>"Kroger closes YouTech sale for $565 million"</ref>

On March 3, 2015, Kroger announced it would enter Hawaii, having registered with the state as a new business in February 2015. Kroger was planning to expand to Hawaii in 2006 but withdrew after it had already submitted registration. Kroger, which is in the process of looking for locations to open its first store, will face competition from Honolulu-based rivals Foodland and Times; major retailers Safeway, Walmart, and Costco; Japanese-owned Don Quixote; and Department of Defense-owned DeCA Commissaries.<ref>"Supermarket giant Kroger eyeing Hawaii for first Isle location" Template:Webarchive from Pacific Business News (March 3, 2015)</ref>

On May 1, 2015, Kroger announced the acquisition of the seven-store Hiller's Market chain in Southeast Michigan, and that it would operate all but one of those stores under the Kroger banner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2015, Kroger eliminated the Harris Teeter brand from the crowded Nashville, Tennessee, market, where its growth had been stunted by aggressive competition since it entered with six stores in the early 2000s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger has traditionally had a market-leading presence in Nashville and initially promised to keep the five remaining Harris Teeter stores open when it acquired the chain,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but the market "did not support Harris Teeter's future business plans".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two Harris Teeter stores were closed outright, and three closed temporarily while being converted to the Kroger brand (one of these would undergo a major remodeling and replace a neighboring Kroger store).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On November 11, 2015, Kroger and Roundy's announced a definitive merger, bringing Roundy's chain's 166 primarily Wisconsin-based chains under Kroger ownership. The merger is valued at $800 million, including debt. The acquisition, which brought Kroger back to Wisconsin after a 43-year absence, will retain the Roundy's, Pick 'n Save, Mariano's, Metro Market and Copps names, along with its Milwaukee operations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Within a year-and-a-half, however, Kroger had rebranded all Copps locations to the Pick 'n Save banner.)

In April 2016, Kroger announced that it had made a "meaningful investment" in the Boulder, Colorado-based Lucky's Market, an organic foods supermarket chain that operated 17 stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest and Southeast United States.<ref name="prn-2016apr01">Template:Cite press release</ref>

In February 2017, Kroger withstood large community protests after announcing the closing of two smaller-sized Louisville-area stores. Despite high store volumes and high population densities, the Old Louisville (lease expiration) and Southland Terrace stores closed.Template:Cn

On February 7, 2017, it was announced that Kroger Co. had purchased Murray's Cheese.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:As of, Kroger is no longer offering a discount to senior citizens 59 and up.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 1, 2017, Kroger, along with the University of Kentucky and UK Athletics, sports and campus marketing partner JMI Sports, announced a 12-year, $1.85 million per year campus marketing agreement. Included in the agreement is the naming rights to Commonwealth Stadium, the university's football stadium, which will be renamed Kroger Field. This agreement makes the University of Kentucky the first school in the Southeastern Conference to enter into a corporate partnership for the naming rights to their football stadium.<ref name="HL20170501">Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 10, 2017, Kroger opened its first convenience store<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in Blacklick, Ohio, labeled "Fresh Eats MKT". The new prototype stores will have about Template:Convert of space, and will be very similar to the Walmart Neighborhood Market project, as these stores only sell food. These stores have a Starbucks, and a Kroger Pharmacy. On June 1, 2017, Kroger opened their second Fresh Eats. Kroger is also going to convert some Turkey Hill stores into the concept store. The CFO, Mike Schlotman, has called these stores a "small test." Local reaction to this new concept has been positive. The concept was discontinued in March 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2018, Kroger announced that it will be selling its 762 convenience stores to EG Group, a British service station operator, for $2.15 billion. They operate under the Turkey Hill, Loaf 'N Jug, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop banners. Kroger will retain just over 20 convenience stores. Kroger's supermarket fuel centers are not included in the sale.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The sale was closed on April 20, 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On April 10, 2018, Kroger announced plans to hire an estimated 11,000 new employees. An estimated 2,000 managerial positions will be filled by the new hires. With the addition of these new hires, the total number of people employed by the company is close to half a million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 17, 2018, Kroger announced a partnership with Ocado, a UK-based online supermarket. The partnership is designed to improve Kroger's ecommerce program, including online ordering, automated fulfillment, and home delivery via the construction of 20 new, automated fulfillment centers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first of these fulfillment centers, located in Monroe, Ohio, opened in April 2021. Template:As of, eight total fulfillment center locations have been constructed and opened, with additional locations in Groveland, Florida, Forest Park, Georgia, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, Dallas, Texas, Romulus, Michigan, Aurora, Colorado, and Frederick, Maryland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Each fulfillment center also operate in conjunction with several "spoke" facilities, which assist to further extend the capable range of delivery. Template:As of, the latest "spoke" facility to be opened is located in Johnstown, Colorado.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger has taken advantage of its investment in online shopping capability to grow rapidly during the pandemic. In 2020, Kroger's online sales grew by 116%, to over $10B annually.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On May 24, 2018, Kroger announced they were acquiring Home Chef for $200 million with an additional $500 million in incentives if certain targets are met by Home Chef.Template:Citation needed

On June 13, 2018, Kroger Mid-Atlantic announced the Kroger branding will be leaving the Raleigh-Durham area by eliminating all 14 Kroger-branded stores, eight of which will transition to Harris Teeter (also owned by Kroger). One will become a Crunch Fitness and another will become a Food Lion. The fate for the remaining four stores is unclear.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2018, Kroger officials backed off a Net 90 payment plan to the produce industry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2018, Kroger announced online wine delivery to 14 states in partnership with DRINKS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Customers can select assorted wines in 6-bottle or 12-bottle packs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On December 4, 2018, Kroger announced a deal to sell food inside drugstore Walgreens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger Express<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> will offer meal kits and other meal solutions.

In the light of increased self-checkout usage via kiosk or smartphone app in 2019, Kroger is gradually shifting towards creating more self-checkout smartphone apps and lanes than cashier lanes. The company has been investing millions of dollars, in replacing many cashier stations with automation by 2023. As many other supermarkets (such as Walmart and Target) are also shifting towards automation, and displacing cashiers in the near future.<ref name="Waco Tribune-Herald">Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 2019, Kroger announced it was expanding its service with robotics company Nuro to Houston, Texas, with Nuro's autonomous Priuses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2019, Kroger began charging customers between $0.50 and $3.50 for receiving cash back while making purchases with debit cards.<ref name="ce-2019jul30">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="retailwire-2019jul31">Template:Cite news</ref> The new fees were first test marketed in March at Kansas area Dillons stores, a Kroger-owned supermarket chain, before the new fees were rolled out to other Kroger-owned supermarket banners in the rest of the nation.<ref name="we-2019mar04">Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2019, Kroger announced a partnership with the Plant Based Food Association (PFBA) to test a plant-based meat retail concept in 60 stores in Denver, and parts of Indiana and Illinois.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2019, Kroger unveiled an updated logo for their stores and company, with the '"Fresh For Everyone" tagline and the "Krojis".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company also announced an expansion of its online wine delivery program into Arizona.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In partnership with DRINKS, the service is now available in 19 states plus Washington D.C.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In December 2019, Kroger was named the second-largest grocer in the nation with $110 billion in 2016 sales. The same month, USA Today listed Kroger—and its brands—as the top supermarket (based on Google searches, Yelp data, and 24/7 Tempo's research) in Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020s

According to a PBS NewsHour February 13, 2021 broadcast, during the pandemic, Kroger provided their essential workers with a hazard pay, which the company called "hero pay." The hero pay consisted of a raise of US$2 an hour from the end of March 2020 until May 2020, when the hero pay ended.<ref name="PBS_20210213">Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2021, the Long Beach City Council in California passed an ordinance making it mandatory for some large grocery stores—like Kroger—to provide their essential workers with a hazard pay increase of US$4 an hour "effective immediately for 120 days". The ordinance affected companies with "more than 300 workers nationwide and more than 15 employees per store".<ref name="PBS_20210213" />

Seattle and Washington passed similar ordinances. In response, in early February, Kroger announced the closure and permanent termination of the entire operations of some of their stores—including a Ralphs and a Food4Less in Long Beach—"for economic reasons including the economic cost mandated by the Long Beach ordinance requiring an increase in employee wages, four dollars an hour".<ref name="PBS_20210213" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger closed two Seattle QFC stores in April 2021 blaming that City's Covid Related Hazard Pay Law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), with members whose jobs had been terminated, viewed the closures as a "warning to other cities considering hazard pay mandates".<ref name="PBS_20210213" />

Andrea Zinder, president of the UFCW Local 324 that represents employees at the two Long Beach stores—Ralphs and a Food4Less—said that compared to the same time period in 2019 both stores saw an increase of about 30% in sales.<ref name="PBS_20210213" /> In 2020, during the pandemic, Kroger's earnings increased by 87.7%.<ref name="simplywall">Template:Cite web</ref> Kroger's quarterly revenues as reported by November 20, 2020, were US$29.72 billion, and the corporation's per-share earnings and dividends grew at a rapid rate in 2020. Its dividend increase was about 14% annually.<ref name="korger_20210214">Template:Cite web</ref>

Starting in early 2020, Berkshire Hathaway began buying shares of Kroger, and by August 2021 became a top ten shareholder.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2021, a wrongful-death lawsuit was filed against Kroger by the family of worker Evan Seyfried. Seyfried committed suicide after allegedly enduring abuse at the Kroger location in Milford, Ohio, where he had worked for 19 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the lawsuit, Seyfried was bullied for wearing a mask in the early days of the pandemic and taunted for his political views. Also on the receiving end of alleged workplace sabotage, one of Seyfried's co-workers called the company's ethics helpline and reported that she and Seyfried were being bullied. However, no action was taken.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2021, Kroger Co. announced the elimination of some COVID-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees.<ref name=Kang>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, the company was reported to have been breached by a third-party hack which compromised the pharmacy records of Kroger owned Fred Meyer and QFC stores' customers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In April 2021, Kroger sold what were previously Fred Meyer properties located in Shoreline, Puyallup and Tacoma to Benderson Development Company for a combined $98.7 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2021, Benderson Development bought an additional twenty-eight Fred Meyer properties (as part of a "sale-leaseback investment") for an estimated $500 million as part of a sale totaling 380 acres and 4.5 million square feet of retail space.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 2, 2021, Kroger announced that it had elected Elaine Chao to its board of directors. Chao was formerly Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump.<ref name="Kroger-ChaoElected">Template:Cite press release</ref> The news was met with backlash from a small number of Kroger customers on Twitter, with calls for a boycott trending nationally due to her ties to the Trump administration and to her husband, Mitch McConnell.<ref name="IBTimes-ChaoKroger">Template:Cite news</ref>

On September 23, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a Kroger location in Collierville, Tennessee. One person was killed and 13 others were injured before the gunman, identified as 29-year-old Uk Thang, committed suicide by gunshot. Thang was working at the store as a third-party vendor.<ref name=CNN.Shooting>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=ABCChicago.Suspect>Template:Cite web</ref> In the aftermath of the shooting, Kroger offered counseling services for its employees and closed down the store until November 10.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

In September 2021, Kroger tweaked its logo to add the "Fresh Cart" symbol. The symbol is an abstract shopping cart with the basket represented as citrus slices.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2021, Kroger announced an expansion into South Florida with its online delivery service, Kroger Delivery. To do this, Kroger will build two new automated fulfilment centers assisted and facilitated by the UK-based technology company Ocado Group. Kroger Delivery is also set to launch in the Northeast of the US and expand its operations in California, to be followed by sites in Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and North Carolina. The company launched its online delivery services in Central Florida earlier in 2021.<ref name="It's Official: Kroger Delivery Is Coming to South Florida">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = "Kroger bringing new high-tech warehouse, 700 jobs to Cabarrus County">Template:Cite web</ref>

On April 5, 2022, Kroger launched Kroger Restaurant Supply in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, a new business distributing food and related supplies to restaurants, bakeries, and catering companies. For Kroger, this move into foodservice distribution represents an expansion beyond its core retail grocery operations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On October 14, 2022, Kroger announced a merger with Albertsons in a deal worth $24.6Template:Nbspbillion, combining both companies into one entity but divesting some stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers to secure regulatory approval. However, in January 2024, Washington state sued to block the proposed $25 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons, warning that if approved it could raise prices and harm consumers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2024, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also filed a lawsuit, saying consumers told him they feared it "would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2024, the FTC sued to block the acquisition stating that the deal would negatively impact consumer prices and workers' wages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A 2022 Economic Roundtable survey of 10,000 Kroger's workers in Colorado, Southern California, Washington found that wages have declined over the last several years while over the same period executive pay has increased. The survey found that over 75% of workers experience food insecurity, over 66% struggle to meet basic needs and 14% experience homelessness, while CEO Rodney McMullen made over $22 million in 2020, compared to $12 million for the year 2018. According to Peter Dreier, who participated in the project: "There are workers sleeping in RVs or couch surfing or living in parks somewhere. Americans go to their local supermarket every week and smile at the person cashing them out, not aware that the person they're talking to is going to sleep in a car after they clock out."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> About two-thirds of Kroger employees are part-time workers, whose schedules often change making it difficult to take a second job.<ref name="NYT21222">Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 9, 2024, Kroger released the complete list of 579 stores that would be divested in order to satisfy anti-trust concerns from the Federal Trade Commission.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Within the list of stores being proposed for divestment, the Dallas market would be the most affected, with 26 Albertsons locations being sold which includes the Tom Thumb chain and six Market Street locations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the announcement, the United Food and Commercial Workers made a statement saying that they will continue to oppose the merger and that Kroger's announcement "changes nothing".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December, 2024, a U.S. district judge ruled against the proposed merger, stating that it would be bad for consumers and employees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Business trends

Year<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Revenue in million US$	Net income in million US$	Total Assets in million US$	Price per Share in US$<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Employees	Supermarkets	C-stores	Jewelers	Total stores
2006	60,553	958	20,482	6.94	290,000	2,507	791	428	3,726
2007	66,111	1,115	21,215	8.12	310,000	2,468	779	412	3,659
2008	70,336	1,209	22,293	8.13	323,000	2,486	782	394	3,662
2009	76,148	1,249	23,257	6.42	326,000	2,481	771	385	3,637
2010	76,609	70	23,126	7.12	334,000	2,468	777	374	3,619
2011	82,049	1,116	23,505	7.86	338,000	2,460	784	361	3,605
2012	90,269	602	23,476	8.63	339,000	2,435	791	348	3,574
2013	96,619	1,497	24,634	13.33	343,000	2,424	786	328	3,538
2014	98,375	1,519	29,281	21.97	375,000	2,640	786	320	3,746
2015	108,465	1,728	30,497	28.94	400,000	2,625	782	326	3,733
2016	109,830	2,039	33,897	24.20	431,000	2,778	784	323	3,885
2017	115,337	1,975	36,505	19.60	443,000	2,796	784	319	3,899
2018	122,662	1,907	37,197	20.01	449,000	2,782	782	274	3,838
2019	121,852	3,110	38,118	21.59	453,000	2,764		253	3,017
2020	122,286	1,659	45,256	24.16	435,000	2,757		242	2,999
2021	132,498	2,585	45,256	35.13	465,000
2022	137,888	1,655	48,662	42.12	420,000
2023	148,258	2,244	49,086	44.23	430,000
2024	150,039	2,164	49,623	60.55	414,000
2025	147,123	2,665	52,616		409,000

Chains

Banner		Format
Primary	Variants	Combination food and drug	Marketplace	Multi-department	Price impact	Other
Dillons	Baker's, Gerbes	Template:Y	Template:Y
Food 4 Less<ref>Food 4 Less encompasses two divisions: Food 4 Less West (all locations in California; includes Foods Co.) and Food 4 Less Midwest.</ref>	Foods Co.				Template:Y
Fred Meyer		Template:Y	Template:Y	Template:Y
Fred Meyer Jewelers	Barclay's Jewelers, Littman Jewelers					Jeweler
Fry's		Template:Y	Template:Y
Harris Teeter		Template:Y
Home Chef						E-commerce
King Soopers	City Market	Template:Y	Template:Y
Kroger<ref>The Kroger banner encompasses the following divisions: Atlanta, Central (includes Pay Less), Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Delta, Houston, Louisville (includes JayC), Michigan, Mid-Atlantic, and Nashville.</ref>	Pay Less	Template:Y	Template:Y
The Little Clinic						Walk-in clinic
Mariano's		Template:Y
QFC		Template:Y
Ralphs		Template:Y
Roundy's<ref>Supermarkets within the Roundy's chain carry a variety of banner names; none carry the banner name "Roundy's".</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Metro Market, Pick 'n Save	Template:Y
JayC	Ruler Foods				Template:Y
Smith's		Template:Y	Template:Y	Template:Y
Vitacost						E-commerce
Total stores<ref name=ourbusiness/>		2,277	188	134	121	129 jewelers 225 clinics
Former chains (year of sale/dissolution in parentheses)
Barney's (1985)<ref>"Kroger to withdraw" Template:Webarchive, United Press International in The Bryan Times, August 29, 1985.</ref>					Template:Y
Cala Foods (2011)<ref>Locations sold to DeLano's IGA, last Kroger-owned location closed in 2011.</ref>	Bell Markets	Template:Y
Copps Food Center (2017)<ref>Acquired 2001, name phased out in 2017.</ref>		Template:Y
Henke's (1966)<ref name="Gonzales">Gonzales, J.R. "Houston's own Henke & Pillot Template:Webarchive." Houston Chronicle blogs. October 20, 2010. Retrieved on January 13, 2011. "Offices at 3021 Washington"</ref>		Template:Y
Hilander Foods (2011)<ref>Acquired 1998, sold to Schnucks in 2011.</ref>		Template:Y
Hiller's (2015)		Template:Y
Hook's (1987)<ref name="pharmaintelligence">Template:Cite news</ref>						Drug store
Kessel (1999)<ref>Acquired and name phased out in 1999.</ref>		Template:Y
Krambo (1971)<ref>Acquired June 1955, name phased out in 1966. Withdrew from Wisconsin in 1971.</ref>		Template:Y
Loaf 'N Jug (2018)<ref name="EG">Template:Cite press release</ref>	Kwik Shop, Quik Stop, Tom Thumb					Convenience
Main & Vine (2018)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>						Concept
Market Basket (1982)<ref>Acquired October 1963, sold in 1982.</ref>		Template:Y
Owen's (2020)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>		Template:Y
Scott's (2016)<ref>Acquired in 2007, final location became a Kroger in 2016.</ref>		Template:Y
SupeRx (1987)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="pharmaintelligence"/>						Drug store
Turkey Hill (2018)<ref name="EG"/>						Convenience

Kroger Marketplace

Kroger Marketplace is a chain of hypermarkets. The brand was introduced in 2004 in the Columbus, Ohio, area, which lost the Big Bear and Big Bear Plus chains in Penn Traffic's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Kroger Marketplace format is based on the Fry's Marketplace stores that the Arizona division of Kroger is currently operating. There are currently a total of 188 marketplaces.<ref name=ourbusiness/>

Similar to rival chains Meijer, Kmart, Target, Walmart, and Albertsons; the stores are modeled after Kroger-owned Fred Meyer which house multiple departments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to the grocery department, stores typically include a Fred Meyer Jewelers, Starbucks, Donatos Pizza, an in-store bank, and sections for toys, appliances, home furnishings as well as bed and bath; a format Big Bear had in their stores in the Columbus area.

In 2005, the company began renovating many Kroger Food & Drug stores in Ohio to an expanded and updated look, converting them to the Kroger Marketplace format. In February 2006, Kroger announced plans for two new Kroger Marketplace stores by the end of summer in Cincinnati suburbs Lebanon and Liberty Township.<ref name="note1">Template:Cite news</ref> The store in Liberty Township opened in July 2006.<ref name="note2">Template:Cite news</ref> On October 5, 2006, a new Kroger Marketplace opened in Gahanna. With the Gahanna opening, the number of Kroger Marketplace stores grew to six, four in the Columbus area and two in the Cincinnati area. Two more stores were planned in 2007, one in Middletown (which opened in April 2007, after the old store was razed and made part of the current parking lot) and one in Englewood.<ref name="note3">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2011, the Elder-Beerman in Centerville, Ohio, was demolished, and a new marketplace replaced it. The location has a fuel center and opened on December 8.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This marketplace is the largest Kroger store ever built from ground up to date at Template:Convert.

Two more stores opened in the Cincinnati area, in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Hebron and Walton which were completed in November 2008. Three Kroger Marketplace stores in Kentucky opened in 2009, two in Lexington and one in Newport. Another Marketplace opened in Beavercreek, Ohio. A Mount Orab, Ohio, store opened in the spring of 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kroger opened a new Template:Convert store in North Augusta, South Carolina. In 2015, a Template:Convert Marketplace was opened in the Cincinnati suburb of Oakley.<ref>Biggest Kroger store ever opens Thursday in Oakley Template:Webarchive Cincinnati Enquirer. September 10, 2015.</ref>

The first Kroger Marketplace store in Tennessee opened in Farragut, Tennessee (a suburb of Knoxville), at the end of 2008, and a second store in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, about Template:Convert south of Nashville, opened in early 2009. A third location opened in Gallatin, Tennessee, on March 11, 2010.

File:Kroger Frisco.jpg

Kroger Marketplace in Frisco, Texas (Store #035-00561) opened in 2010.

The first Kroger Marketplace store in Texas opened on October 9, 2009, in the Waterside Marketplace in Richmond, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The second Kroger Marketplace store in Rosenberg, Texas, opened on December 4, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The third opened in Frisco, Texas, in early 2010.<ref name="wfaa.com">Template:Cite web</ref> The fourth, in Willis, Texas, opened on August 11, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other Kroger Marketplace stores in Texas are in Little Elm, Texas; Fort Worth's Alliance Town Center; Mansfield;<ref name="wfaa.com"/> Wylie, Texas;<ref name="Wylie Living">Template:Cite web</ref> and Baytown, Texas.

The first Kroger Marketplace in Arkansas opened in August 2010 on Chenal Parkway in Little Rock, Arkansas. Locations also opened in 2012 in Conway, Arkansas and 2014 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

The first Kroger Marketplace in Indiana opened on September 29, 2011, on Dupont Road on Fort Wayne's northwest side. This store is a rebuilt Kroger Food & Drug. A second Kroger Marketplace opened on October 4, 2012, from a rebuilt Scott's Food and Pharmacy in the Village at Coventry on the southwest side of Fort Wayne. These two stores are part of a $100 million expansion project in the Fort Wayne area. In October 2016, it was announced that a Kroger Marketplace will open in La Porte, Indiana, within the NewPorte Landing development. Construction of the new Template:Convert store is expected to begin early in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The first Kroger Marketplace in Virginia opened on Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia, on the site of the former Cloverleaf Mall on December 6, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another Marketplace opened in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the site of a former Super Kmart, on July 31, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The third location opened in December 2013 in the Staples Mill shopping Center in Henrico County. A fourth location opened on October 15, 2014, in Portsmouth, Virginia, at the site of the former I.C. Norcom High School.

The first Kroger Marketplace in Michigan opened on June 14, 2013, at Sterns and Secor Roads in Lambertville (a suburb north of Toledo, Ohio). Formerly a conventional Kroger store, the square footage (square meterage) increased from Template:Convert. It carries toys, home essentials, apparel and shoes in addition to groceries. The state's second store opened in 2014 in Shelby Township on property that already contained a 2010-built Fuel Center, replacing a smaller Kroger store across Hayes Road in neighboring Macomb Township, which was soon converted into an Emagine Entertainment movie theater. Three further locations opened in 2016, one in White Lake.

The first Kroger Marketplace in Mississippi opened on September 16, 2016, in Hernando (a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee) to much fanfare. This store was formally a Kroger Food & Drug with twelve aisles, now rebuilt with sixty-four, in addition to having a Starbucks, ClickList, and expanded deli inside.

The first Kroger Marketplace store in Alabama opened in Huntsville, Alabama in 2017.

Manufacturing and distribution

Distribution and logistics

Food distribution and buying takes place under various subsidiaries and divisions. These include:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Kroger Group Cooperative, Inc.
• Kroger Group, Inc.
• Peytons
• WESCO
• Inter-American Products

Kroger operates its own fleet of trucks and trailers to distribute products to its various stores, in addition to contracts with various trucking companies.<ref name= proxystatement/> In June 2018, Kroger announced testing driverless cars for delivering groceries. For this, Kroger is partnering with autonomous car company Nuro.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In addition to stocking a variety of regional brand products, The Kroger Company also employs one of the largest networks of private label manufacturing in the country. Thirty-three plants (either wholly owned or used with operating agreements) in seventeen states create about 40% of Kroger's private label products.<ref name= proxystatement/> Similar to most major supermarket retailers, Kroger uses a three-tiered private label marketing strategy. One private brand emphasizes no-frills products at the lowest possible price, another is intended to be comparable to leading national brands but a better value and the third is a premium (often organic) brand.

Private label brands

Kroger offers a collection of its own branded products, referred to by the retailer as "Our Brands". The products are produced and sold in quality tiers, and account for over 30% of the retailer's unit sales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Banner Brand

Banner Brand items are goods that bear the name of Kroger or its subsidiaries (i.e., Ralphs, King Soopers, etc.) or make reference to them (i.e., Big K), and are offered exclusively within Kroger-owned stores. These products are marketed to customers as budget-friendly, and account for over $13 billion in annual sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many of Kroger's health and beauty goods, one of the company's fastest-growing private label categories, are manufactured by third-party providers; these products include goods like ibuprofen and contact lens solution.

Private Selection

Template:Multiple image Products marked Private Selection are offered to compare with gourmet brands or regional brands that may be considered more upscale than the standard Kroger brand products.

Simple Truth

Simple Truth is Kroger's flagship natural and organic brand, and has grown quickly since its launch in 2012. The brand's launch marked the first time Kroger had delved into making its own gluten-free products, including flour mixes, bread, etc. The Simple Truth brand became the first Kroger offering to be introduced in China, on Alibaba's Tmall platform.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Simple Truth reached $2 billion in annual sales in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Smart Way

Smart Way is Kroger's budget-priced private label line that includes around 150 products. This line, which launched in two waves starting in September 2022, consolidates 16 legacy brands at a "new opening price-point."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other private label brands

In addition to its core brands, Kroger's manufacturing creates a variety department-specific brands. These are featured especially in Fred Meyer stores, where more than half the goods sold are non-food, or in the smaller Fred Meyer-based Marketplace stores. The brands listed below may be found in various Kroger-owned stores.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Abound – natural pet food
• Bakery Fresh Goodness – fresh-baked foods
• Bloom Haus – floral arrangements
• Comforts – baby products
• Dip – fast fashion brand designed by Joe Mimran<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Everyday Living – home goods
• HD Designs – upscale home goods
• HemisFares – imported foods
• Home Chef – meal kit and food delivery company acquired in 2018
• Kroger Mercado – Hispanic-inspired food products<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Luvsome – pet food
• Murray's Cheese – artisanal cheese shop founded in Greenwich Village in 1940
• OfficeWorks – stationery and office supplies
• Pet Pride – pet food

Other operations

Pharmacy Group

Kroger previously owned and operated the SupeRx drug store chain. In 1985, Kroger outbid Rite Aid for the Hook's Drug Stores chain, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and combined it with SupeRx to become Hook's-SupeRx. In 1994, Kroger decided to exit the stand-alone drugstore business and sold its Hook's and SupeRx stores to Revco, which later was sold to CVS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Today, Kroger operates 2,252 pharmacies, most of which are located inside its supermarkets.<ref name=ourbusiness/> The Kroger Pharmacies continue as a profitable portion of the business and have been expanding to now include pharmacies in City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Smith's Food and Drug, and Kroger Supermarkets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Supermarket Petroleum Group

Since 1998, Kroger has added fuel centers in the parking lots of its supermarkets. More recently, the company has begun opening standalone fuel centers, often near stores whose parking lots could not accommodate a fuel center. As of Q2 2022, Kroger operated 1,629 supermarket fuel centers.<ref name=ourbusiness/><ref name=opera/>

In 2006, Kroger introduced a new common logo for all of its convenience store chains that is now also used at the fuel centers of all of its supermarket chains—a rhombus with a white, stylized image of the continental United States in the center bordered by four colored areas: dark blue representing the Pacific Ocean, red representing Canada, green representing the Atlantic Ocean, and yellow representing the Gulf of Mexico. This logo is also still used at the convenience stores that were sold to EG Group in 2018.

Kroger Personal Finance

Kroger Personal Finance was introduced in 2007 to offer branded Visa cards, mortgages, home equity loans, pet, renter's and home insurance, identity theft protection, and wireless services.<ref name= proxystatement/> In 2017, MasterCard became the network for Kroger's newly branded 1-2-3 REWARDS credit card issued by U.S. Bank.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, Kroger banned the use of Visa credit cards (but not debit cards) at two of its subsidiary chains: Foods Co. Supermarkets and Smiths, citing rising costs from premium cards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kroger Wireless

Template:Main article Kroger Wireless, formerly known as i-wireless,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a national private label wireless service provider sold in over 2,200 retail locations within the Kroger family of stores across 31 states.<ref name="woyke">Template:Cite web</ref> Kroger Wireless service functions over the nationwide T-Mobile network.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Customers can choose from "Unlimited" rate plans including unlimited talk/text and with data allotments up to and including unlimited data.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kroger Wireless allows customers to purchase phones at select Kroger store locations,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> via their website,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or by bringing their eligible T-Mobile device for activation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

84.51°

84.51° is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger engaged in data science and consumer insights, created in April 2015, as a result of Kroger purchasing the remaining half of its then-joint venture Dunnhumby USA from Tesco.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Controversies

Pricing discrepancies and overcharges

In 2025, an investigation by The Guardian, Consumer Reports, and the Food & Environment Reporting Network revealed widespread overcharging at Kroger stores across multiple states due to expired sale tags leading to higher prices at checkout.<ref name="Guardian20253">Template:Cite web</ref> Tests in 26 stores across 14 states and Washington, D.C., identified over 150 items with expired sale tags, averaging a $1.70 overcharge per item, or 18% above the advertised sale price.<ref name="Guardian20253" /> In Colorado, union tests at over 30 King Soopers stores found more than 300 expired tags, with overcharges averaging nearly 15%.<ref name="Guardian20253" /> An internal Kroger audit at one western U.S. store reported approximately 6% of price tags were incorrect, exceeding the company’s 1% error threshold.<ref name="Guardian20253" /> The investigation, supported by customer complaints and union reports, linked the issue to chronic understaffing, with expired tags remaining on shelves for weeks.<ref name="Guardian20253" /> Kroger denied systemic pricing issues, asserting that errors were a small fraction of billions of annual transactions and emphasizing regular audits to ensure pricing accuracy.<ref name="Guardian20253" />

Animal welfare

In 2017, Kroger announced that it would transition to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, responding to pressure from animal welfare groups. In 2022, they loosened the commitment, aiming instead for 70% cage-free eggs by 2030.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

• The Kroger story: A century of innovation by George Laycock, The Kroger Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1983, 143p.
• Template:Cite magazine

Videos

• Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore

External links

• Template:Official website