Kroger

[BoulderSooner]

Kroger has the vast majority of the market here in Denver. There are 4 of their stores less than 2 miles and 6 less than 3 miles from my home. Yet they are strongly pushing the parking lot pick-up and delivery models. I haven't seen it in print but when you factor in the cost of union labor and brick/morter, it may be cheaper to NOT have stores (where they are not already located).

king soopers for the win ..

[Mesta Parker]

Just completed an online grocery order at Walmart. Excluding tax and delivery, cost was $157.54. Price checked Kroger for the same items (brand and size). The cost excluding tax and delivery was $210.35, ~33% more. Only two items were cheaper at Kroger vs. Walmart.

[TheTravellers]

Just completed an online grocery order at Walmart. Excluding tax and delivery, cost was $157.54. Price checked Kroger for the same items (brand and size). The cost excluding tax and delivery was $210.35, ~33% more. Only two items were cheaper at Kroger vs. Walmart.

We haven't shopped at Walmart (or associated companies) for decades and (hopefully) never will because of all the bad things they've done and are probably still doing. I understand that not everybody has that choice and has/wants to buy as inexpensively as possible, but right now we have the money to afford Kroger and will continue to do so.

Got another delivery today, eggs were in a separate bag that was on the bench on the porch, rest was next to it, only out of 2 Stouffer's frozen lunches, hit the delivery window, and their selection seems to be pretty far ahead of any other metro grocery store. Need to start leaving the bags for them to take back for recycling. We're going to get an annual membership, and then use Sprouts to supplement for what they're out of and fresh things (as well as *really* specialty things Kroger doesn't have).

[Soonerman]

Kroger needs to put brick and mortar stores in OKC.

[Bowser214]

Kroger needs to put brick and mortar stores in OKC.

100% Agree!

[April in the Plaza]

Kroger needs to put brick and mortar stores in OKC.

would be great, for sure, but kroger's upper management seems a bit too scared to commit to brick & mortar in the OKC MSA at this point in the credit cycle. and I can't necessarily blame them for that. sh*t is spooky AF out there.

[bombermwc]

If that rumor about selling Crest is true, well, i smell opportunity for them to come in guns blazing......

[Thunderbolt]

I really want Kroger Delivery to work, but I am continually disapointed. Last night I ordered 19 items for delivery this afternoon. Today I received a text that six of the items are unavailable with no substitutes. The most frustrating part is you are not allowed to alter your cart or make changes based on those notifications (example: they're out of white onions, would love to just switch my order to red or yellow onions...). Guess I'm swinging by a brick and mortar store on the way home to get what Kroger doesn't have.

The delivery is always on time and customer service has been helpful. The price is good in my opinion, especially as someone who pays for unlimited delivery for $60/year. I can't rely on a grocery service that is going to deliver only 2/3 of my original order... I really want this to work for our family!

[bombermwc]

That's why i like the delivery options that use shoppers. They can call or txt you while they are right in front of the items to ask your opinions on options. So there aren't any surprises when you get your goods or frustrations about that mess.

Personally, i only use Shipt when i'm in a real pinch for time. I hate going to the grocery store, but I do prefer being able to pick things out myself. Which meat option with which fat ratio, which produce, etc but I'm probably pickier than the average Joe.

[TheTravellers]

Kroger has an option to allow substitutions, you just check a box in the cart/checkout process. We don't allow substitutions, because we do Sprouts for all our fresh items (as well as items we know Kroger doesn't have), so I don't know how substituting works - if you can reply when they text they're out, or if you're at their mercy, or ..... They've only been out of 1 Stouffer's frozen lunch once and 2 Stouffer's the 2nd time (only used them twice), and that's acceptable to us.

[Urbanized]

Been using them for months, and while not 100% flawless there’s yet to be a truly aggravating shortage, deletion or substitution. The overall smoothness of the process is pretty enviable, in my experience.

[TheTravellers]

So pleased with Kroger, we'll never set foot in a Homeland ever again (or pretty much any other standard grocery store here in OKC)! Their selection is incredible, we'd have to go to 2-3 stores to get everything we get in one order from them, and they're generally only out of 1-2 things per order (out of 20-25). Also found out when we signed up for the annual membership that gets you free delivery that they give you a month of free delivery, *then* they charge your card (which for us adds up to $28 since we shop weekly).

We always "save to list", then go into the list and "shop from list" instead of just adding items to the cart (since we have a bunch of recurring items), and the only clunky part we've found is that when you "shop from list", *that* list is then sorted by the order you added things to the list, and not the way the actual list is sorted, which is by category, but that's where ctrl-f comes in handy. Supplementing them with Sprouts (or Natural Grocers or Whole Foods, on very rare occasions) is going to work out nicely.

[Pete]

And Kroger has lots of online coupons you can use just like the stores.

I've seen studies that show if you use coupons, the tradition grocery store is cheaper than Walmart or the warehouse places.

[TheTravellers]

And Kroger has lots of online coupons you can use just like the stores.

I've seen studies that show if you use coupons, the tradition grocery store is cheaper than Walmart or the warehouse places.

Yep, got $10-somthing off our last order. If you forget to click it when you add the item to your cart, they remind you at checkout that you have applicable coupons, very nice.

[Urbanized]

Just got a delivery this morning. Without even giving me a chance to inspect and find it myself, driver disclosed he’d discovered that one of the eggs in my dozen was cracked. He made it right by fully crediting the eggs, but offered to let me keep the remaining carton, which of course I did. Credit appeared on my account within moments of his departure. I really have nothing but positive things to say about this service.

[gjl]

Story about broken eggs. I was at a WM neighborhood market one time and an employee was opening egg cartons looking for broken eggs. The cartons with broken eggs he was taking out of the display case putting in a cart. I asked him what they do with those and he said they throw the whole carton out even if it is just one broken egg in it. Seemed like such a waste of food.

[Mountaingoat]

Story about broken eggs. I was at a WM neighborhood market one time and an employee was opening egg cartons looking for broken eggs. The cartons with broken eggs he was taking out of the display case putting in a cart. I asked him what they do with those and he said they throw the whole carton out even if it is just one broken egg in it. Seemed like such a waste of food.

I'd bet $ most of their spoilage goes to food banks. It DOES seem like they could pull the good eggs out and put in a new carton.

[catch22]

Can’t swap to a new carton. Control numbers, dates, batches, plant numbers etc. need to match.

[Pete]

Can’t swap to a new carton. Control numbers, dates, batches, plant numbers etc. need to match.

That makes total sense because they need some way of tracking salmonella and other health problems.

Learned something new!

[foodiefan]

I'd bet $ most of their spoilage goes to food banks. It DOES seem like they could pull the good eggs out and put in a new carton.

. . .potential for cross contamination to the 'good eggs'

[Mountaingoat]

I'd bet $ most of their spoilage goes to food banks. It DOES seem like they could pull the good eggs out and put in a new carton.

Yeah, makes sense but it's too bad one cracked egg spoils an entire carton.

[Pete]

I just noticed Sam's Club has added same-day delivery.

$12 for members, $8 for Plus members.

[Bowser214]

(Bloomberg) -- C&S Wholesale Grocers—with backing from SoftBank Group Corp.—is in talks to buy grocery stores that Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. are selling to win regulatory approval for their $25 billion merger, according to people familiar with the matter.
C&S, which has partnered with SoftBank for the transaction, could announce a deal as soon as this week to acquire most or all of the stores they are unloading for antitrust reasons, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The companies said in October that they would spin off 100 to 375 stores if they couldn’t find buyers for them.
It’s not clear how many stores C&S is acquiring or how much it is paying for them.
SoftBank, the Japanese tech investing giant, is active in the supply chain sector via investments including Symbotic Inc., which is run by Rick Cohen, who is also the executive chairman of C&S.

[bombermwc]

Kroger and Albertsons together huh? Maybe Albertsons is doing better and has better prices in other markets, but I'm not sure why anyone would want that brand.

This isn't a direct topic, but related. So we'll see if Kroger ends up ever making a brick-and-mortar here, but what do you think about H.E.B? If you haven't been to one of those yet, man.....forget Kroger.

[Ryan]

Kroger and Albertsons together huh? Maybe Albertsons is doing better and has better prices in other markets, but I'm not sure why anyone would want that brand.

This isn't a direct topic, but related. So we'll see if Kroger ends up ever making a brick-and-mortar here, but what do you think about H.E.B? If you haven't been to one of those yet, man.....forget Kroger.

H-E-B makes Kroger look like the Wichita of grocery stores