Kroger

The Kroger Co. is the largest grocer, founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883. Kroger is the second-largest retailer, behind Walmart.

History
In 1883, Bernard Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a grocery store in downtown Cincinnati. Kroger was the son of a merchant, and his slogan was simple: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” Kroger tried many ways to satisfy customers. Like in the early 1900s, Kroger knew that if he could make bread without making people go to another bakery, he would make more money, and reduce the price. Kroger also tried to make his own products. Kroger always tried to make things better. In the 1930s, Kroger was the first grocery chain to monitor product quality and test foods offers to customers. In the 70s, Kroger became the first grocer in America to test an electronic scanner, and the first to formalize consumer research. In 1983, Kroger merged with Dillon Companies. In 1997, Kroger merged with Fred Meyer. That was their biggest merger. Kroger now has nearly 2,500 stores in 31 states under two dozen banners and annual sales of more than $70 bilion, and is now the second-largest retailer, after Walmart. Kroger also has 40 food processing plants that make thousands of products. In 2007, Kroger acquired Scott's from SuperValu.

Kroger
Kroger Food & Drug is a chain of supermarkets. Many of the Kroger supermarkets have been converted to Kroger Marketplace, a chain of hypermarkets. This is because it is more convenient to sell everything in a store, so only one trip has to be made. Kroger Marketplace is similar to sister chain Fred Meyer. All Marketplace stores are hypermarkets.

Store Concepts

 * Kroger - supermarket chain
 * Kroger Fresh Fare - supermarket chain
 * Kroger Signature - high-end supermarket chain
 * Kroger Marketplace - hypermarket chain

Banners
Kroger operates numerous chains:

Hypermarkets

 * Fred Meyer
 * Fry's Marketplace
 * Kroger Marketplace
 * Ralphs Marketplace
 * Smith's Marketplace

Supermarkets

 * Baker's
 * City Market
 * Dillons
 * Foods 4 Less
 * Foods Co.
 * Fry's 
 * Gerbes
 * Jay C
 * Kroger 
 * King Soopers
 * Owen's
 * Pay Less 
 * QFC
 * Ralphs
 * Scott's Food &amp; Pharmacy
 * Smith's

Covenience Stores

 * Loaf 'N Jug