The Kroger Company: A Customer First Strategy
Ian McClintock (i.a.mcclintock@eagle.clarion.edu)
Nick Born (n.p.born@eagle.clarion.edu)
Allen Walters (a.d.walters@eagle.clarion.edu)
The Kroger Company
9/29/10
BASD 490 Section 01
Abstract: The Kroger Company is a leading grocery retail chain that prides itself on its customer satisfaction and conducting ethical business. Kroger operates nearly 2500 grocery retail stores in 31 states. An internal evaluation of the company's strengths and weaknesses are analyzed, in addition to an analysis of the company's external opportunities and threats. In coordination with this a consumer characteristic and behavior was diagnosed along with Kroger's strategic direction for its company.
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These numbers correspond to food stores, grocery stores, and supermarkets with the second codes being jewelry stores and the third being convenience stores with gasoline stations. More information can be found at Kroger’s corporate website at www.thekrogerco.com.
History:
In 1883 Bernard (Barney) Kroger invested 372 dollars that consisted of his life savings to open the first ‘Kroger’ grocery. That first store, located at 66 Pearl Street in downtown Cincinnati, would soon turn into the giant retail chain that consists of nearly 2,500 stores all over the country and most recently produced sales of over 76 billion dollars. Barney Kroger was revolutionary in the formation of the modern grocery, in that he was the first grocer to have his own bakery, as well as selling meat and other groceries all under one roof. Kroger was also the first to manufacture the products that he in turn sold in his own store. This was the beginning of what is today one of the largest food manufacturing companies in America. Acquisitions have also been important in the history of Kroger. In 1983, an acquisition of Dillon Companies Inc. allowed it to become a retailer of food, drug, and convenience stores from coast to coast. The biggest merger occurred in 1999 with the 13 billion dollar acquisition of Fred Meyer Inc. making Kroger the largest supermarket chain in terms of geographic coverage. The company was also the first to test
The Kroger Co. was founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1902. It is one of the nation’s largest retailers, as measured by revenue. The Kroger Co is currently ranked #2 in the industry on the Fortune 500 list and # 25 overall. There revenues are earned and cash is generated as consumer products are sold to customers in their stores. They earn income predominately by selling products at price levels that produce revenues in excess of the costs incurred to make the products available to customers. Such costs include procurement and distribution costs, facility occupancy and operational costs, and overhead expenses. The retail
Kroger’s star business units would be nonperishables and perishables. Nonperishables consist primarily of groceries, general merchandise, health and beauty care and natural foods; this segment accounted for $44.62 billion for the company in 2014. Perishables consist primarily of floral, produce, meat, seafood, bakery, and deli, accounting for $17.53 billion for the company in 2014 (10-K. Kroger Co. 2014. 41). Consistently, since 2010, the nonperishable business unit has accounted for over 50% of Kroger’s sales revenue, and the perishable business unit has accounted for over 20%. Within the nonperishable and perishable units, corporate brands are a large driver of sales and give the company a competitive advantage. In 2014, 25.5 % of sales dollars came from Kroger’s corporate brands (“Kroger Fact Book 2014”). Nonperishable have seen constant growth from 2010 to 2014. The most significant jump in sales revenue derived from nonperishables was seen from 2013 to 2014, with an increase of over $5 billion which can be seen in figure 3-2. The fact that Kroger is seeing such a large market share, over 50% of their revenue, coming from the nonperishable segment and 20% coming from the perishable segment, means that these are their stars due to their generation of considerable income.
For the past 11 years, I have been working for the same organization. Kroger is a large grocery store chain in which operates under 15 different banners. Kroger was established in 1883 by Barnard Kroger. Operating in 34 states in the United States, Kroger is the second largest grocery chain in the U.S.
Family Dollar was established in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1959 by a 21 year old entrepreneur named Leon Levine. He was interested in operating a low-overhead, self-service retail store. Levine’s main goal was to offer a variety of high quality merchandise to customers for under $2.00 (Family Dollar: History). If everything in the store wasn’t a dollar to begin with why did he name the store Family DOLLAR? The fact is that any person can be influenced in a different way just by the way someone words a sentence or phrase. A prime example of this is a Family Dollar store. The problem is that Family Dollar doesn’t sale everything in their store for a dollar, like a Dollar Tree does. Dollar Tree is seen to be one of the very few true
In 1883, Barney Kroger never could imagine that his $372 investment into his grocery store would turn into such a successful venture (Farfan, 2017). One hundred thirty-seven years later, Kroger stands as a prime example of the American dream as it caters to millions of people across the continental United States. Kroger is poised to enter the next few decades with some uncertainty, but they are no strangers to adversity. They have endured an aggressive “#GROCERIESNOTGUNS” campaign to punish them for allowing open-carry within their stores by deferring to local legislation (Epstein, 2014). In 2008, they reacted to a report by GreenPeace criticizing them for not practicing sustainable practices related to seafood by removing some of their more
Kroger supermarkets were started in 1883 by Barney Kroger. Mr. Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a grocery store in downtown Cincinnati. He started his business with the motto: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” Kroger now has over 2,600 stores in 34 states with annual sales of over 108.5 billion. This makes Kroger one of the world 's largest retailers. Kroger supermarkets were the first to establish their own bakeries “in store.” Kroger operates 37 food processing facilities. Kroger has become large enough to develop their own private label items that account for 26% of their total sales today.
Kroger’s, City Market, Kings Shoppers, Harris Teeters, Ralphs, and Smiths are a few companies directly or through subsidiary’s operations under the company’s umbrella of the 2,796 grocery supermarkets throughout 35 states and the District of Columbia that have helped shaped and developed the Kroger and Baking Company into one of the largest businesses in the United States based out of Cincinnati Ohio. (GuruFocus.com) The Company’s portfolio extends to the implementation of 2,255 pharmacies making it the fifth largest pharmacy business in the nation. (Kroger Company Fact Book) As a result of being the fifth largest pharmacy in the nation, the company recently acquisition and merged a deal with ModernHealth in
Kroger was first established in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1881; 133 years ago. The founder of Kroger was Bernard ‘Barney’ Kroger. Barney Kroger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio Kroger family owns a dry goods store; a store that sells goods such as dried beans, whole grains, flours, etc. He was forced to work at the age of thirteen to help support his family. He began working as a door to door salesman. Kroger had given a lot to open parks, zoos, and medical research. Bernard Kroger died on July 21, 1938 at the age of 78 by a heart attack.
Mr. Kroger ran his business with a simple motto, “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” (The Kroger Company). Another amazing fact, “Kroger became the first company to operate its own bakeries in 1901.” (The Kroger Company) In this research paper I will cover what I have learned about The Kroger Company, the company history, company products, company services, company marketing, and the company financial profile as of today. Furthermore, after my research on the Kroger Company I will conclude that Barney Kroger is a successful entrepreneur. The Kroger Company is a successful business all the way around.
Barney Kroger founded Kroger in the year 1883. He took his life savings and opened a grocery store up in downtown
Wegmans is a regional grocery store chain that has built its reputation as a ?one stop? shopping experience. In this grocery store you can pick up your prescription, order dinner in the market cafe, rent a video for the night and pick up your dry cleaning. Wegmans mantra ?Every day you get our best? is truly what they, as a company, strive to accomplish. From the inception of the first Wegmans store in Rochester, New York during 1930, this family owned company has positioned itself to be unique from the competitor. When the current President Danny Wegman returned from Harvard in 1976 he helped position the company to be competitive against the emerging competition like BJs and other discounters. In the midst
Another goal for Kroger is to transition to a 100% cage-free egg supply chain by 2025. There are other goals that Kroger will achieve by 2020, but there are goals that Kroger has already accomplished. It is good for a company to have goals, especially specific goals that are great for the consumers and the world. The CEO of The Kroger Co., Rodney McMullen, issues his annual letter to shareholders. The letter is long, but the high points of his strategy was: “Execution of Kroger’s Customer 1st Strategy”, “12 consecutive years of same-store sales growth”, “Growing the core business”, “Moving beyond the core with new services and strategic partnerships”, Innovation across all levels of the business”, and “Continued attention to philanthropy and sustainability”. Kroger has a lot of subsidiaries. The “Kroger Family of Companies” are 8451, Baker’s, City Market, Copps, Dillons, Food4Less, Food Co., FredMeyer, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Fry’s, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Jay C, King Soopers, Kroger Personal Finance, The Little Clinic, Mariano’s, Metro Market, Owen’s Market, Pay Less Super Markets, Pick ‘n Save, OFC, Ralphs, Roudy’s, Ruler Foods, Smith’s, Turkey Hill, and VitaCost. Most of these are food stores, but it is interesting to see Kroger Personal
The Human Resources department is a very important part in business because the company aspires to hire keen and honest people for employment. These days, more corporations are expanding their business into other countries, so they look to hire more diverse and bilingual people. Being one of the largest grocery stores in the United States, Kroger receives a wide variety of diverse shoppers. Kroger hires for full-time and part-time positions. The first step of the application process is sending in a resume. Employers can then review the resumes and send e-mails out to the people who were chosen to be interviewed. During the interview process, employers do a full background and drug test for potential employees. For full time positions, Kroger requires at least two to three years of work experience. The company also offers internships to those that apply, although most positions offered are part-time. Regardless of the position, all employees must partake in online training courses upon first being hired; if they cannot pass training, they cannot work for the company. Full-time positions require staff training on top of online training to ensure that employees are working at their fullest potential. After training, they are then assigned to their positions. The most common position within Kroger, a clerk, will typically start out at minimum wage, making $7.25 per hour, while full-time employees are given special bonuses for year-end holidays. The
Kroger is the store many of us go to and it has been around for a very long time. Kroger first opened in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1883 by a man named Bernard Kroger. When it was first opened, it was not called Kroger it was called The Great Western Tea Co. Now, Kroger is probably one of the few places you go weekly because you need food. People get points when they shop at Kroger and then they use those points to save money on the gas. A certain amount of points get a dollar or less off gas. Kroger is found in advertisements on billboards, magazines and even on television. These are for reminding people who are watching television that they need to get out and get their groceries.
The Kroger Company uses the broad differentiation strategy. They have business in at least eight different market segments. They operate two thousand, two hundred and fifty-five stores across America and operate under twenty four banners. Their market position ranks among the highest in the nation. They also have a strong bargaining power because of their many endeavors into different market areas. Kroger supermarkets have been in business for one hundred thirty four years and have made a substantial contribution to the business world (Annual report, 2017).