Kroger building online delivery in Florida

[kevinb1994]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/kroger-to-create-180-jobs-at-jacksonville-delivery-center

Kroger is working on a hub-and-spoke system, with the hub in Central Florida and two spokes in Jacksonville and Tampa.

[Avalanchez71]

I was going to say does Kroger seriously think that it can compete with Publix in Florida?   I then read the article to see that it only has one store in Nassau County and they are going to a delivery only model.

[hotdogPi]

I was going to say does Kroger seriously think that it can compete with Publix in Florida?   I then read the article to see that it only has one store in Nassau County and they are going to a delivery only model.

Probably not. Where I live, Stop & Shop and Shaws are union supermarkets, while Market Basket is about 20% cheaper but has no union (although, and this is very unusual, they don't need one; they have benevolent people on top, and the workers went on strike in 2014 when the owner tried to make it more traditional management). Where the stores overlap (which used to be more, but Stop & Shop no longer has any stores in New Hampshire*), Market Basket is dominant by far. hbelkins says the same thing applies in his area, just with different companies, with Kroger as the union store and I forget as the non-union store. (I thought I remembered something longer than a single sentence, but see the last sentence here.)

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

* They didn't pull out of New Hampshire entirely; Hannaford is owned by the same parent company and still has stores in New Hampshire.
** radix → radices

[Max Rockatansky]

A better target for Kroger in Florida would be to go after places that have Winn Dixie stores only.  That said, I still prefer the newer Winn Dixie stores (largely because of the Wing Bar) over what Kroger offers. 

[SP Cook]

Kroger, under its own name and about a dozen others,  is available to about 75% of the country's population.   A store under one of the alternate names is, more or less, the same as a Kroger.  For example in SoCal its "Ralph's" or in the Mountain West it is "Smith's", but other than that, they are pretty much identical. With some odd exceptions, an area either has Kroger stores, or one of the alternate names, but not both. The states it misses are the New England states, NY, NJ, PA, IA, HI, MN, the Dakotas, and, oddly, OK. 

The exception is H-T.  It bought Harris-Teeter in 2013,  Unlike the other alternate brands H-T overlaps with Kroger brand stores.    Thus it is operated as a totally separate entity, on a union-free basis.   The desire to keep H-T union free is probably why it has not been intergrated into the over-all company by now. 

Which brings up Florida.   The only Kroger owned store in Florida is a single outlet of H-T near where the previous owners had a vacation home.  Kroger really doesn't do business in FL. 

I don't see Kroger getting in the traditional supermarket business in FL.  Publix (which is employee owned) Winn-Dixie and some others have it covered.

[roadman65]

Jacksonville has Kroger.

[SP Cook]

Yeah, the one Harris-Teeter.   

[hbelkins]

Kroger is unionized; at least around here.

I remember several years ago when there was a massive closure and pullout of Kroger in NE Kentucky and West Virginia over a labor dispute. On some of my recent travels, I encountered a couple of smallish Krogers still in existence, but I can't remember exactly where they were.

Kroger is also outrageously priced on their grocery items unless they have a sale going.

[Avalanchez71]

I was going to say does Kroger seriously think that it can compete with Publix in Florida?   I then read the article to see that it only has one store in Nassau County and they are going to a delivery only model.

Probably not. Where I live, Stop & Shop and Shaws are union supermarkets, while Market Basket is about 20% cheaper but has no union (although, and this is very unusual, they don't need one; they have benevolent people on top, and the workers went on strike in 2014 when the owner tried to make it more traditional management). Where the stores overlap (which used to be more, but Stop & Shop no longer has any stores in New Hampshire*), Market Basket is dominant by far. hbelkins says the same thing applies in his area, just with different companies, with Kroger as the union store and I forget as the non-union store. (I thought I remembered something longer than a single sentence, but see the last sentence here.)

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

* They didn't pull out of New Hampshire entirely; Hannaford is owned by the same parent company and still has stores in New Hampshire.
** radix → radices

I was in Stop & Shop not long ago in Connecticut and found lots of items that were on or around the expiration date.

[Avalanchez71]

A better target for Kroger in Florida would be to go after places that have Winn Dixie stores only.  That said, I still prefer the newer Winn Dixie stores (largely because of the Wing Bar) over what Kroger offers.

I don't see people pulling out of a Publix heavily dominated area and going to Kroger.  I would say the Winn Dixie markets would see the competition as you say.

[hotdogPi]

I was going to say does Kroger seriously think that it can compete with Publix in Florida?   I then read the article to see that it only has one store in Nassau County and they are going to a delivery only model.

Probably not. Where I live, Stop & Shop and Shaws are union supermarkets, while Market Basket is about 20% cheaper but has no union (although, and this is very unusual, they don't need one; they have benevolent people on top, and the workers went on strike in 2014 when the owner tried to make it more traditional management). Where the stores overlap (which used to be more, but Stop & Shop no longer has any stores in New Hampshire*), Market Basket is dominant by far. hbelkins says the same thing applies in his area, just with different companies, with Kroger as the union store and I forget as the non-union store. (I thought I remembered something longer than a single sentence, but see the last sentence here.)

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

* They didn't pull out of New Hampshire entirely; Hannaford is owned by the same parent company and still has stores in New Hampshire.
** radix → radices

I was in Stop & Shop not long ago in Connecticut and found lots of items that were on or around the expiration date.

So did I; I was actually one of the ones who removed them from the shelves, despite not actually being what I was there for. I think all grocery stores have that issue.

[Rothman]

I was going to say does Kroger seriously think that it can compete with Publix in Florida?   I then read the article to see that it only has one store in Nassau County and they are going to a delivery only model.

Probably not. Where I live, Stop & Shop and Shaws are union supermarkets, while Market Basket is about 20% cheaper but has no union (although, and this is very unusual, they don't need one; they have benevolent people on top, and the workers went on strike in 2014 when the owner tried to make it more traditional management). Where the stores overlap (which used to be more, but Stop & Shop no longer has any stores in New Hampshire*), Market Basket is dominant by far. hbelkins says the same thing applies in his area, just with different companies, with Kroger as the union store and I forget as the non-union store. (I thought I remembered something longer than a single sentence, but see the last sentence here.)

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

* They didn't pull out of New Hampshire entirely; Hannaford is owned by the same parent company and still has stores in New Hampshire.
** radix → radices

I was in Stop & Shop not long ago in Connecticut and found lots of items that were on or around the expiration date.

So did I; I was actually one of the ones who removed them from the shelves, despite not actually being what I was there for. I think all grocery stores have that issue.

Not around here (upstate NY).  Some stores are definitely more egregious than others in that regard.

[Scott5114]

Kroger, under its own name and about a dozen others,  is available to about 75% of the country's population. ... The states it misses are the New England states, NY, NJ, PA, IA, HI, MN, the Dakotas, and, oddly, OK. 

This is no doubt due to Oklahoma's perception in the retail industry of being solid Walmart territory. That, combined with our low population density/low income per square mile, means that when considering Oklahoma, the spreadsheets that CEOs use to decide where to expand throw up a parade of red flags reminiscent of one in 1980s Moscow.

But when retailers do bite the bullet and gamble on expanding here, they often find success despite their internal metrics; Costco opened their first location in OKC and it does enough business that the line to get into the parking lot often backs up onto the turnpike. Because while in every other metro area it can be assumed that all of the customers will come from within a five- or ten-mile radius, Oklahomans think nothing of driving an hour or more to the other side of town to go to some store. So even though they built their store on the far north side of the city, they're pulling in customers from the southern suburbs and exurbs at rates their spreadsheets never predicted.

[dlsterner]

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

** radix → radices

The "x becomes c" rule does not apply to proper nouns such as "Publix".  So in standard American English, although index becomes indices, Publix becomes Publixes, not Publices.

Although apparently, the company's preferred plural is "Publix stores".

[Scott5114]

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

** radix → radices

The "x becomes c" rule does not apply to proper nouns such as "Publix".  So in standard American English, although index becomes indices, Publix becomes Publixes, not Publices.

Although apparently, the company's preferred plural is "Publix stores".

Nah, since ox→oxen, Publix→Publixen.

[wriddle082]

Kroger can pull this off with heavy advertising and undercutting Publix on delivery fees and overall grocery prices in general.  I'm sure a lot of newly-transplanted elderly Midwestern snowbirds who are more familiar with Kroger will consider this service over Publix.

[kevinb1994]

Kroger can pull this off with heavy advertising and undercutting Publix on delivery fees and overall grocery prices in general.  I'm sure a lot of newly-transplanted elderly Midwestern snowbirds who are more familiar with Kroger will consider this service over Publix.

Yes, exactly my thoughts.

Also, the aforementioned Harris Teeter is in Nassau County (Florida, of course)-on Amelia Island (with a Fernandina address because Amelia City is unincorporated) of all places on the First Coast (note that that is also the name of the highway that the Harris Teeter is on-but it's spelled as "1st Coast Highway"  for whatever reason).

[dlsterner]

From this, Kroger probably can't compete with Publix, although if they find a place with no Publices** nearby, they could survive. That said, I don't know if any grocery stores have unions in Florida.

** radix → radices

The "x becomes c" rule does not apply to proper nouns such as "Publix".  So in standard American English, although index becomes indices, Publix becomes Publixes, not Publices.

Although apparently, the company's preferred plural is "Publix stores".

Nah, since ox→oxen, Publix→Publixen.

Well, I have heard people use "VAXen" as a plural for DEC's VAX computer (DEC = Digital Equipment Corporation for any of you young'uns)
Maybe we should go ahead with Publixen 

[NJRoadfan]

Publix has been known to do some really odd things to prevent competition. One example was when they took over an Albertsons in Largo FL at the Largo Mall..... even though there is a Publix directly across the street already! The store itself has few customers and the layout is weird since the Albertsons was larger than a typical Publix. You got extra wide aisles to make the store look even more empty!

[kevinb1994]

Publix has been known to do some really odd things to prevent competition. One example was when they took over an Albertsons in Largo FL at the Largo Mall..... even though there is a Publix directly across the street already! The store itself has few customers and the layout is weird since the Albertsons was larger than a typical Publix. You got extra wide aisles to make the store look even more empty!

Oh, they're doing that with a former Lucky's in Neptune Beach. It's crazy. Two Publix locations RIGHT next to each other.

Glad that's not the case around here. I'll be sure to make a trek over to the future Winn-Dixie liquor place that is basically an old location from back in the day (it was a Winn and Lovett, or simply Lovett's, from 1951). It's in the old Miramar (Jacksonville) Shopping Center.

[wriddle082]

Kroger can pull this off with heavy advertising and undercutting Publix on delivery fees and overall grocery prices in general.  I'm sure a lot of newly-transplanted elderly Midwestern snowbirds who are more familiar with Kroger will consider this service over Publix.

Yes, exactly my thoughts.

Also, the aforementioned Harris Teeter is in Nassau County (Florida, of course)-on Amelia Island (with a Fernandina address because Amelia City is unincorporated) of all places on the First Coast (note that that is also the name of the highway that the Harris Teeter is on-but it's spelled as "1st Coast Highway"  for whatever reason).

Nassau County isn't too terribly far away from other H-T stores, as it looks like there is a location in Brunswick, and then the next closest is Hilton Head (none in Savannah but that's a Kroger town, as is Waycross).