Kroger announces layoffs

[golden eagle]

Layoffs already occurring in Cincinnati (where they're headquartered) and nearby Dayton.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-kroger-cutting-jobs-20191003-mx6co6dymbcujpmnxgcfgtk3yy-story.html

[hbelkins]

Layoffs already occurring in Cincinnati (where they're headquartered) and nearby Dayton.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-kroger-cutting-jobs-20191003-mx6co6dymbcujpmnxgcfgtk3yy-story.html

It's been my experience that unless they have a sale going on, Kroger is outrageously expensive. I always attributed that to Kroger being unionized. They even make the teenagers who work there after school and on weekends join the union, although now that Kentucky is a right-to-work state, this is probably no longer the case here. I remember a lot of the kids complaining about it when I worked at a newspaper in Stanton, where a smaller Kroger is located.

On non-sale brand name items, I've always found Walmart to be significantly cheaper.

[Rothman]

So, they had higher prices because the union negotiated higher wages?  Well, good for the union.

If Kroger's management signed contracts that caused them to be unable to compete, that's on them.

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

[hbelkins]

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

No, "RTW" = "employees are not required to pay union fees or join unions as a condition of employment."

[Scott5114]

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

No, "RTW" = "employees are not required to pay union fees or join unions as a condition of employment."

Which gives management carte blanche when it comes to conditions of employment instead. Not really wise to give someone with an interest in fucking you over all the power and just cross your fingers that they won't use it.

[hotdogPi]

I work at Stop & Shop, which sounds like it's similar to Kroger, at least for the employees. I feel like I'm getting decent money from it, although there's less of a difference between retail stores here, with minimum wage here being $12 per hour. Comparing Stop & Shop to other grocery stores, Shaw's also has a union, and Market Basket acts like it has one even though it doesn't, so it doesn't matter much which grocery store someone works at (in Massachusetts – minimum wage is only $7.25 in New Hampshire).

If I worked at Publix in Florida, I imagine my experience would not be nearly as good.

[MikeTheActuary]

Which gives management carte blanche when it comes to conditions of employment instead. Not really wise to give someone with an interest in f---ing you over all the power and just cross your fingers that they won't use it.

Management's ability to take advantage of employees in non-union environments is limited to the extent that employees are able to leave for greener pastures.

[Scott5114]

Which gives management carte blanche when it comes to conditions of employment instead. Not really wise to give someone with an interest in f---ing you over all the power and just cross your fingers that they won't use it.

Management's ability to take advantage of employees in non-union environments is limited to the extent that employees are able to leave for greener pastures.

Exactly the dilemma I find myself in–because my employer pays better than anything else attainable with a similar education level in the vicinity, going anywhere else results in a pay cut. So morale sucks because everyone is "locked in" and management feels entitled to run roughshod over whoever they feel like.

[vdeane]

Which gives management carte blanche when it comes to conditions of employment instead. Not really wise to give someone with an interest in f---ing you over all the power and just cross your fingers that they won't use it.

Management's ability to take advantage of employees in non-union environments is limited to the extent that employees are able to leave for greener pastures.

That's dependent on there being greener pastures to go to and for your to be far enough towards the top of your field to be able to do so.  Often that entails being willing to move.

[Rothman]

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

No, "RTW" = "employees are not required to pay union fees or join unions as a condition of employment."

I'd be for it, if people who did not join the union were not covered by the union-negotiated contract.  However, in the cases I'm aware of, the union negotiates for all employees for a workplace.  For employees to not pay dues to support the union's effort in doing so weakens the stance of labor and is mooching.

Besides, as Mike says, you can always find another job.

[vdeane]

I'd be for it, if people who did not join the union were not covered by the union-negotiated contract.

I can see how that could be abused.  All a business would have to do is offer perks to the non-union employees, let the union shrink and die, and then slowly make working conditions worse than they would be if the union were still there.

[Rothman]

I'd be for it, if people who did not join the union were not covered by the union-negotiated contract.

I can see how that could be abused.  All a business would have to do is offer perks to the non-union employees, let the union shrink and die, and then slowly make working conditions worse than they would be if the union were still there.

That's true. 

[Flint1979]

Well Kroger downsized and added on here. They closed two stores about 10 years ago and built one store in between the two stores. Within the last three years they closed two stores and added onto the one built 10 years ago leaving Saginaw with one Kroger store. There's one in Bridgeport and one in Frankenmuth otherwise that's it for Saginaw County.

I always found Kroger to be rather expensive and rather shop at Meijer which has two locations newly remodeled and are both open 24 hours unlike Kroger. That's another thing Kroger stopped being open 24 hours and now instead is open 6-1 daily. I wish they would exit the market again but the one Saginaw location is doing well.

[KEVIN_224]

6-1 sounds like the Price Chopper supermarket in Newington, CT. I was told it used to be 24 hours. The locations in Southington and Middletown still are. A new Shop Rite opened in Cromwell a few months ago. I thought it would be a 24 hour location. It is not.

Shaws is still in the supermarket business. However, they exited Connecticut several years ago. The last one I went to was on Congress Street in Portland, ME. Our state is dominated by Stop & Shop and Big Y.

[jp the roadgeek]

I believe the Price Choppers in Bristol and Windsor are also open 24 hours, except they do close early on Easter and Thanksgiving, and are closed all day on Christmas.  However, many of the Price Choppers in CT have yet to adopt the new Market 32 concept, and have kind of fallen behind in quality, price, and product availability.  The old one in Waterbury was taken over by a Shop Rite, which moved down the street, and the one in Vernon in Tri-City Plaza is becoming a Shop Rite as well.

Most Stop & Shops used to be open 24 hours until about 10 years ago.  Now, the only one that still is is in Hamden on Dixwell Ave (CT 10).  The one in my town closes at midnight, but I know a couple that close at 11:00, and even earlier on Sundays.  Most Shop Rites close earlier; the one in my town closes at 10 every night and at 9 on Sundays.  Same with most Big Y locations.  Even many Walmarts have cut their hours; the one in my town used to be open until midnight; now it closes at 10. The former 24 hour Supercenter in New Haven now closes at midnight, as does the former 24 hour Walgreens in my town, despite having a 24 hour CVS right across the street.

The nearest Shaws are in Sturbridge, MA and Warwick, RI.  However, their parent company (Albertsons) has re-entered a small corner of CT by opening a couple of Acme Markets in former A&P locations in New Canaan, Stamford and Greenwich.   

[renegade]

I always found Kroger to be rather expensive and rather shop at Meijer which has two locations newly remodeled and are both open 24 hours unlike Kroger. That's another thing Kroger stopped being open 24 hours and now instead is open 6-1 daily. I wish they would exit the market again but the one Saginaw location is doing well.

Once again, here you are wishing for lost jobs.  Why?

[Flint1979]

I always found Kroger to be rather expensive and rather shop at Meijer which has two locations newly remodeled and are both open 24 hours unlike Kroger. That's another thing Kroger stopped being open 24 hours and now instead is open 6-1 daily. I wish they would exit the market again but the one Saginaw location is doing well.

Once again, here you are wishing for lost jobs.  Why?

Think what you want to think. Never once said I'm wishing for job losses. Kroger has never cared either way.

[renegade]

 

[hbelkins]

Many of the Kroger stores in this area are going to the "Marketplace" concept where they're selling furniture and other items not normally associated with a grocery store.

[VTGoose]

So, they had higher prices because the union negotiated higher wages?  Well, good for the union.

If Kroger's management signed contracts that caused them to be unable to compete, that's on them.

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

That works to a point, until union management negotiates contracts that benefit union management over the rank and file members. Even though Virginia is a right to work state, Kroger stores are unionized (but membership isn't mandatory). Recent contracts have protected health benefits and retirement for the older union leadership while doing little for the younger workers who would prefer a wage bump.

[hotdogPi]

So, they had higher prices because the union negotiated higher wages?  Well, good for the union.

If Kroger's management signed contracts that caused them to be unable to compete, that's on them.

"Right to work" = "Right to be paid whatever pennies management dictates"

That works to a point, until union management negotiates contracts that benefit union management over the rank and file members. Even though Virginia is a right to work state, Kroger stores are unionized (but membership isn't mandatory). Recent contracts have protected health benefits and retirement for the older union leadership while doing little for the younger workers who would prefer a wage bump.

I'm not sure how effective unions are for raising wages, since minimum wage is already $12 in Massachusetts where I am.

That said, minimum wage should go up in Virginia after the probable* change in power after the 2019 elections.

*PredictIt gives an 81% chance for the state house and a 90% chance for the state senate, and that doesn't include a 50-50 or 20-20 tie.

[Scott5114]

I always found Kroger to be rather expensive and rather shop at Meijer which has two locations newly remodeled and are both open 24 hours unlike Kroger. That's another thing Kroger stopped being open 24 hours and now instead is open 6-1 daily. I wish they would exit the market again but the one Saginaw location is doing well.

Once again, here you are wishing for lost jobs.  Why?

I lost my job but it turned out it was between the couch cushions the entire time. Whoops!

[GCrites]

Many of the Kroger stores in this area are going to the "Marketplace" concept where they're selling furniture and other items not normally associated with a grocery store.

That means the immediate vicinity is otherwise under-retailed.

[hbelkins]

Many of the Kroger stores in this area are going to the "Marketplace" concept where they're selling furniture and other items not normally associated with a grocery store.

That means the immediate vicinity is otherwise under-retailed.

Not hardly. The Richmond Kroger Marketplace is just down the street from a Lowes, a Walmart, and a number of other places. The west Frankfort location has both of those, plus JC Penney and a bunch of other places. East Frankfort is only a couple of miles from a fairly new development.

[LM117]

Kroger closed all 14 of their stores in the Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) in North Carolina about a year ago. Their explanation was that the Triangle market was oversaturated and highly competitive. 8 of their buildings are becoming Harris Teeter and one a Food Lion.

Wegmans just opened a store in Raleigh not far from one of the former Kroger buildings and all the Northern transplants are flocking to it like moths on a light bulb.