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Post by Warkitty on Apr 28, 2012 6:04:50 GMT -5
Maybe part of the reason they closed was people sampling but not buying?
:-P
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Post by Justin Thyme on Apr 28, 2012 7:55:44 GMT -5
Krogers are all over the Atlanta area. I rarely shop there any more. There meat market has no butcher or meat saws or meat grinders. Their clerks have only knives to cut the meat for you. Most of it is prepackaged. Their produce is of mediocre quality. They do have a decent deli and bakery but I haven't seen anyone handing out samples there in a while.
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Post by pictureman on May 3, 2012 19:33:02 GMT -5
Used to be a Kroger at Eastgate Mall, but Red Food Store ate their lunch.
So to speak.
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Post by Justin Thyme on May 4, 2012 6:31:18 GMT -5
Used to be a Kroger at Eastgate Mall, but Red Food Store ate their lunch. So to speak. No, that's not the way I remember it. Kroger was all over Chattanooga, not just at Eastgate. There was one on Dayton Blvd and Midvale Ave, one on 23rd St. where the Bi-Lo is now, Another on 153 across from Lowe's and more that I can't recall their location right now. They were very competitive with Red Food from what I remember but the workers organized in Chattanooga so they pulled out. They couldn't compete with non-union labor. |
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Bob
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Post by Bob on May 4, 2012 7:07:50 GMT -5
what I remember but the workers organized in Chattanooga so they pulled out. They couldn't compete with non-union labor. That is what happened. The way I remember, probably not completely accurate, is Kroger said "If you bring unions in, we'll close the stores" The workers thought they were bluffing. |
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JC
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Post by JC on May 4, 2012 14:38:35 GMT -5
Kroger is a union company. I'm not sure when they first unionized so I'm not sure if that story is correct or not.
I'm inclined to believe that if it was purely a union thing then (assuming that they were not unionized yet), then they would return to Chattanooga now.
I do know is that Kroger had trouble with profits in the area.... like every other chain that has appeared and disappeared in the area. There's been several chains come and go, yanno.
Maybe people preferred Red Food because it was a local company :shrugs: Whatever the reason, people still prefer shopping at BiLo. BiLo/Red Food has dominated and monopolized the market for a long time.
I also know that Red Food was, and BiLo is currently, unionized, which also leads me to not believe Kroger couldn't "compete" with union labor.
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Post by Justin Thyme on May 4, 2012 15:11:34 GMT -5
JC, I'm going completely off memory on this so I could be wrong but it seems I recall that there was a specific labor problem with the Chattanooga area that was a part of their reason for leaving. I just don't recall what the specific incident was.
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JC
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Post by JC on May 4, 2012 15:37:17 GMT -5
I've heard that story, too. I'm just not sure if it was the reason or if it was simply a rumor that got spread around.
If they were not unionized yet, I can certainly see how that would make them wanna close locations.
Course, my opinion could be completely wrong, too
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Post by ssmynkint on May 4, 2012 16:25:12 GMT -5
Kroger in Knoxville unionized after 6 months ofdispute/picketing in early '90s. Kroger continues to be the dominant grocery in that market, and many who walked the line then still work at Kroger.
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Post by pictureman on May 4, 2012 20:12:11 GMT -5
It was the union thing that closed the stores. There were several, as you say, including one, I think, at Germantown and Brainerd, across from that little strip center where Radio Shack is now. Right on the corner; it's a c-store now.
In the Eastgate parking lot, where the post office, et al. are now, was a World Foods for a while. Labor tried to unionize that store up to and including spraying bleach on the meat product to kill the sales. It worked. I remember going in there and smelling it. Gotta love those unions.
BiLo may be unionized now, I don't know, but back in the Roy McDonald/Red Food days there would be no union. Remember the union "strike" at the Chattanooga News-Free Press? Ole Roy let 'em camp out and walk the line for months until they finally pulled up stakes and went home.
At the time Red Food was dominant in the market there was one other small, locally-owned "chain" of grocery stores that struggled to complete. Rumor had it (I heard it from a vendor who called on both stores) that Red secretly financially "underwrote" the other store to keep them in business to avoid antitrust investigations. Just a rumor.
"Slotting allowances" is a fun subject, too, if you're into the grocery business.
All together now, "let's go Krogering...!"
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Post by pictureman on May 4, 2012 20:13:01 GMT -5
By the way, I think all the Kroger Price Patrol ladies are now greeters at WalMart.
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Bob
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Post by Bob on May 5, 2012 0:40:35 GMT -5
By the way, I think all the Kroger Price Patrol ladies are now greeters at WalMart. I don't know, it seems the greeters are younger... |
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Babs
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Post by Babs on May 5, 2012 10:19:44 GMT -5
Could it be we're getting older? Everyone looks young!
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Post by ssmynkint on May 5, 2012 10:35:27 GMT -5
They get younger by the day.
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Post by daworm on May 5, 2012 10:43:13 GMT -5
I miss the M&J.
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Post by pictureman on May 6, 2012 19:03:28 GMT -5
Ah, the ole Mulkey & Jackson store! Now that you mention it, seems like that was the grocery store on Brainerd Road at Belvoir across from where BiLo is now, not a Kroger. Isn't that the one that gave S&H Green Stamps?
Where does everyone shop nowadays? I like Aldi (the one in Ft. O, because of the cheap wine), and Publix. You?
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Post by Half-Tard on May 6, 2012 21:44:49 GMT -5
BI-LO..fuel perks help. Always shopped there. Just saved a $1.75 on the gallon.
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Post by daworm on May 6, 2012 21:46:44 GMT -5
The M&J in East Ridge gave green stamps. I remember filling the books with my mother before grocery day. It didn't hurt that it was only three blocks from home.
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JC
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Post by JC on May 7, 2012 6:05:15 GMT -5
Speaking of old stores, what was the name of that old retail giant (at the time) that was not unlike K Mart?
Wanna say there was one in Hixson and one in Brainerd where Big Lots is.
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Post by pictureman on May 7, 2012 15:30:17 GMT -5
Used to be a Hill's where Big Lots in Brainerd is now.
And, speaking of junk merchandise, across Lee Highway from the East Brainerd Road intersection there was once a Jubilee City. I think the little street is still named Jubilee Drive. Fellow by the name of Kaufman was the manager.
One of my favorite shopping places is becoming Carneceria Loa on Lee Highway. A fun place to go with some "interesting" meat parts for sale.
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Tookie
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Post by Tookie on May 8, 2012 10:09:24 GMT -5
There was also a Kroger on Highway 58. The closest Kroger to this area I believe is in Dalton. I like their brand products. I generally will shop anywhere but Bilo.
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Post by daworm on May 9, 2012 10:23:36 GMT -5
Either Hill's or Gibson's would be my guess.
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