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Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 16 Jan 2017 20:56
by mikeparkridge
I know or at least I'm pretty sure they pulled out of Chicago in 1971 but when did they enter the Chicago market?


Can't find anything on their website.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 16 Jan 2017 21:40
by Groceteria
Per Wikipedia (which, of course, knows and is completely correct about everything) they apparently entered Milwaukee in 1955 (via the Krambo stores) and left in 1972. Nothing about Chicago, though.

Also, a thread from this board on Kroger in Wiscosin: http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... =19&t=2334

Not sure how closely related Chicago and Milwaukee might have been.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 16 Jan 2017 22:35
by mikeparkridge
Well they were here for sure.

My grandparents lived in the same house I do now. and told me it existed nearby.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 17 Jan 2017 17:30
by rich
Kroger seems to have entered a lot of markets somewhere in the mid-to-late 20s. In some cases, they opened stores and bought Piggly Wiggly operators (gradually phasing out the PW name)--that was how they entered Cleveland and Atlanta. They bought some other local chains in this period like the Eagle chain in Pittsburgh (started by people who later founded Giant Eagle). Probably taking a look at old newspapers from that period could provide a clue.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 17 Jan 2017 19:55
by Andrew T.
Kroger appears to have entered Chicago in the mid-1930s by acquiring a local outfit called Consumers Grocery. In fact, their advertising for the duration of the 1930s was under the Kroger-Consumers name (Southtown Economist archive):
kroger-consumers.png
Kroger exited Wisconsin in 1971, and I long presumed they exited Chicago at the exact same time. However I checked the newspaper archives I have access to, and found that Kroger was advertising in Cook County as late as April 1973. Two of their suburban stores (one in Park Forest and one in Chicago Heights) were converted to Thrif-T-Mart at that time. Whether or not these were the last stragglers of the bunch is anyone's guess.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 02 Feb 2017 12:49
by rich
Kroger sold their Chicago area distribution center to Dominick's in '70 along with two cohorts of stores---buying the distribution center probably marked their departure from the market, although Dominick's made its second purchase about 6 months after. The South Suburban stores probably were supplied from Indianapolis or someplace in downstate Illinois and may not have been attractive to a chain buyer---Dominick's was more North & West suburban oriented; National and Jewel saturated the region and had been building larger stores than Kroger.

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 02 Feb 2017 22:48
by rvwalton
rich wrote:Kroger sold their Chicago area distribution center to Dominick's in '70 along with two cohorts of stores---buying the distribution center probably marked their departure from the market, although Dominick's made its second purchase about 6 months after. The South Suburban stores probably were supplied from Indianapolis or someplace in downstate Illinois and may not have been attractive to a chain buyer---Dominick's was more North & West suburban oriented; National and Jewel saturated the region and had been building larger stores than Kroger.
Do you have a list of the south suburban stores? Having grown up on the Northwest Side, the only Krogers I remember were at Higgins and Foster, Central north of Fullerton, Marine Drive, and Cumberland and Higgins. I saw a list of stores once, but it seemed like they skewed to the city and were all taken by Dominick's.

Thanks!

Re: Kroger/Chicago

Posted: 03 Feb 2017 13:19
by rich
i should have qualified that--the stores that Andrew mentioned are the South Suburban stores I was referencing (Chicago Heights & Park Forest). From looking up the sale to Dominick's, I noticed that they had about 60 stores when they opened their Northlake facility and had 74 stores in their Chicago Division a few years later. I have no idea the range of that distribution facility but it could easily have included places like Elgin, Kankakee or Gary-Hammond. SuperX had stores in Harvey, Chicago Heights & Munster, IN in 1969 which would provide some idea of Kroger's coverage. Old Chicago Tribune's don't provide much indication of Kroger's coverage, but old phone books might.