Kroger is the largest pure grocery chain in the USA although Wal-Mart has overtaken Kroger as the largest seller of groceries. While Kroger has diversified through acquisitions, adding jewelry and general merchandise to its mix, food stores still account for about 85% of sales. The company operates about 3,650 stores, including nearly 2,470 supermarkets and multi-department stores, under two dozen banners, in about 30 states. It also runs some 780 convenience stores under names such as Quik Stop and Kwik Shop. Kroger’s Fred Meyer Stores subsidiary operates more than 120 supercenters, which offer groceries, general merchandise, and jewelry, in the western US.
Criticism
Worker’s Rights
- US: Remaking America in Wal-Mart’s Image: “The Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons chains and their subsidiaries claim underdog status, as they grind $10 an hour workers into the dirt. “Wal-Mart is coming, Wal-Mart is coming!” they cry, moaning that the non-union retail behemoth’s labor costs are about 20 percent lower than industry norms.”
Business Ethics
- US: Guilty Plea in Ralphs Labor Case: “The grocery chain agrees to pay $70 million for illegal hiring during the 2003-04 lockout.”
- US: Ralphs Indicted for Grocery Strike Labor Violations: “A federal grand jury indicted the Ralphs grocery chain (a division of Kroger Co.) today on criminal charges alleging that store managers secretly rehired locked-out workers during the bitter Southern California supermarket labor dispute in 2003-04.”
Brands and Subsidiaries
- Supermarkets – Kroger, Ralph’s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC, Baker’s, Owen’s, JayC, Hilander, Gerbes, Pay Less, Scott’s
- Warehouse stores – Food 4 Less, Foods Co
- Multi-department stores – Fred Meyer
- Convenience stores – Turkey Hill, Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug, Qwik Stop, Tom Thumb
- Jewelry stores – Fred Meyer Jewelers, Littman Jewelers, Barclay Jewelers[1]