I still have the generic, all-white beer cans plus Heritage House, Hudephol, Cinci, POC, Black Label, and other Ohio brands.

Sorry. They were PC even back then. It's Nite /OR/ Day.  Not Nite /AND/ Day.  :drunk: :drunk: :drunk: :police:

 

 

^ Okay, time to set all those Cost Cutter beer cans down and take copious notes!  The Enquirer just published this detailed article about "Kroger thinking."  A really decent read; test tomorrow morning:  http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/02/14/whos-next-krogers-shopping-spree/80290776/

While digitizing some old video tapes, I found this shot of the Goshen Thriftway which only existed for a few months (in this building) before it closed and became a Kroger:

 

Nice. What's up with that signage that says nothing of Thirftway at all except the collection of letters actually spells it? I don't remember that branding at all.

 

What, pray tell, are you doing digitizing old vids? A project we should know about?

Nice. What's up with that signage that says nothing of Thirftway at all except the collection of letters actually spells it? I don't remember that branding at all.

 

What, pray tell, are you doing digitizing old vids? A project we should know about?

 

Well the sign was a class Thriftway sign, so when they converted it to a Kroger, they awkwardly stuffed the Kroger logo into it:

 

 

I found a few interesting bits on tape that I might share at some point. Some footage of the old Glencoe rowhouses that are now demolished, lots of old streetcar debates, etc.

Pure speculation, but concerning Kroger, yesterday there appeared some surprising business news with potentially huge ramifications:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/02/18/exclusive-kroger-could-be-targeting-israel-in.html

We live in a world where revenue of $26.2 billion just isn't good enough any more... because it is below the expectation of $26.3 billion.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/03/03/kroger-s-stock-gets-slammed-after-earnings-report.html

subocincy[/member]: Kroger has ruled out a grocery store - so could this be for an expansion of some Kroger HQ functions?

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/03/03/kroger-no-9th-street-store-downtown/81270996/:

 

Kroger doesn't plan to develop a supermarket on a Downtown property it acquired last week.

 

The quarter-acre site, at 901 Elm St., has a vacant 65-year-old office building on it across the street from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy-Armleder campus and is next to multiple parking lots.

 

Alas, Kroger officials say they plan to rehab the property, not knock it down and build a supermarket. The company wouldn't say whether the building will remain office space, but said it won't be a store. Officials said further details will be revealed in the future as construction plans are filed with the city.

 

"It will house an internal company initiative," Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said. "Kroger plans to renovate the existing structure."

 

The site is a couple blocks from the company's headquarters at East Court and Vine streets.

^Why would they renovate that piece of crap?

^Why would they renovate that piece of crap?

 

Poker face

I kinda like it but I kinda don't care if it goes either.

I think it's a cute little building that could be really cool and retro if renovated. With that being said, if someone wanted to demolish it and build a new tower on that site, I don't think anyone would be too heartbroken.

 

I feel pretty much the same about the Queen City Radio building, too. Enjoy these unique smaller buildings while we have the chance, but they might need to go in the long run.

Downtowns without small buildings get boring.  A big reason why DT Chicago is a lot less interesting that NYC is because there is hardly a single small building left standing inside the loop.  In New York you will see random 2-story town homes and commercial buildings next to 50+ story towers. 

It's also why the near downtown neighborhoods are more interesting

Downtowns without small buildings get boring.  A big reason why DT Chicago is a lot less interesting that NYC is because there is hardly a single small building left standing inside the loop.  In New York you will see random 2-story town homes and commercial buildings next to 50+ story towers. 

 

So true.

John Kiesewetter of WVXU has shared a history of the building and all the broadcasting history that took place there. It's too bad that none of the local TV stations have a downtown presence with a studio at street level anymore.

John Kiesewetter of WVXU has shared a history of the building and all the broadcasting history that took place there. It's too bad that none of the local TV stations have a downtown presence with a studio at street level anymore.

 

The shows he talks about in the article played a role in the history of Cappel's store because they would have set decorations from Cappel's or items they talked about on air and then all the ladies in the studio audience would come in and buy them afterwards.

It's too bad that none of the local TV stations have a downtown presence with a studio at street level anymore.

 

I've always thought it'd be great to have a local TV station broadcasting from the 2nd or 3rd floor of Carew Tower with Fountain Square a sa back drop...

It's too bad that none of the local TV stations have a downtown presence with a studio at street level anymore.

 

I've always thought it'd be great to have a local TV station broadcasting from the 2nd or 3rd floor of Carew Tower with Fountain Square a sa back drop...

 

I think it was WKRC that used to broadcast from the lobby of Fifth-Third Center.

Correct, I think they stopped around the time that the Fountain Square renovation and/or Government Square renovation began.

More corporate welfare potentially on the way from our favorite mayor:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/06/21/council-member-mulled-lawsuit-against-cranley.html

 

Can't get 100K for bus shelters; willing to shell out millions for largest Fortune 500 company in Ohio.

More details on the small building Kroger purchased on Elm.

 

http://city-egov.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/council/public/child/Blob/45390.pdf?rpp=-10&m=1&w=doc_no%3D%27201600904%27

More corporate welfare potentially on the way from our favorite mayor:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/06/21/council-member-mulled-lawsuit-against-cranley.html

 

Can't get 100K for bus shelters; willing to shell out millions for largest Fortune 500 company in Ohio.

 

I am more interested in the trick that Cranley pulled here by refinancing TIF debt into general budget debt. That essentially means that TIF districts can produce unlimited money for new projects. (Maybe not unlimited, but way more that we previously thought.) You just issue the debt using the TIF district and then quietly refinance it as general fund debt a few months later. Then you can go back to the TIF district for more money...

More details on the small building Kroger purchased on Elm.

 

http://city-egov.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/council/public/child/Blob/45390.pdf?rpp=-10&m=1&w=doc_no%3D%27201600904%27

 

In short, the new building will serve as the Kroger Culinary Training & Education Center and Kroger is investing $3,825,000 into the building's rehab.

More corporate welfare potentially on the way from our favorite mayor:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/06/21/council-member-mulled-lawsuit-against-cranley.html

 

Can't get 100K for bus shelters; willing to shell out millions for largest Fortune 500 company in Ohio.

 

I am more interested in the trick that Cranley pulled here by refinancing TIF debt into general budget debt. That essentially means that TIF districts can produce unlimited money for new projects. (Maybe not unlimited, but way more that we previously thought.) You just issue the debt using the TIF district and then quietly refinance it as general fund debt a few months later. Then you can go back to the TIF district for more money...

 

I worry about this because really its not unlimited money. TIF's are financed by the difference in tax income between the adoption of the district and the improvement. They last up to 30 years. What happens after year 30 if the debt is not paid off? Does the payment come from the general fund? If so it would be like the city pension all over again. Going into debt to pay for debt.

Abandoned Kroger turned into condos?

 

https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1480327/6620-Montgomery-Rd-3-Kennedy-Hts-OH-45213

^ they are calling space within the old Kroger Condos for some reason. its retail/office space.

Yeah... "condo" doesn't necessarily mean "residential". The listing description is pretty clearly NOT residential: "9700 sq ft of dry walled space; clean slate to customize. perfect for arts-related or non-profit venture."

 

Something annoying that can happen if you live in an area that is slightly under-retailed is that a Kroger will open, expand or add a pharmacy. Sounds good right? Everybody blames Wal-Mart for this, but a Kroger can negatively affect your local economy as well. The small outer-ring town I recently moved to is not a retail darling like Mason or Hillard. When the Kroger opened, the local pharmacy closed and the small local grocery market went to being a standard convenience store full of snacks, bongs, beer, and your token random canned goods nobody buys. This is inconvenient since now you have to get everything from Kroger. Need aspirin? Guess where is the only place in town to buy it? Get in your car, drive real far then march across the huge parking lot for one item. I've already got a fridge full of food from going there yesterday; I just need ONE THING.

 

The other day I was in there and the guy in front of me only had a bottle of aspirin but also wanted cigarettes. The cigarettes were locked up all the way at the other end of the registers and the tetotalling middle-age women that work there invariably know nothing about cigarettes. They must have gone back and forth 5 times and then had to get management involved to get the guy the right cigarettes since he couldn't just point at them from that far away. If that local pharmacy didn't have to close the user experience of the area would be much better. It makes you resent Kroger if you have to go there 5 times a week since everything else closed.

 

Kroger was looking at buying some Walgreens and Rite-Aid locations so that those two companies would be allowed to merge. But when they found out the FTC wouldn't allow Kroger to buy the stores just to shut them down and take over their prescriptions they backed out.

 

 

Kroger balks at buying stores from Walgreens-Rite Aid deal -source

 

 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has told Kroger it would not have the option to close and integrate Rite Aid stores that are near Kroger locations, the source said...

 

Walgreens said in early September it would likely have to divest between 500 and 1000 stores, more than its previous estimate, to win regulatory approval for its planned acquisition. Walgreen operates about 8,100 stores in the United States.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/riteaid-ma-walgreens-kroger-idUSL1N1CP0RB

 

 

I was at the Mitchell Ave. Kroger last night.  Out of the corner of my eye I notice a blow-up R2D2 near the flowers by the front door...and some 7 year-old punk ran right up to it and kicked R2D2 in the nuts. 

That's a low blow.

 

No seriously, his nuts are like 6 inches off the floor.

I can still picture 3CPO having something stoic to say about the whole thing.

Meanwhile, in Dallas...

 

Kroger plans new store and urban apartments on the eastern edge of downtown Dallas

 

 

A new Kroger supermarket on the edge of Dallas' Arts District will offer more than groceries. The supermarket chain plans for its new store to be part of a mixed-use development that includes hundreds of new apartments. Kroger last year purchased a block of land on Hall Street between Ross Avenue and North Central Expressway. It's just across the highway from downtown and in an area that's seeing rapid redevelopment.

 

Early this year Kroger filed plans with the City of Dallas to build just a supermarket and surface parking on the site. But now the grocery giant has teamed up with a local apartment builder and wants to include 375 apartments with the project.

 

More below:

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2016/11/08/kroger-plans-new-store-urban-apartments-eastern-edge-downtown-dallas

A smart move and one so like Kroger.  The food store giant typically moves quietly, but aggressively, behind the scenes, then pops into public view with its prize.

Something annoying that can happen if you live in an area that is slightly under-retailed is that a Kroger will open, expand or add a pharmacy. Sounds good right? Everybody blames Wal-Mart for this, but a Kroger can negatively affect your local economy as well. The small outer-ring town I recently moved to is not a retail darling like Mason or Hillard. When the Kroger opened, the local pharmacy closed and the small local grocery market went to being a standard convenience store full of snacks, bongs, beer, and your token random canned goods nobody buys. This is inconvenient since now you have to get everything from Kroger. Need aspirin? Guess where is the only place in town to buy it? Get in your car, drive real far then march across the huge parking lot for one item. I've already got a fridge full of food from going there yesterday; I just need ONE THING.

 

The other day I was in there and the guy in front of me only had a bottle of aspirin but also wanted cigarettes. The cigarettes were locked up all the way at the other end of the registers and the tetotalling middle-age women that work there invariably know nothing about cigarettes. They must have gone back and forth 5 times and then had to get management involved to get the guy the right cigarettes since he couldn't just point at them from that far away. If that local pharmacy didn't have to close the user experience of the area would be much better. It makes you resent Kroger if you have to go there 5 times a week since everything else closed.

 

Kroger was looking at buying some Walgreens and Rite-Aid locations so that those two companies would be allowed to merge. But when they found out the FTC wouldn't allow Kroger to buy the stores just to shut them down and take over their prescriptions they backed out.

 

 

Kroger balks at buying stores from Walgreens-Rite Aid deal -source

 

 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has told Kroger it would not have the option to close and integrate Rite Aid stores that are near Kroger locations, the source said...

 

Walgreens said in early September it would likely have to divest between 500 and 1000 stores, more than its previous estimate, to win regulatory approval for its planned acquisition. Walgreen operates about 8,100 stores in the United States.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/riteaid-ma-walgreens-kroger-idUSL1N1CP0RB

 

 

 

It looks like Kroger is getting close to buying some of these Walgreens/Rite Aid stores, most of which are around 14,000 square feet. Like GCrites80s[/member] said, they won't be allowed to shut them down, they'll have to actually operate them.

 

So, Kroger's strategy here seems a little odd. On the one hand, they have acquired several brands that do smaller urban stores very well, and with this Walgreens/Rite Aid news, they're getting even deeper into the convenience store business. And yet, in the Midwest, they continue to shut down smaller stores in urban areas and push everyone towards their massive Marketplace stores.

^ It depends where those pharmacies are located. Kroger does have stand alone stores and it could compliment that footprint

The article mentioned that many of the stores are in the northeast where Kroger and its subsidiaries do not operate any grocery stores currently. So I wonder if Kroger will brand them as a standalone Kroger Pharmacy or maybe give them one of the convenience store brands that Kroger currently owns.

Why didn't Kroger work out in Cleveland? They're so much cheaper than Heinens and Daves. They have this magical combination of a great selection and great prices. My girlfriend is from Cleveland and moved to Columbus (where I met her before moving up to Cleveland with her) and she misses Kroger like crazy too.) I had class mates at my coding boot camp that moved to Columbus from Cleveland but came back for the coding school and before class we all would all talk about how amazing Kroger is and how we miss it. It's odd how such a good quality product / service can fail in Cleveland. Seems to be the case with a lot of companies that move into Cleveland. Same thing happened to Donatos when McDonalds owned it; they expanded like crazy into Cleveland but didn't do well. It must have to do with brand loyalty more than anything.

The margin in groceries is pure crap. If there are even just a few too many stores nobody makes any money. They end up having to throw out tons of food like single people.

It's becoming a big issue in Louisville, where there are very large food deserts because of Kroger closing stores and holding onto the land: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/11/07/kroger-closing-shively/93432790/

I think Krogers secret weapon are its store brand products that match the name brands in quality, adding all those drug stores would give it more outlets to sell them.

Why didn't Kroger work out in Cleveland? They're so much cheaper than Heinens and Daves. They have this magical combination of a great selection and great prices. My girlfriend is from Cleveland and moved to Columbus (where I met her before moving up to Cleveland with her) and she misses Kroger like crazy too.) I had class mates at my coding boot camp that moved to Columbus from Cleveland but came back for the coding school and before class we all would all talk about how amazing Kroger is and how we miss it. It's odd how such a good quality product / service can fail in Cleveland. Seems to be the case with a lot of companies that move into Cleveland. Same thing happened to Donatos when McDonalds owned it; they expanded like crazy into Cleveland but didn't do well. It must have to do with brand loyalty more than anything.

 

They pulled out of Cleveland in the late 80s I believe. The industry was completely different then. Kroger was a different company too at that time. Plus, they were fending off corporate takeover attempts at that time and saddled themselves in a ton of debt. They became a lot more innovative after the Fred Meyer purchase.

I think Krogers secret weapon are its store brand products that match the name brands in quality, adding all those drug stores would give it more outlets to sell them.

 

Yes, I'd love to buy those products in a store that's not 50,000 sq. ft. and doesn't make you battle a 6 acre parking lot. I buy Kroger brand products very often. If you go to some of these small town grocery stores everything's expensive... the name brands are competitively priced but there's no store brands to save you money. Sometimes you see obscure "poverty brands" with 1989 art direction at them that are cheap but no good.

I'll tell you what was rad: A few years before they shut down, Big Bear started putting convenience stores on the sides of its supermarkets. You could park in an area that wasn't full of cars yet right next to the store. Also, you didn't have to pass through that hateful area at the front of the store where people think it's a good idea to drive through constantly while there are six billion old ladies slowly milling about. If you just needed 1 or 2 things you didn't have to traipse the whole 100,000 sq. ft. Big Bear Plus.

Why didn't Kroger work out in Cleveland? They're so much cheaper than Heinens and Daves. They have this magical combination of a great selection and great prices. My girlfriend is from Cleveland and moved to Columbus (where I met her before moving up to Cleveland with her) and she misses Kroger like crazy too.) I had class mates at my coding boot camp that moved to Columbus from Cleveland but came back for the coding school and before class we all would all talk about how amazing Kroger is and how we miss it. It's odd how such a good quality product / service can fail in Cleveland. Seems to be the case with a lot of companies that move into Cleveland. Same thing happened to Donatos when McDonalds owned it; they expanded like crazy into Cleveland but didn't do well. It must have to do with brand loyalty more than anything.

 

They pulled out of Cleveland in the late 80s I believe. The industry was completely different then. Kroger was a different company too at that time. Plus, they were fending off corporate takeover attempts at that time and saddled themselves in a ton of debt. They became a lot more innovative after the Fred Meyer purchase.

 

I've always heard that Krogers pull-out in Northeast Ohio was union-related. I remember running across something online years ago that discussed a Krogers store--maybe in Lake or Ashtabula County--that was closed maybe a year or two after it had been constructed because of the larger retreat.

The margin in groceries is pure crap. If there are even just a few too many stores nobody makes any money. They end up having to throw out tons of food like single people.

 

What's really stupid is that the high end stores are practically forced to waste food more so than the low class ones because bare shelves cast a negative vibe on the whole place.  Go to the new high-end ones and they assault the senses with opulent stacks of bananas and oranges and pineapples right by the front door, far above what goes on at the "ghetto" stores.  Go into the Walnut Hills Kroger at 10pm on a weeknight and they're actually out of a lot of the produce.  They know they aren't getting the yuppies in that store so they don't have to present their store as some sort of magical Land of Plenty.