ebird wrote:It appears the the second kroger planned for Hall St.
has stalled as well. Uptown/East dallas sure can use a second
full service grocery to take some of the pressure off of the
cityplace kroger.
I've have not been able to grasp the reason for another Kroger that close, especially with changing buying behavior.
The proposed new Kroger is less than a mile from the other. How does that "take some of the pressure off" the Cityplace Kroger? What pressure? I live very close to that one and used to go there regularly and while it was somewhat busy at times (perhaps the day before Thanksgiving), it was nothing that to me would warrant another store one mile away.
The problem that store had (maybe has, I only go every couple of months now) to me is:
- Inventory – Out of stock. I cannot count on 10 hands how many times I’ve had to go to a second store to get ingredients for a recipe because that store was out of one or more simple ingredients.
- Inventory – Lack of variety. They have majorly dumbed down the stock since the store first opened. When the doors opened, it was similar to a Whole Foods but not Whole Paycheck. Then, the organic selection shrank over time and the overall variety did as well. I’m not an organic freak, but found that with that decline, selection of produce and meat (of a higher quality) went down with it if what you were looking for was in stock at all.
- Staff – Similar to the Neighborhood Market across 75, the store became more and more reliant on self-checkout. I expect that from Wal-Mart or even Target, but not Kroger.
The more important problem is the big A… Amazon. I haven’t been back to that Kroger since I got Amazon Fresh. Why would I? I’ve used their delivery many times and other than a one-off here or there, what they’ve delivered has been great. I find myself using Prime Now for delivery from Sprouts even more than that actually. I get a hair to cook for my friends? I can sit at the computer looking through my recipes, make a shopping list, and click order. I can spend the time saved in getting the house ready for company.
While some would say I’m paying a premium for the convenience and luxury, I’ve compared prices. They aren’t that much different and in many cases cheaper. Yes, I pay for some form of delivery fee, but I've read that saving time makes people more happy that saving money. I know that is definitely 100% true for me.
Probably my longest post ever here -- and I don’t post often -- but this is a topic I feel strongly about. I’m really curious about the forward strategy of these store location decisions. It confuses me for them in the short term, but really baffles me for them in the long term.