Let's Go Krogering! - Life in America 

My Dad worked for Kroger for 39 years at the warehouse on Lindbergh in St. Louis county.

I shop at Kroger all the time. Ironically, as a child in the 70's, my family rarely went to Kroger. 2 of my brother in laws worked for Kroger. One worked at the local Kroger bakery and the other was a truck driver for the company. In the late70's-early 80's, my bro in law who worked at the bakery would sometimes bring different types of breads and pastries to our house. My favorites were the white powdered donuts and the chocolate chip cookies.

I used to go 'Krogering' with my father as a child in the 1950's. I use that term because I can still remember the jingle today: 'Let's go Krogering, the happy way to shop'. I'm glad they are still around!

"Don't sell anything that you wouldn't want yourself" words of Wisdom from the video

"Let's go Krogering for the best of everything, including the price"🎶🎶🎶I still hear that jingle when I step into the store to grocery shop.❤🐘❤

Never even heard of Kroger until we moved to TX (from CA) in 1995. Suddenly they were everywhere. Loved the store.

An awesome documentary! $372 to open a business. Now those were the good 'ole days!

I lived in Dayton, Ohio from 1972 to 1985. We shopped at Kroger's all the time. Thanks so much for the fascinating history! 😊👍

I was just at Kroger yesterday. I'm surprised you didn't mention the 'Let's go Krogering" jingle of the 80s

Part of my supper tonight was a slice of Kroger-baked marble rye...and I loved it. :-)

I get the best deals at Kroger. Love the deli and bakery at my store. They put Walmart, Aldi's and Meijer to shame. Love Turkey Hill peach ice tea!

Plus with the Kroger points you can save on gas and that's great.

I live in Detroit, Michigan and the very first Kroger store I went to was in the Eastland Shopping Center in Harper Woods, Michigan. I remember when Kroger had stores in the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers. I, also remember when Kroger had a Bi-Lo Supermarket Division that did not give out Top Value trading stamps. When Kroger stopped giving out Top Value trading stamps and they renamed the Bi-Lo Supermarkets to Kroger. The first Bi-Lo Supermarket I went to was in Hamtramck, Michigan. It was located on Holbrook just west of Jos Campu in Downtown Hamtramck. After renaming the Bi-Lo stores to Kroger then, Kroger came out with the Kroger Plus Savings Card. P.S., Kroger had closed the Eastland, Northland, Southland, and Westland Shopping Centers stores permanently. Kroger also had quite a few stores located in the inner city of Detroit, which Kroger had closed permanently.

Wow! I never knew that Barney Kroger was such an innovator.

Funny thing I was watching your videos last night thinking to myself he should do one on Kroger. I open youtube and lo and behold my wish is granted. So awesome thank you for making this vid.

My Grandfather managed a Kroger during the Great Depression in West Virginia.

Kroger was the first job I ever had when I was 17

My relatives from Kentucky always say we're going to "The Kroger"!

its amazing how the Kroger company did things right and kept the company not only alive but brought in other stores. obviously a well run company

Today Kroger is the sixth largest retailer by sales in the US, behind only Walmart, Amazon, CVS, Costco and Walgreens, and is the 17th largest of any US corporation.

Behind every big company, there was a innovative, motivated and great person. With the death of every great company, there are fools.

We shop at a Food4less which is the where a lot of Kroger's overstock ends up at reduced prices

Despite what people think of Kroger, they did pioneer much of the modern supermarket concept. In fact, their willingness to build modern stores effectively finished off the A&P company in most of the USA.

Kroger left my area in the early 1980s when I was very young, but I still remember "Let's go Krogering!" Now I have to leave the state to go to Kroger.

I love Kroger, shop there for groceries & get my meds there, have for many years. After my husband died 5 years ago, the people at the pharmacy gave me hugs & comfort words & one young employee came out from behind the counter & hugged me one day & said " I just heard today about Jimmy dying ". I don't believe that happens at all pharmacy's unless they really care about their customers. I always remember that.

One word: Superb, to describe this retrospective! Kroger is an American icon of the highest regard. Barney would be speechless but overflowing with pride. My Mom bought lots of lovely things for our home with Top Value stamps. My sister and I used to have pasting parties with her. It was fun!

I love this! So nostalgic! 👍👍👍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😍😍😍😻😻😀😀😀😀😄😄😇

I grew up in Union, Kentucky and remember trips to Kroger’s in the 50’s and my mother getting Top Value Stamps.

I miss those chocolate chip cookies the bakery used to sell. A dozen, wrapped in a styrofoam tray for $1.99 back in the 80's. They tasted really good, soft and chewy. Almost like they were homemade.

I remember Piggly Wiggly which I spotted that grocery store in this video.

This was interesting! Thank you! Kind of funny that we've come full circle with grocery deliveries. They are more popular than ever.

I did this very morning.

I used to go to Kroger all the time. I don't have any near me now. I had no idea how diversified the company became.

Yep, we have a Kroger in downtown Cincinnati. I was there today.

Kroger is an American icon and your channel is awesome.

And this past week Kroger opened a bigger store in Teays Valley, WV! I visited that new store for the first time just today!

Do a video on Winn Dixie, I would like to know the history of that chain. These videos are awesome.

I am going on my 19th year at Eastland Kroger in Nashville TN... And we have a happy Crew to work with everyday!!! Live 3 blocks away from the store #880 and I am also play my keyboards at the store as well; been a musician for over 4 decades!!! Loved the video. Thanks for letting me be a great full employee!!!

The first time I remember Kroger was living in Louisiana; we had a store in New Iberia on the eastern edge of Route 182 at the city line. IIRC, we tended to split our grocery shopping between Winn-Dixie, Kroger, A&P, and Delchamps. Most recently, within the last couple years or so, visiting with family members in Ohio often saw me with my wife and kids at Kroger. I loved the Kroger Spring Water; besides that, I also loved that they'd sell wine and liquor in the Krogers there(Manischewitz and Mogen David are my favorite wines).

Thanks for sharing😊

I shop at Kroger 2x a week and love their coupons and points on ⛽

Now we've almost gone full circle back to delivering groceries and packed pickup orders. Soon Kroger is launching drone delivery rather than horses.

When I was little there was a Kroger on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's East Liberty section across from the Nabisco bakery adjacent to Mellon Park. It closed down in 1969 when I was seven. It broke my heart. Kroger would leave the area 15 years later.

Another great video by Recollection Road. Hope you do one about Jewel-Osco

Great video as always, After Kroger bought Harris Teeter here on the East Coast they lowered prices which is great

Kroger still thrives in my city when all others have died. It's sad but I'm glad we still have Kroger.

My first job ever Kroger Alcoa Tennessee in 1989♥️♥️

I work at Kroger in Michigan. Good place to work!

I used to work for Kroger as a bagger in the 90's after i finished high school and had an uncle who worked in upper management at a Kroger warehouse in Salem VA and I worked at the Vinton VA store

My wife's great-grandfather was offered a chance to go into business with Mr. Kroger. He figured it would never work so declined. Oh, well. If my wife was some kind of executive with the Kroger Company, I wouldn't have met her.

I moved back to the midwest recently and after 30 some odd years in Oklahoma, I've rediscovered Krogers. One of the things I've really been impressed with is their store brand products. Most that I've tried have been very good quality. Their Big K cola is not bad for a generic store brand, and a 2 liter is less than half the price of Coke and Pepsi. With few exceptions, their store brands have been as good as their brand name counterparts.

Giant Foods also gave out Top Value stamps. My brother ordered a pocket knife in the mid 60s from the stamps collected.

When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my mom would go to Kroger. We did not have a car but the store was close by. On Friday or Saturday it was the big shopping day. She took one of those personal carts you pull. I was horrified especially as a teen. Because she made me go with her. You know how teens throw little hissy fits!! We did have a local grocery store that my mom would go to for staples during the week while I was in school. My mom did all the shopping dad did not get involved. We did have an A&P, Great Scott and a Wrigley's but they were too far to walk. Now as a senior I am thinking about getting one of those personal carts. I am sure my mom is laughing on the other side🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. PS still shop at Kroger to this day😊😊.

I miss going to Kroger. It was so convenient.

My great grandfather drove a horse and wagon for Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio

I used to shop at Kroger when I lived in Cincinnati for around 9 years but there aren't any where I live now.

My mother worked at a Kroger’s supermarket in the early 1960’s in Bloomington, Illinois. I remember going there to shop on several occasions when I was a little boy. We used have Dillons in our area in northeastern Kansas, but they moved out 12 years ago. It was our favorite grocery store. I still miss them.

In the 1890s, John S. Dillon opened a general store in Sterling, Kansas, and learned that allowing customers to charge then pay later and delivering groceries to their homes was a financial and manpower strain on his business. In 1913, he opened his "J.S. Dillon Cash Store" in Hutchinson, Kansas employed a new marketing concept called cash and carry, where the store would not offer credit or delivery services. Dillon opened a second store in 1915 that he managed then placed his son, Ray E. Dillon, in charge of the original store. In 1917, the company was incorporated under the name "Dillon Mercantile Company, Inc". Due to his sons John and Ray both being overseas in France during World War I, Dillon sold his company to his investment partners, but soon afterward both sons returned. They opened a new store called "J.S. Dillon and Sons Store" in 1919 and incorporated in 1921.[1] After several decades of steadily building the chain, a burst of growth began in 1957, when John's son, Raymond, expanded with additional stores in the Wichita market when, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, then consisting of 16 stores. By 1968, J.S. Dillon and Sons had grown into Dillon Companies, Inc., and began acquiring regional banners, such as City Market, Fry's, Gerbes, and King Soopers, over 300 convenience stores in five states, and Jackson's Ice Cream dairy. Dillon Companies, Inc., joined the Kroger company in 1983 and brought with it two future CEOs: Joe Pichler, who served as CEO of Kroger from 1990 to 2003, and Kroger's former CEO, Dave Dillon. Dave is the great grandson of J. S. Dillon. Today, more than 12,000 employees work at 93 stores in the Dillon Stores Division, which includes 26 stores in Wichita, Kansas, area; 11 stores in the Omaha, Nebraska, area; nine stores in Topeka, Kansas; and 24 fuel centers. The format for most locations is the traditional combination of food, general merchandise, and pharmacy, with an average of 49,000 square feet per store. The division offers Dillons Marketplace stores in Kansas, located in Wichita, Andover, Derby, and Hutchinson. In 1983, Dillon Companies, Inc., was acquired by The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, creating a nationwide grocery chain. Several years later, David Dillon was named Kroger's President and COO and became CEO in 2003. Dillon retired from that position effective January 1, 2014.[2]

@6:59; it's been a long time since seeing a Kroger that looked like that!

I thought it was Piggly Wiggly that invented the self serve grocery shopping. But it was Kroger that brought many of the conveniences we take for granted today! Electronic scan is cool, but I wish they'd take back the self check lanes.

I shop Kroger at Smith's in Las Vegas, and their prices are definitely lower than the rest especially Albertsons and Vons. On some things, the price difference can be as much as a couple of dollars on a single item. I get sticker-shock if I have to go to Albertsons for something.

I remember shopping Kroger with my mom on Friday nights. Free samples and fill whole basket for $25.00.

Kroger ha😂changed a WHOLE lot since I worked there in the late 80s. Just like the industry as a whole. Amazing.

When Kroger expanded with their second store, they rented space from my great grandparents at their East End business called East End Cafe. The building caught fire a few years ago and was torn down.

Kroger was my childhood grocery store in my home area Detroit. We don’t shop there at often but I love it there and I always say hi to them and there animated characters “Kroji”

So far Kroger is still around we still shop there thanks for this upload.😘😊

How well I remember shopping with my mom at our small Kroger as a child. We avidly saw ed and redeemed Top Value stamps. Kroger is still my favorite grocery store.

I go Krogering 2 times a week.Ive been to other grocery stores through out my life,but i always seem to go back to Kroger.I like the new large stores.But we still have a small,well comparitivly small,neighborhood Kroger.It will always be my favorite. Sad to say though that the bakery has declined over the years.And rarely do i see stuff actually made at Kroger.

Excellent documentary about an innovative retail entrepreneur. Those open refrigerator aisles burn through electricity especially in warmer months - many stores now have switched to rows of door fridges and freezers.

I never shopped in a Kroger but have shopped in groceries owned by Kroger (Dillons, Food for Less, Fred Meyer). I enjoyed learning how Kroger brought what I think of as the modern grocery store into being. Thanks for the upload.

I don't believe there are any actual Kroger stores on the west coast, but one of the chains shown on the list - Foodsco heavily features the brand, which I'm just as pleased with as other name brand products! In fact, when one of my cats was little she loved the instant cheese grits so much she used to chew on the unopened packets until I started bagging them out of her reach!

Having recently worked in a Kroger, I had to laugh about all the quality talk in this video. Maybe once, but nowadays it’s all about being cheap and fast.

My 88 year old mother, in Michigan, won't shop anywhere else, and I can see why. I remember her sending me to Kroger's when I was a kid, with a list, and I knew that if I couldn't find something, one of the Kroger employees would help me find it or a suitable alternative. This video really brings back the memories. We don't have Krogers or any of its subsidiaries around here.

We have Food 4 Less out West, but many of my East coast/Midwest friends use Kroger. Thanks for a great episode!

Until one year old I lived in an apartment across from the Kroger elephant. Troy st. In Dayton Ohio. My first learned word, elephant.

There are several Kroger stores here in Illinois, i still go here and there .

Wow!! Didn’t know all that!! I really enjoyed this video.. super interesting!!! Thank you so much for posting it!!

Kroger entered the Houston area by purchasing local grocery store chain, Henke & Pillot back in the 50's. In Texas, Kroger is battling popular Texas-born grocery store, H.E.B. I have a love-hate relationship with Kroger as they will discontinue products that sell out frequently, because of their popularity with customers. Sounds crazy, but Kroger will stop selling products that get sold out frequently.

My favorite grocery store 😊

3:59 A Kroger to the left of a Ben Franklin! In Swissvale, Pennsylvania there was this exact paring in the 1970s, But rather than on an Edwardian main street, It was in a late 1950's shopping center.

Kroger was king in Houston until a few years ago when HEB came into town. Since then more and more customers switched to HEB and Kroger is almost a ship out of water.

I am surprised that there is something very significant that is missing - Kroger at one time, and still may be, the largest florist in the country. I don't shop at Kroger a lot but if I need flowers to take somewhere, I always go to Kroger.

My favorite store to shop

🎼 Let's go Krogering, Krogering, Krogering, let's go Krogering, the place to shop🎼 💙🤍

I miss having a Kroger. I retired and moved from the hustle and bustle of the big city to the Ozarks.

There are 2 Kroger-owned markets here in the Chicago area, Food 4 Less & Mariano's. And we gladly shop at them quite often. 🍎

LOVE THIS CHANNEL

Kroger was the first Instacart! I really enjoy your videos.

THEY ALSO STARTED THE FIRST DOUBLE MANUFACTURER'S AND TRIP COUPONS PROGRAMS AS WELL.

I used to work for Kroger in the past for 7 years in the deli slicing meats and cheese and cook chicken the steam tablet lol it was better then no job. They are a union they give medical insurance and benefits. My boss for the deli was Kevin Jenkins lol once you knew him you'll never forget him lol. Thanks for sharing this history of Kroger's.

Three words about my favorite thing about Kroger: Shaved deli ham.😋😋😋😋😋😋

I love Kroger it's my favorite grocery store!

At one time, kroger's had 2 stores in meadville Pennsylvania. Sadly the chain left in the early 80s.

Kroger once had a combination grocery store/department store concept (similar to the Kroger Marketplace stores today but with some differences) called Kroger Family Center. Coincidentally, the "five and dime" chain TG&Y had stores during the same period (60's, 70's, and at least part of the 80's) and in the same states (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and probably at least one more) called TG&Y Family Center, but no TG&Y stores had grocery departments. Ironically, there are two Big Lots stores today on FM 1960 Road in Houston (Texas) about five miles apart from one another... both have been Big Lots for over 30 years now, but the one further west is a former Kroger building, and the one further east is a former TG&Y building... but interestingly neither this Kroger nor this TG&Y were "family center" stores. And both buildings have spent over 30 years now as Big Lots, but the Kroger was only open for seven years before it closed (1978 to 1985) and the TG&Y barely lasted a decade (about 1976 to 1986) The current Hobby Lobby in Conroe, Texas (on the way from Houston to Dallas, but much closer to Houston) is a former Kroger Family Center. And today Conroe has a Kroger Marketplace store! The current Marketplace was a replacement for a Kroger which was a former Albertsons store. The Albertsons stores in the Houston area were VERY nice supermarkets... it was a sad day in 2002 when Albertsons sold most of their Houston stores to Kroger and closed the rest!

Never heard of Kroger's until I moved to Georgia in 87. We had A&P Gaint, Pathmark....

We always went to Kroger in the 60s and 70s in Wheeling, WV. Its still there (but a new larger store) 50 years later. Kroger seems to come and go in the south where I'm at now. They can't compete with Food Lion at the low end or Harris Teeter at the high end. EDIT: I didn't know they owned Harris Teeter.

True! Barney Kroger created his store in 1883, I know, I was there!

Never even heard of this place, until about a year ago

Very excellent

There was a Kroger in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroevile, PA.