Kroger

Bernard Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a grocery store at 66 Pearl Street in Cincinnati in 1883. That first store pioneered what he called the combination food store, bringing a full grocery and a butcher shop under one roof. By 1902 the company had incorporated as The Kroger Grocery & Baking Company, and by the 1920s it operated more than 5,000 stores across the Midwest and South. Today Kroger runs about 2,700 retail locations under dozens of banners including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, Smith's, and Harris Teeter. It also operates 33 food production plants that churn out everything from milk to bread to ice cream, making it one of the biggest grocery manufacturers in the country.

The company employs roughly 430,000 people, about two-thirds of whom are unionized under the United Food and Commercial Workers. Kroger's private label portfolio spans over 20,000 items, with brands like Simple Truth for natural and organic products and Private Selection for premium goods. Its loyalty program, the Kroger Plus Card, tracks purchases and delivers personalized digital coupons, while the Boost membership offers unlimited free delivery for a fee. The partnership with UK-based Ocado has brought automated warehouse fulfillment to more than 20 facilities, letting the chain compete with Amazon and Walmart on online grocery.

Kroger has pushed hard on sustainability through its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative, aiming to eliminate food waste and end hunger in local communities by 2025. The company also runs fuel centers at over 1,300 locations and in-store Little Clinic medical centers. Its proposed $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons, announced in 2022, has been blocked by federal and state courts pending an FTC administrative trial expected to conclude in late 2024.[edit]