In July, some 175 employees will pass through the doors of the Kroger Training Center and spend at least 50 hours training for the job.
The new employees are part of Kroger’s latest expansion in the Richmond market: the 86,000-square-foot store at the Corner at Short Pump.
That store is opening in July, but it is just one of the pieces of a $81.5 million investment the Cincinnati-based chain is putting into its area stores. That involves remodeling six stores, adding a handful of fueling stations and expanding the two stores in Carytown and Midlothian.
The grocery store’s training center on Staples Mill Road, just north of Broad Street, has trained 850 employees since it opened in 2008. District Manager Joe Antolini said that although it is costly to operate, the investment improves the company’s customer service and keeps repeat consumers coming back.
“There are a lot of small little things that people don’t realize go into this,” said Antolini. “It isn’t just putting a few cans on the shelf and opening the door.”
Kroger arrived on the Richmond scene about 10 years ago when it purchased several stores that were operated by Hannaford’s.
In addition to moving the existing Short Pump store across from West Broad Village to the Corner at Short Pump location, the grocer plans to start work on a new location at the site of the defunct Cloverleaf Mall toward the end of the year.
“I think that you’re going to see some of those buildings start to come down soon,” said Antolini of a plan by Crosland and Chesterfield County to redevelop Cloverleaf Mall into a mixed-use retail and residential hub.
Kroger started remodeling stores last summer. Since then, hometown grocer Ukrop’s sold to Martin’s for $140 million. Martin’s proceeded to invested tens of millions of dollars to upgrade those stores.
According to the recently released Food World report, Kroger is the fourth largest grocer in Richmond, with 11.45 percent of the market. Wal-Mart was third, and for the second consecutive year Food Lion bested Ukrop’s with almost 20 percent of the area market.
Al Harris is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to Al@richmondbizsense.com.
Kroger needs to work on their corporate treatment of customers.It’s all well and good to train employees but they still have to work under Kroger’s game play with customers.Kroger WILL and DOES use your Kroger card information to ambush you at the register with things like limitations on coupon useage.This can involve as few as two coupons for the same items.Example:You have 2 of an item,which the items can change without any notice,and you have 2 coupons.Register will say to the cashierb “too many coupons”,cashier can not overrule this and has no training or knowledge of why it is doing this.The idea here is that Kroger hopes you will just wave it off because you’re at the register,there’s a back up with people getting mad at YOU and you’ll just give in and move on.Result:Kroger saves money.I’ve had this happen many times over as few as 2 items.A manager told me the only way to get past it was to check out those specific items seperately.How many people will do that?Just what Kroger counts on.BEWARE! Martin’s and Food Lion have NEVER done this.
I recently began shopping at Kroger, when my local Ukrops was purchased by Martins, in hopes that I would find a better shopping experience. Sadly, I have not. The Kroger at Gayton is poorly staffed and needs a significant facelift, which should include TASTEFUL redecoration (unlike what Martin’s did to Ukrops stores) and a commitment to cleanliness. Gayton employees do not interact well with customers, typically avoiding eye contact or any form of greeting. There appears to be no dress code. My best experience, thus far, was from a bagger, who carried out my groceries. He was the only one who made any attempt at polite conversation.
My number one grocery choice is Trader Joe’s – their employees like working there! The enthusiastic attitudes and the employees that talk with you throughout the store, not just at the register. They are knowledgeable about their offerings – and more than glad to assist you in any way. I was having a rather bad day recently and was stopping there to pick up one item I was out of at home. It was rare, but they were out of stock of the item I needed. An associate checked in the back just to make sure. I commented on the fact that it was one more disappointment in my bad day and continued to select a few more items. While I was in the checkout line, the associate came up to me in line and presented me with a bright colorful bouquet, since she wanted to help make my day better. I will never forget the gesture….
This is only one example of why people drive from all over Richmond and beyond to shop here…Kroger is good, but never THAT good!
I shop at the Carytown Kroger all the time without any problems. Do the employees tuck in their shirt? I have no idea, don’t care, I’m there to buy food. Does anyone strike up a conversation with me? Nope, I’m trying to make my purchases and leave as quickly as possible.
Seriously, the only thing I care about at a grocery store is if it has enough registers so I can avoid the people with 63 coupons because they take forever (and are usually the same people who write checks) and if the produce/meats are fresh. Kroger fulfills both of these requirements, which happen to be the requirements of most grocery shoppers. This is why UKrops with its prozac happy employees and “take as long as you need to find your 6th coupon for Juicy Fruit” policy is now dead and gone and Kroger and Food Lion are #1 and #2 in the area.
If you want good customer service, go to a Farmer’s Market, not a 120,000 sq ft megamart.