Kroger adds "Fresh Cart" icon to Kroger logo, banner logos

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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by ClownLoach »

Super S wrote: September 9th, 2021, 8:12 am
storewanderer wrote: September 8th, 2021, 5:51 pm Kroger is simply lost.

Terrible quality bakery/deli, produce and meat that can look fantastic one day and terrible the next day in the exact same store- a POS system in all but one division that still can't (won't?) accept Contactless Payments, and what are they focusing on? A new logo.

Wow.

Also, the new logo is not applied at Harris Teeter, QFC, Food 4 Less, FoodsCo. I am surprised to see it being applied at Fred Meyer but maybe that isn't a surprise.

The new logo looks really weird next to things like the classic looking Dillons logo or the classic looking King Soopers logo- those are already logos in themselves. It looks okay but completely pointless next to Smiths bland letters I guess. Smiths has never much of a logo.
Kroger is lost with Fred Meyer. The "Fresh for Everyone" slogan makes no sense on the GM side. They seem to be focused on the grocery end only while the GM side is slowly dying off. Limiting merchandise, limiting staffing, and doors locked earlier than the grocery end. I wouldn't be surprised at some point if these stores get split up and somebody else takes over the GM portions of the stores.
If their eventual goal is to rebrand the entire chain as Kroger, then they could do exactly what you describe - and the GM side gets the nameplate of Fred Meyer.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by arizonaguy »

ClownLoach wrote: September 10th, 2021, 9:23 am
BatteryMill wrote: September 9th, 2021, 3:49 pm
jamcool wrote: September 9th, 2021, 9:33 am I imagine the various store names will adopt the Kroger-style font (which is what happened in the 60s when Kroger bought Wyatt in Texas)
Krambo and Henke-Pillot also adopted this font style. Alas, all three chains were absorbed into mainline Kroger within a few years after their respective buyouts. They seem to be trying this again with this other brand they have, and now this.
storewanderer wrote: September 8th, 2021, 10:34 pm They could have just thrown a little Kroger logo up next to the Ralphs, etc. logos... given most everything in the store is already Kroger brand... and the stores are run to a modern day Kroger standard... which is not the same standard as Ralphs ran at 20 years ago.

Kind of reminds me of the Ahold Fruit Bowl logo. I prefer the Ahold one- more color.
I think Kroger's attempt is more creative, going along with their storied logo. Ahold just took everything and started anew.
storewanderer wrote: September 8th, 2021, 5:51 pm Kroger is simply lost.

Terrible quality bakery/deli, produce and meat that can look fantastic one day and terrible the next day in the exact same store- a POS system in all but one division that still can't (won't?) accept Contactless Payments, and what are they focusing on? A new logo.

Wow.

Also, the new logo is not applied at Harris Teeter, QFC, Food 4 Less, FoodsCo. I am surprised to see it being applied at Fred Meyer but maybe that isn't a surprise.

The new logo looks really weird next to things like the classic looking Dillons logo or the classic looking King Soopers logo- those are already logos in themselves. It looks okay but completely pointless next to Smiths bland letters I guess. Smiths has never much of a logo.
Harris Teeter still has some decent autonomy, QFC not sure but probably more upscale, F4L has a rather unique identity too. Fred Meyer has some regular grocery stores on the level of your average Kroger too.
AdWeek has an article on the new symbol. Every Kroger brand is getting it. Even QFC, Harris Teeter, and F4L. I think they are going to use it to educate the public that their neighborhood Ralphs, Fred Meyer, etc. Is really a Kroger store, then later change the name.

They have that initiative where they're delivering in Florida despite not having a single store there, and it sounds like if that's successful they would continue to grow it out where they don't have a retail footprint. Hard to pick a name to use where you don't have a store. Hence the long term need for a single brand.

I was surprised to see it on the F4L format - but then remembered that they phased out similar stores in Las Vegas already and converted the ones they wanted to keep into Smith's. So maybe this is foreshadowing further elimination someday of F4L, Rvler, etc

This probably should be moved to the non region specific category.
I agree. I think this is the beginning of an eventual rebannering of the regional chains. Most of the stores look pretty homogenous anyways. In 5 years it'll all be Kroger. They really want to become a nationwide grocer (especially with the Ocado delivery) and may end up opening up random stores in places where they have a distribution network (like Florida). I'm not sure how well this will go (as Albertsons seems to be utilizing a lot of strategies Kroger used under David Dillon during Kroger's more successful years).
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by storewanderer »

arizonaguy wrote: September 10th, 2021, 10:06 am I agree. I think this is the beginning of an eventual rebannering of the regional chains. Most of the stores look pretty homogenous anyways. In 5 years it'll all be Kroger. They really want to become a nationwide grocer (especially with the Ocado delivery) and may end up opening up random stores in places where they have a distribution network (like Florida). I'm not sure how well this will go (as Albertsons seems to be utilizing a lot of strategies Kroger used under David Dillon during Kroger's more successful years).
I think they'd be better off flat out rebannering to Kroger than messing around with this logo. Given many of these stores have carried a lot of Kroger brand items for the past 10-20 years anyway the customers are already familiar with Kroger.

The problem continues to be these banners- have a lot of value in their markets. I do not think rebranding Ralphs, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, QFC, Harris Teeter, would work well. I think it would be a flat out disaster actually, despite nothing changing with the stores if they rebrand them.

Rebranding Smiths or Frys or Dillons- maybe- probably would work okay. Those are old banners in their markets but for a variety of reasons I think they could get away with rebranding those to Kroger. Not sure I see the benefit to rebranding other than the ability to do more national ad campaigns and have a single app and single website.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by jamcool »

Does the fruit cart replace the diamond logo on the Kroger fuel stations? That logo was spun off to EG when they bought the convenience stores.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by ClownLoach »

For a short while earlier this year the Ralphs Facebook page had been retitled as "Ralphs by Kroger" then they changed it back. I wonder if they were testing the waters to see if they got a reaction. That might be how they go about renaming the more well entrenched brands.

It seems like they wouldn't have a problem where they are the #1 brand like Fry's in Phoenix or Smith's in Vegas, but where things are more competitive like SoCal they run the risk of alienation the same way Albertsons did with Lucky.

And despite the store brands being in the buildings for years you would be surprised by the lack of knowledge. Every time I tell someone that Vons and Albertsons are the same company they're still surprised by it. Since they've been running joint ads in OC you would think it would be more well known. Sometimes customers get confused by marketing, I had a conversation with someone who didn't believe me about Vons and Albertsons (even though most of our Albertsons now have Vons "colorful lifestyle" interiors) and thought that it was just a "delivery partnership" after they ran numerous ads saying "Partnering for delivery - Vons and Albertsons".
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

jamcool wrote: September 10th, 2021, 11:12 am Does the fruit cart replace the diamond logo on the Kroger fuel stations? That logo was spun off to EG when they bought the convenience stores.
I can imagine it will replace the diamond logo at Kroger gas stations.
ClownLoach wrote: September 10th, 2021, 12:02 pm For a short while earlier this year the Ralphs Facebook page had been retitled as "Ralphs by Kroger" then they changed it back. I wonder if they were testing the waters to see if they got a reaction. That might be how they go about renaming the more well entrenched brands.

It seems like they wouldn't have a problem where they are the #1 brand like Fry's in Phoenix or Smith's in Vegas, but where things are more competitive like SoCal they run the risk of alienation the same way Albertsons did with Lucky.

And despite the store brands being in the buildings for years you would be surprised by the lack of knowledge. Every time I tell someone that Vons and Albertsons are the same company they're still surprised by it. Since they've been running joint ads in OC you would think it would be more well known. Sometimes customers get confused by marketing, I had a conversation with someone who didn't believe me about Vons and Albertsons (even though most of our Albertsons now have Vons "colorful lifestyle" interiors) and thought that it was just a "delivery partnership" after they ran numerous ads saying "Partnering for delivery - Vons and Albertsons".
I expect ACI to be taking significant market share from Kroger within the next few years if they continue to make improvements to their stores, such as lowering pricing. Albertsons will probably be 2nd place (after Walmart) by 2025 if Kroger continues down the same path.
Kroger will certainly make the cart symbol on store exteriors larger than a Kroger/Ralphs/Fry's logo, similar to what Target is doing.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by ClownLoach »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: September 10th, 2021, 12:26 pm
jamcool wrote: September 10th, 2021, 11:12 am Does the fruit cart replace the diamond logo on the Kroger fuel stations? That logo was spun off to EG when they bought the convenience stores.
I can imagine it will replace the diamond logo at Kroger gas stations.
ClownLoach wrote: September 10th, 2021, 12:02 pm For a short while earlier this year the Ralphs Facebook page had been retitled as "Ralphs by Kroger" then they changed it back. I wonder if they were testing the waters to see if they got a reaction. That might be how they go about renaming the more well entrenched brands.

It seems like they wouldn't have a problem where they are the #1 brand like Fry's in Phoenix or Smith's in Vegas, but where things are more competitive like SoCal they run the risk of alienation the same way Albertsons did with Lucky.

And despite the store brands being in the buildings for years you would be surprised by the lack of knowledge. Every time I tell someone that Vons and Albertsons are the same company they're still surprised by it. Since they've been running joint ads in OC you would think it would be more well known. Sometimes customers get confused by marketing, I had a conversation with someone who didn't believe me about Vons and Albertsons (even though most of our Albertsons now have Vons "colorful lifestyle" interiors) and thought that it was just a "delivery partnership" after they ran numerous ads saying "Partnering for delivery - Vons and Albertsons".
I expect ACI to be taking significant market share from Kroger within the next few years if they continue to make improvements to their stores, such as lowering pricing. Albertsons will probably be 2nd place (after Walmart) by 2025 if Kroger continues down the same path.
Kroger will certainly make the cart symbol on store exteriors larger than a Kroger/Ralphs/Fry's logo, similar to what Target is doing.
They're going to have trouble with this on a lot of Ralphs stores in suburbs where there are sign restrictions. Many of those restrict size and height. The wide oval shape Ralphs logo is ideal for places like South Orange County as they can maximize the space. They can't just go from a 4' tall Ralphs logo to a 10' tall shopping cart icon. For many of these stores the signs are already small and this icon will be nearly invisible. In areas like this Target has not changed out their signs. Also many of these older Ralphs stores may have grandfathered in signs. When CVS introduced their squared off heart icon there are quite a few stores where they had to cut the size of the sign down by 40% to 50% when they added the icon because new signs were not allowed to be the same size under newer building codes. Even in places like Santa Ana they had to reduce the size because the rearranging of the letters, removal of the "/" and addition of the heart was considered a completely new sign; the location near South Coast Plaza (in Santa Ana not Costa Mesa) has this forcibly reduced sign now after changing it out and the city asking them to comply with updated ordinance. In other parts of the country where even a pharmacy might have a crazy huge sign with 20' tall letters this wouldn't be a problem to make the icon huge. But in areas like SoCal the usual restriction is 4' tall and 12' wide, and can't reverse those dimensions (12' tall and 4' wide could work with the icon).
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: September 10th, 2021, 12:02 pm For a short while earlier this year the Ralphs Facebook page had been retitled as "Ralphs by Kroger" then they changed it back. I wonder if they were testing the waters to see if they got a reaction. That might be how they go about renaming the more well entrenched brands.

It seems like they wouldn't have a problem where they are the #1 brand like Fry's in Phoenix or Smith's in Vegas, but where things are more competitive like SoCal they run the risk of alienation the same way Albertsons did with Lucky.

And despite the store brands being in the buildings for years you would be surprised by the lack of knowledge. Every time I tell someone that Vons and Albertsons are the same company they're still surprised by it. Since they've been running joint ads in OC you would think it would be more well known. Sometimes customers get confused by marketing, I had a conversation with someone who didn't believe me about Vons and Albertsons (even though most of our Albertsons now have Vons "colorful lifestyle" interiors) and thought that it was just a "delivery partnership" after they ran numerous ads saying "Partnering for delivery - Vons and Albertsons".
The other thing is you don't want messy looking branding. They could go ahead and keep the Ralphs ovals to be compliant with sign laws and make for faster/easier sign replacements, and move to something with this cart and the Ralphs logo within the oval but that would look rather silly. This is why we have Rite Aid and Albertsons and other random stores with oval signs in CA that you rarely see elsewhere- they filled in the old signs quick.

Also when you look at the Kroger divisions, some divisions have different shaped ovals for instance the Ralphs oval and the Kroger oval are different shapes. Smiths has its shape signs too but many of those are gone and replaced with cut out letters.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by HCal »

Rebranding all the stores to Kroger would be a monumentally stupid move. Ralphs is a brand that goes back to the 1800s and has strong recognition in southern California, while most people either haven't heard of Kroger or know it only as a brand name for cheap generic items. I imagine this is similar in other markets.

Albertsons learned this the hard way when they rebranded Lucky, and I'm sure Kroger's executives were paying attention. The grocery market is very regional in nature, and there's no real reason to have a national brand name. I believe Macy's made a mistake with this as well, and should have maintained some of the acquired nameplates.

As for the new logo, I don't expect to see it on building exteriors very soon. More likely it will appear on receipts, display cases, newspaper circulars, etc. I'm not sure if it will be used in conjunction with the banner brand logos or separately.
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Re: New Kroger logo?

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: September 10th, 2021, 10:34 pm Rebranding all the stores to Kroger would be a monumentally stupid move. Ralphs is a brand that goes back to the 1800s and has strong recognition in southern California, while most people either haven't heard of Kroger or know it only as a brand name for cheap generic items. I imagine this is similar in other markets.

Albertsons learned this the hard way when they rebranded Lucky, and I'm sure Kroger's executives were paying attention. The grocery market is very regional in nature, and there's no real reason to have a national brand name. I believe Macy's made a mistake with this as well, and should have maintained some of the acquired nameplates.

As for the new logo, I don't expect to see it on building exteriors very soon. More likely it will appear on receipts, display cases, newspaper circulars, etc. I'm not sure if it will be used in conjunction with the banner brand logos or separately.
The logo is already on the various banner websites, and in the various weekly ad circulars, except it is missing from the usual suspects (QFC, HT, F4L, FoodsCo). I think that gives an idea how this is going to look.

I agree rebranding would be a mistake, I certainly would not rebrand if it were my decision, but I do not think it would be the failure Albertsons rebranding of Lucky was. The difference is Albertsons not only rebranded Lucky but they tore apart the Lucky merchandising, fresh department, and perimeter programs- and had the stores in a state of flux for months after the conversions. If Kroger were to rebanner stores to Kroger, nothing would be changing other than the sign out front... they have already done their "converting" on the merchandising, fresh departments, and perimeter programs many times over.
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