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Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: July 22nd, 2021, 9:48 pm
by rwsandiego
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s.....
IMO, it would have happened anyway as the novelty wore off and Roundy's went deeper and deeper in the red. They never upgraded the acquired Dominick's locations to be "real" Mariano's, which diluted the brand and garnered rather negative reviews from their customers. As for the "real" Mariano's, aside from the in-store restaurants and the bakery the stores were nothing special.
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s. It's too bad they distanced from the warehouse concept, although that rendered Copps outdated once Kroger took over. I wonder if Kroger was the push to rebrand....
Yes, rebranding was a Kroger decision. To be clear, Pick 'n' Save was moving away from warehouse stores long before Kroger bought Roundy's.
Bringing this back to the topic, to me switching the private label products to Simple Truth makes sense as does migrating Harris-Teeter to Kroger's technology platform. In my experience, running multiple IT platforms to perform essentially the same function is a pain in the asparagus.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: July 22nd, 2021, 11:32 pm
by storewanderer
rwsandiego wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2021, 9:48 pm
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s.....
IMO, it would have happened anyway as the novelty wore off and Roundy's went deeper and deeper in the red. They never upgraded the acquired Dominick's locations to be "real" Mariano's, which diluted the brand and garnered rather negative reviews from their customers. As for the "real" Mariano's, aside from the in-store restaurants and the bakery the stores were nothing special.
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s. It's too bad they distanced from the warehouse concept, although that rendered Copps outdated once Kroger took over. I wonder if Kroger was the push to rebrand....
Yes, rebranding was a Kroger decision. To be clear, Pick 'n' Save was moving away from warehouse stores long before Kroger bought Roundy's.
Bringing this back to the topic, to me switching the private label products to Simple Truth makes sense as does migrating Harris-Teeter to Kroger's technology platform. In my experience, running multiple IT platforms to perform essentially the same function is a pain in the asparagus.
Have they actually converted anything other than the loyalty card/POS system over to Kroger? I think the shelf tags, warehouse system, etc. are still the old Harris Teeter systems? Any my understanding was a big reason why they even did the POS/loyalty was due to the chip card thing. The Harris Teeter IBM platform was so old they were going to need to do a total overhaul to it anyway to get it to accept chip cards, but Kroger already had a working IBM platform that could run chip cards so they just integrated it.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: July 24th, 2021, 7:40 am
by cw06
storewanderer wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2021, 11:32 pm
rwsandiego wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2021, 9:48 pm
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s.....
IMO, it would have happened anyway as the novelty wore off and Roundy's went deeper and deeper in the red. They never upgraded the acquired Dominick's locations to be "real" Mariano's, which diluted the brand and garnered rather negative reviews from their customers. As for the "real" Mariano's, aside from the in-store restaurants and the bakery the stores were nothing special.
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 4:21 pm...Interesting story going on down with their Chicago operations. Bob retired from Roundy's, started his own chain, and Roundy's Mariano's growth has stagnated compared to the mid-2010s. It's too bad they distanced from the warehouse concept, although that rendered Copps outdated once Kroger took over. I wonder if Kroger was the push to rebrand....
Yes, rebranding was a Kroger decision. To be clear, Pick 'n' Save was moving away from warehouse stores long before Kroger bought Roundy's.
Bringing this back to the topic, to me switching the private label products to Simple Truth makes sense as does migrating Harris-Teeter to Kroger's technology platform. In my experience, running multiple IT platforms to perform essentially the same function is a pain in the asparagus.
Have they actually converted anything other than the loyalty card/POS system over to Kroger? I think the shelf tags, warehouse system, etc. are still the old Harris Teeter systems? Any my understanding was a big reason why they even did the POS/loyalty was due to the chip card thing. The Harris Teeter IBM platform was so old they were going to need to do a total overhaul to it anyway to get it to accept chip cards, but Kroger already had a working IBM platform that could run chip cards so they just integrated it.
Some high level finance and accounting functions have been "outsourced" to Kroger corporate. The old Riddick/HT pension plan is now managed in Cincinnati according to the plan documents I got when I left. Store leases are paid from Cincinnati as well. Believe it or not, but until recently million dollar plus leases were paid with PAPER CHECKS.
Unlike some of Kroger's other acquisitions, HT wasn't a distressed asset. As long that it continues to make money on it's own, it'll stay separate. If that were to change, I imagine they would hasten the integration.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: July 24th, 2021, 2:15 pm
by BatteryMill
storewanderer wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2021, 11:32 pm
Have they actually converted anything other than the loyalty card/POS system over to Kroger? I think the shelf tags, warehouse system, etc. are still the old Harris Teeter systems? Any my understanding was a big reason why they even did the POS/loyalty was due to the chip card thing. The Harris Teeter IBM platform was so old they were going to need to do a total overhaul to it anyway to get it to accept chip cards, but Kroger already had a working IBM platform that could run chip cards so they just integrated it.
I'm not too sure on this topic. Harris Teeter AFAIK still has their VIC card system, which is definitely different than any system found at mainstream Kroger. I wonder how they could attach both platforms.
I still do hope that Mariano's can make a turnaround. There's nothing much in Chicago besides that and Jewel-Osco (the "average" grocer there).
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: December 8th, 2021, 4:12 pm
by jdb820
Kroger is opening an Ocado warehouse in the Charlotte suburb of Concord.
Might Kroger begin competing with themselves with a delivery-only model in North Carolina or might this be really for Harris Teeter. The former would go over well in North Carolina, especially the Triangle where Kroger is well missed from their exit from the market.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: January 21st, 2022, 10:31 pm
by BatteryMill
arizonaguy wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2016, 5:32 pm
I took some photos of the Harris Teeter I visited in Charleston to support my last post.
1.) The size and overall design is similar to other larger non-Marketplace Kroger stores (there is a Starbucks kiosk located in the front as well as a drive thru pharmacy):
Some dizzying pavement, I'll admit! Although this facade and decor package was clearly commissioned by Harris Teeter alone.
Some more updates in the meantime - looks like as of late Harris Teeter has transitioned to using more Kroger brands for their generic products (Private Selection, Luvsome, Pet Pride, Comforts) versus the independent "YourPet", "YourBaby" etc. labels.
https://www.harristeeter.com/our-brands Is this perhaps spurred by the same situation that resulted in Simple Truth being stocked at HT?
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: April 21st, 2022, 5:02 am
by cw06
It looks like Harris Teeter's homepage has been merged with the rest of Kroger's. It's now just the kroger.com layout with the HT logo in the corner.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: April 21st, 2022, 8:41 am
by jamcool
None of the annoying ads with the Kroger weebles yet?
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: April 21st, 2022, 8:46 am
by BatteryMill
cw06 wrote: ↑April 21st, 2022, 5:02 am
It looks like Harris Teeter's homepage has been merged with the rest of Kroger's. It's now just the kroger.com layout with the HT logo in the corner.
Boo. At least it still has mostly HT-exclusive ad elements. No Krojis or cart-slice logo to report, but this is still a sign of the times.
Re: Harris Teeter/Kroger integration
Posted: April 21st, 2022, 11:10 pm
by storewanderer
jamcool wrote: ↑April 21st, 2022, 8:41 am
None of the annoying ads with the Kroger weebles yet?
I like the krojis. I have decided they fit with Kroger. They are about at the level of quality I expect of most of Kroger's fresh departments at this point.
Low, low, low.
The krojis definitely don't fit with a grocer that is trying to send a message to the consumer that they have excellent tasty fresh foods. But that is okay because that definitely isn't Kroger. Still no wide scale re-build of Toys R Us who could take the krojis off Kroger's hands and have a great marketing campaign.
