Comments on: Neighbors Upset After News of Kroger Closings in SE Raleigh

By: RaleighRob

RaleighRob — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:45:12 +0000

I’m very sorry to see these Krogers closing–especially the MLK one. (It was decently convenient for the eastern half of downtown.)
But I think the best way for the city to ensure that good grocery stores can survive in these areas is to get more dense, mixed-income housing in the residential areas there. The areas do not have enough middle and upper-middle income homes to create a good customer base for anything that isn’t dirt cheap.
The city needs to get real serious in encouraging more middle income housing developments (preferably mixed-use density), in southeast Raleigh to diversity the income levels so that it isn’t always considered by the retail powers-that-be as a “poor area” without viable customers. Once you do that, a Kroger or even a Harris Teeter or Target would make a profit there!

By: Rex

Rex — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:00:06 +0000

Scott said it exactly right… there is a Super Walmart within walking distance of the Kroger on New Bern and a Food Lion down the street. There is also a Food Lion a short distantce from the Kroger on MLK. These concerned citizens should take a different approach, which is to clean up their neighborhood and create a more welcomng environment for business. I’ve been to all of these stores. The area is crime ridden. Cable and utility theft is everywhere. The grocery stores in the neighborhoods constantly fight shoplifting and gang graffiti covers the bathroom walls. Take a trip to these stores and spend an hour or two, then you will understand why they are closing. None of these “community activists” talk about the relation of “food desert” and crime and blight in the area.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:31:00 +0000

I can only speak about the New Bern Ave Kroger’s. I hardly call this area a Food Desert. There is a Walmart and two Food Lions’s within a mile or two of the Kroger’s. I think the reason this store is closing is simple, very few customers at the Kroger’s and the Walmart a block away is packed. I think the prices are better at the Walmart store so more people shop there.

By: Adam K

Adam K — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:31:54 +0000

Why should local neighbors be made aware of a company removing two locations? They have a business to run and profit margins are of great concern in these difficult economic times. Do they need permission to stay?

People might be surprised, but Kroger has been trying to pull out of the Carolinas for almost 10 years. These are the two least profitable stores in the state, with high theft and low profit margins, if any. The Kroger on MLK was only there because the city practically begged the company to make a location there, giving them a steal for the price of the land and building. With Kroger trying to sell off to competition they need to eliminate these stores to make their numbers look better as they sell off. It’s actually a pretty savvy business move. I doubt Kroger will even be around in a year anywhere, Harris Teeter, Publix, and Bi-Lo are all trying to bid them out.

There are at least two Food Lions within a mile of each Kroger. With Food Lion closing down 300 locations in the next year or two it is likely that a few of these will go as well.

‘“I don’t buy the idea that we’re not buying product,” Baker said, “But the question is, can you sell the product?”’ -You’ve got to be kidding me?!?!

The neighborhoods surrounding these stores don’t give the companies enough business to support them, and again, theft is incredibly high in these locations. The produce is bad in these stores, for obvious reasons: people aren’t buying it. It isn’t as if the grocery chains are shipping in bad produce, it goes bad because no one pays for it. You can’t expect them to keep buying fresh food that just wilts, again, think of profit margins. You cannot force people to buy groceries, they do or they don’t.

The biggest concern should be prescriptions. Without Kroger where will people in these neighborhoods go to get prescriptions filled?

By: george monnin

george monnin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:17:23 +0000

the only reason that kroger stores are closing those two stores is because of shrink , shoplifting is the major problem ,they cannot disclose that because of legal repercussion…