Following up on Swamplot’s story from yesterday, the Houston Press‘s Richard Connelly sizes up the bigger-and-better Kroger that’ll be going into the Merchants Park Shopping Center at the corner of North Shepherd and 11th St. in the Heights.
. . . says Kroger’s Gary Huddleston, the new place will be 96,000 square feet, more than double what the store is now.
That would make it the biggest Kroger in Houston, and almost as big as the 110,000-square-foot monsters the chain has opened in Pearland and Missouri City. . . .
The refurbished store should be finished in a year, he says. The current operation will remain open during the renovation, which will slow things down a bit.
- The Heights Is Getting A Supersized Supermarket [Hair Balls]
- Recession, What Recession? Kroger Opens a Huge Store in Missouri City [Eating Our Words]
- Stripped: Heights Kroger Knocks Its Neighbors [Swamplot]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
This is great news. Largest Kroger in The Heights means EMME’s ass will be the largest as well.
He shoots…..he scores!
Nice to get more info on this!
Can’t wait until they get moving with the new construction.
That’s great news….but I would much rather have a smaller grocery store with great customer service and self serve checkouts that actually work than a big grocery store with rude employees and faulty equipment. Until that happens, I’ll drive the extra miles to Randall’s.
As long as they keep the current staff, I’ll look for them if I need help.
The quality of the staff is also directly related to the quality of the managers in the store. If the same managers are in charge, hopefully they’ll hire some quality people as they currently have there.
The basic problem of uninspired employees is directly related to the fact that Kroger is a big union shop. Inspiration is all but extinguished by the intrinsic nature of today’s union leaders.
I hear ya CK, but are the employees in the Texas stores union also?
As long as they get rid of the horrible smell in the pet food area, I will be a happy camper.
It’s pet food confined to a small area. What do you expect? It’s no different than a Petco or Petsmart store.
I keep my dog food in air tight containers because I don’t want my home to smell like that.
I really think the smell is because of the lack of air circulation in the area. Considering the store is doubling in size, they’ll most likely update the HVAC systems to cope with the large facility. Also, they may raise the ceilings like most new stores be much higher which helps in circulation.
Kyle, I’m pretty sure most all at least full time employees nationwide are part of the union. I forget what the name of the union is. Mammory fails me, but when I bought my Oak Forest house some 20 years ago, the previous owner was a Kroger employee who was a member of the union. I kept getting tons of propaganda from them for years in spite of repeatedly informing them of the current address of the former owner. The propaganda’s distorted “facts” and campaign recommendations for their sheeple union participants.
Texas is a right to work state, with few unions. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Kroger employees in Houston are union.
Even though TX is a right to work state, there is still plenty of union presence here.
maybe, but I dont’t think Kroger is unionized. There may be a union here or there, but I wouldn’t say it is enough to be called a “presence”.
I thinl I stand corrected.
http://www.reuters.com/article/consumerproducts-SP/idUSN1528279320070615
Good on them!
Oh Good Lord what next? A post from Norma Rae trying to organize? Or a post from Heloise for tips on keeping the stench away? Is this a real estate blog or what?
CK, presumably that’s why all the non-union workers at my local fast food joint are so inspired and engaged. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the uninspiring nature of much of the work ….
If they don’t have the parental support or the drive, no, they won’t get inspired.
I’ve known several people who start off at the bottom of a fast food chain or at Wal-Mart that move up, but it isn’t given to you. You have to want to move up.
Wal-Mart as an example is one of the easiest organizations to move up in because of the lack of a union. If you are willing to relocate, you can become a section manager pretty quickly. The key is that you have to want to succeed. This is also the argument against making the minimum wage a living wage. It’s isn’t supposed to support a family. It’s supposed to encourage you to achieve something more than just minimum wage.