(Pictures taken around Sep. 10, 2021. Costco was Sep. 16, 2021.)
At Kroger, many stores stay in bad shape. Lots of out of stocks,
registers not open, late orders, and so on. We claim
it's management. Kroger says it's just the market: supply issues and
nobody anywhere wanting to work. I bet our readers have wondered: is
this stuff going on at every grocery store (market) or just specific
ones (management)? Last week, I went around lunch time on a busy day to
Kroger's competitors to see if they're running as badly. I put all the
pictures I took on Flikr.
(Note: I do not compare the
prices. This is only to assess and compare management, supply, and worker
issues. I also receive no benefits from these companies in any way. Any
praise or criticism are just what they earned from what I saw and heard
during my visits.)
Piggly Wiggly OB
Aldi OB
Superlo Southaven
Costco Hacks Cross
(Edit: Added Costco on Sep 16. Pics are the kinds of stuff the others
carry.)
In-stock Situation
All were stocked better than Kroger. In Kroger Pickup, I often ran into
either whole sections empty or many out-of-stocks on fries, biscuits,
fast-moving butters, toaster struedel, and so on. We'd be substituting
that stuff even in the morning on many days. Those sections are really
full at these other stores.
Not a supplier issue. A few sections... spaghetti sauce, rice / dry
beans, and Gatorade... were low at all the stores. That kind of stuff
is probably a supply issue. I confirmed the Gatorade was. Overall: if
you want food, you're better off trying to get it at those places.
Clerks: Stockers, Cashiers, etc.
There were more at Piggly Wiggly and Superlo that day. They were moving
fastest at Piggly Wiggly and Aldi. Less stressed at Piggly Wiggly and
Superlo. There's clearly a morale and retention difference between
Kroger and these companies. Recently, we've also had Kroger employees
leave for the competition citing how bosses treat them. I don't have a
thorough survey on that, though.
Clerks: Costco
Added Costco on Sep 16, 2021. It ran so much better that I gave it its own
section with bold title. Costco seemed to have as many employees in there
as pre-COVID. They were friendly, fast, and many looked relaxed (much as
retail allows). How can this be if media talks like no retail company can
achieve that right now? Is it just the business model or is management
doing something really different?
Like Publix,
Costco takes care of workers: pays them well for
business reasons, has good benefits, doesn't
buy advertisements specifically to pay workers more, promotes from
within, and tries to be respectful. When I worked there, Kroger tried to
cut our benefits every negotiation (doing it right now!), kept in-store
labor too low, and acted like in-store people never did anything right. I
believe Kroger's in-stock and retention would approve dramatically if
their management treats workers like Publix and Costco treats theirs.
Hint, hint, nudge, nudge.
Checkout
After COVID, lines have gotten long in general. All of these were OK in
terms of registers open vs people in line. Piggly Wiggly had the most
cashiers consistently open. The biggest problem is their good in-stock
and service are drawing many customers from Memphis' empty stores. The
shopper volume vs store size means lines can get long even though they
have all lanes open. Aldi's lines can get long. Their cashiers are
fast, process is optimized, and they open new ones up. The lines move
quick enough. Bring your quarter and bags, though! Superlo had
registers and self-checkouts open the one time I saw them. Costco has
self-checkouts now. The registers move fast enough that I just use them.