Saturday, April 25, 2009
Kroger furnishes new inventory
Furniture is now for sale at Kroger's Vinton store.
Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
Anna Butler passes a row of mirrors for sale at the Vinton Kroger, which now sells furniture alongside its groceries.
Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
Mark Casey (left) and Kevin Niday assemble a dining room set at the Vinton Kroger, which began selling furniture this month.
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When Patricia Blankenship walked into Vinton's Kroger store earlier this month, she did a double take.
A couch sits on a long rug in the center of the store, surrounded by dining room tables set for a meal. There are bookshelves, entertainment centers and chairs. Bar stools, framed art, mirrors and lamps line one aisle.
"This is the first grocery store I've ever seen getting furniture," said Blankenship of Roanoke.
Name-brand furniture -- not just the typical summertime patio tables and grills-- is a new addition this month to this Kroger supermarket on Hardy Road. The store has been in construction and remodeling mode since 2007. Now stretching to 88,426 square feet, it's one of the largest Kroger stores in the Roanoke Valley.
The Vinton store also is the only Kroger in this area and in the mid-Atlantic region with a home furnishings section, executives said.
Selling furniture at the grocery store is not a swelling trend, supermarket experts say. It's a distinct Kroger hallmark found in some of the grocer's megastores nationwide, including Fred Meyer and Marketplace locations. These giant stores, at 120,000 square feet and larger, mix aisles of groceries with clothing, jewelry, furniture and toy departments.
Still Kroger is one of the numerous nonfurniture retailers, from Big Lots to Target, snatching a piece of the home furnishing market's sales pie.
Kroger chose the Vinton store for its furniture roll-out because the location had the extra space from its remodel, said Carl York, a Kroger spokesman. If this new department is a success, the grocer may add furnishings to its other mid-Atlantic stores, he said.
Inside the Vinton Kroger, soft lights shine on the home furniture area, some of it arranged to resemble a cozy home. There's an Ashley Furniture couch, Sauder entertainment cases and more, from bookshelves to stools and lamps. Some items are under Kroger's private label brands, such as HD Designs and Everyday Living. With more than 400 items, the selection will change over time, said Mike Witt, who is seasonal category manager for Kroger's mid-Atlantic office.
Customers can buy furniture straight from the store, though most of the items are not assembled ahead of time. Kroger refers customers to a Roanoke County company, Niday & Co., for assembly and delivery. Assembly costs range from $10 to $150 and delivery is $20 to $50, depending on the distance.
Ruth and Bill Anthony didn't have to worry about paying for assembly while shopping for furniture recently at the Vinton Kroger. They placed an already assembled short swivel stool into their shopping cart on Wednesday.
Bill Anthony needed it for his workshop in his garage at home. The Vinton couple said they compared the prices of similar stools at other stores, and they found the best deal at Kroger. The stool was $29.99.
Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Kroger's furniture sales are a small but growing part of the company's total sales. She would not disclose the specific percentage breakdown.
Kroger is one of few supermarket chains that has managed to sell a wide array of items under one roof, said Jon Springer, associate editor at Supermarket News, a New York food retailing publication.
"One of their [Kroger's] strategies is to be able to provide a store for whatever kind of shopping trip that a community might need," he said.
The grocer's multidepartment stores, such as Fred Meyer and Marketplace, compete head-to-head with giant discounter Wal-Mart in some markets, said David Livingston, a supermarket consultant in Wisconsin.
Kroger is drawing some expertise in furniture retailing from its Fred Meyer stores, which the company acquired in 1999. York said the Vinton Kroger carries many of the same furniture brands as Fred Meyer stores, which are mostly located in the western half of the United States.
This mix of products across Kroger's stores "improves their market share," Springer said. And the customer's response?
"It must be working," Springer said, referring to growth of the Marketplace and Fred Meyer brands. "They [Kroger] tend to be deliberate when they roll things out."
Kroger has 90 Marketplace stores and 128 Fred Meyer stores nationwide.
To be sure, not every shopper likes the newest bells and whistles at the Vinton Kroger.
"It's nice because Vinton doesn't have too much as far as furniture," said Becky Carson, while shopping there recently for discounted Easter candy, located near the furniture department.
Still, Carson of Hardy said she is frustrated when she can't get in and out of the grocery store quickly. She doesn't like having to wade through aisles of toys, furniture and other nonfood items to find milk and other groceries on her list.
Carson works part time, and said she's typically in a hurry while grocery shopping. She suspects other working women feel the same way.
"A grocery store needs to be a grocery store," she said.
