And another, and another ...
The invasion of the superstores descends on Houston: It's grocers gone (build)wild
Forget alien spacecrafts. Houston is being taken over by superstores.Photo(shop) by Sarah Rufca
Wal-Mart started the run.
But now, Kroger is jumping in full force.
Maybe it's a manic fear of imminent apocalypse or catastrophic climate change brought on by our recent freeze, but Houston seems to think it's low on supplies.
What else explains the invasion of superstores into overlapping inner-Loop markets? There's the Walmart at the mouth of the Heights, yet another (150,000 square-foot) one bound for the East End, the H-E-B breaking ground (or at least currently cutting trees) on West Alabama and Dunlavy, and now another Kroger planned just south of I-10 by Arne's (and a short walk from a Super Target).
What's the deal? Do we not have enough dry goods? Are fortified basement bomb shelters making a comeback I don't know about? WHY SO MANY GROCERY STORES?
This Kroger will join the one on Yale and 20th Streets, one on 11th Street and Shepherd, and one on West Gray — all within five miles of each other. And don't forget the Whole Foods going in on Waugh and West Dallas.
Perhaps Kroger's marketing plan in the face of H-E-B opposition is to plant stores on every free lot, so there are none left for H-E-B to appropriate. Or maybe this blitz is intended to erase from our collective memory that atrociously bad Kroger Super Bowl ad, featuring Nolan Ryan and a guy who looks suspiciously similar to Kevin from The Office claiming to be Kroger president Bill Breetz.
It's Kevin, right?
