Kroger

Great store! They always have nearly everything in stock. Automated checkout! It would be nice to have higher quality sushi.

This is my usual grocery store. The major grocery chains in this area are Kroger/​Harris Teeter (yup, Kroger owns HT) and Food Lion. Harris Teeters are generally nicer but also more expensive, and I don’t care for Food Lion at all, so Kroger is where I usually shop.
This Kroger is nice for a few reasons. It’s near lots of things on Hillsborough, and close to 15 – 501. It’s open 24 hours. It has gas that is usually reasonably priced. I can typically find things here that I can’t find elsewhere, and for reasonable prices. If you swing by the bakery, you can usually score a cookie or doughnut sample, and the samples are often whole cookies (hey, that’s important to me!). If you go between 4 – 6 pm, you can find fresh, warm bread near the checkouts, perfect for those who stop for groceries after a 9 – 5 job. It’s usually not terribly crowded, and the layout makes more sense than a lot of stores I’ve been in. There’s a surprisingly good section of natural/​organic food.
They often have clearance produce, baked goods, etc. that are a good bargain, but of course you should always double check clearance items for quality before you buy them. The clearance things that I’ve bought here were fine if we ate them within a day or two, which is what I expected.
The people who work here are usually nice and when I’ve asked for help finding something, they walk me to it instead of just pointing. I’ve also seen the employees do things like helping a shopper who was in a wheelchair and couldn’t push her cart herself.
I hate the self checkout machines, and if I’m buying more than a few things, I will typically avoid them. It’s a hassle to use your own bags at those things, no matter how much the signs outside urge you to bring a bag. The machines are extremely finicky and will often punish you by locking you out of the process until an employee fixes it.

Absolutely crap! Don’t bring your own bags here. the baggers there will continually not put your items in your cart that you pay for. Don’t get upset with the customer service there or they will hang up on you and not help. complete ghetto employees there. Our pellegrino water, beer and wine never made it into our cart. with two kids with I never checked if everything was put in the the cart. On one occasion we arrived home and unpacked out items. Noticed that the organic chicken wasn’t in any of our bags. So, I go back. It is not at the register I went to. She tells me she gave it back to the meat department. Subsequently, the meat department put it back out on the shelves to resell it! We, matched the product numbers. Talk about illegal and a major food safety violation. DO NOT SHOP HERE if you are smart person.

Kroger is my favorite grocery store because I love my reward points, I love their store brands, and generally the staff is very friendly. Today I just had the worst customer service experience at any Kroger I’ve ever shopped at. My initial thought was to use the self checkout, but due to the amount of items that I had in my cart, I decided to use a register. Immediately when the older cashier named «Rita» saw my cart she let out a noticeable sigh and rolled her eyes. She never told me «hello», or «did you find everything ok», or anything to me initially. As she began to scan my items I could tell that she was irritated, before I even had the cart emptied she told me in a rude tone that I needed to get my bags because she couldn’t load anything else in the bag carousel, I looked at the carousel and she had 3 empty sections with bags, but I hurried and grabbed the bags anyway. As I was loading up she told me «I need your Kroger card», the guy behind me went to pull his out and she told him in a rude manor «I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to her». The guy got a little flustered by her tone. I paid for my items, she handed me my receipt and said «Thank you» in a sarcastic manor. Rita obliviously doesn’t understand that she is in the customer service industry and it’s people like me keeping them in business. I paid $ 126.67 for my order today and I left feeling unappreciated as if I was bothering Rita. My suggestion to her is to find a new job and leave hers to someone who is in need of a job, or start treating customers better because it’s obvious that she doesn’t value her own job. For Management at Kroger, I would highly suggest some extensive customer service training for Rita.

I like a little love and entertainment when I go shopping. And Kroger employee’s certainly provide entertainment. There is one cashier whose breath smells like farts, one that is scared of everything and another that is hard of hearing. And there are numerous cashiers that would rather talk with each other than the customer.
If you go late on Sunday, many items are gone. In terms of the store itself, it’s clean, sort of. I always find refrigerated stuff out all over the store. It makes me wonder what they do with it and where it goes. Product location takes a little getting used to… Certain organic yogurt is in the non-​organic area.
I wonder about my safety. Security has grabbed up shop lifters while I have been shopping. And I once saw a guy pull a gun on his girlfriend.
The tables out front of the store are normally crowded with employees enjoying their meal and a smoking break. It looks unclean and I hope they wash their hands when they come back in.
Kroger installed the redbox video product at the front door… This has caused congestion as people park in front to exchange and purchase new product. I have a fondness for Kroger but not this one… It is convenient and I do keep my eyes open.

This is a 24 hour supermarket that comes in really handy. It sits in the corner of the strip mall. Recently, it had added its own gas pumps where you can get discounted gas if you shop over a certain price bracket.
The store only gets 3 stars for the variety and availability of fresh produce; the produce section is limited and pales against the offerings from Compare supermarkets; however, it gets another one for being the only 24 hour markets in the area.

Not quite the same as the harris teeters in chapel hill and carrboro, but far better than the food lions.
they have a great selection of foods, a large variety, and good seasonal produce, for fair prices. They also have a small organic/​vegan section with a few things.
If you live in Durham, definitely get a rewards/​points card for Kroger, because you’ll be shopping here a lot.

«Chain grocery, but friendly staff and good selection»
I go to this grocery store more than any other, and it shows. Having lived in Durham for 5 years now, I recognize many of the staff in the store, and they recognize and acknowledge me. They often ask about my kids if I come without them, or comment if I go at an unusual time of day («Didn’t see you this morning…»). The lady in the floral section always offers my youngest a free balloon when we walk by to get cereal. They’re always quick to find me an item in the back if I don’t see it on the shelf. It’s a nice experience– although it loses the «anonymity» some people like when they shop, I appreciate this as being one of the benefits of not being in a major city– you feel you’re known, appreciated, and valued, and the service is concomitant.
In terms of the store itself, it’s clean, well-​stocked, well-​kept, and the selection is pretty good. Takes a little getting-​used-​to of where some things are (e.g., the Kroger-​brand soy milk is in the refrigerator by the regular milk, but other brands are in a different refrigerator by organic foods), but once you’ve got it down, it’s rare you don’t find something. And again, the staff are very willing to help.