Kroger

Used to be a Kroger regular but have switched to Publix. Fresh produce is not up to scratch and I can never find staff to help out. When you do find someone they are typically not friendly.

I love this Kroger. The store and the gas station is a regular stop off Interstate 65 on my drive to Dauphin Island or Gulf Shores. Its appearance is nice and new and it has a fuel station in front of the grocery store. In addition to the usual grocery items, the store offers a wonderful produce section (which contains produce that always looks fresh and clean), an amazing deli (which includes cold items and sandwiches, hot entrees and sides, and large cheese and bread sections), and a good-​sized bulk foods section. The deli section contains a seating area with tables for patrons to eat. Also, there is a microwave to warm any purchased food or any food, in general. A recent renovation resulted in a TV in this area and the beginnings of a bar (a bar… really…in a grocery store!!!). This area is designed for patrons to drink beer (and wine… maybe) and watch TV while their spouses shop for groceries. In my opinion, it is an ingenious idea that has its pros and cons. I won’t go into the pros and cons that I perceive about this bar area in a grocery store.
While I do not usually buy meat or seafood on my journeys, I realize that the meat and seafood sections contain fresh offerings daily.
This store is bright, clean and well organized. Plus, I have no qualms about my safety (if I am traveling alone) when I stop here after dark or at late-​night hours. The many positive attributes of this store keep me coming back.

Love this new Krogers ! Clean, great Murray’s cheese, stuffed grape leaves, great olives and feta. Nice sit down area ! Sushi. Gluten free items ! Smiling faces !

Not only its big and nice, it has a salad and a soup bar! They also have sushi and chefs will break packages for you to customize to your taste and make it the way you want. It’s $ 12 for 3 rolls usually. Isn’t it a good deal?

As a regular Publix shopper, I decided to give this new Kroger a shot. The storefront is beautiful and a great addition to this side of Franklin. The parking is decent and the carts are nice and actually roll unlike some other stores.
I would say that Kroger’s produce section is much better in terms of freshness, appearance, and pricing compared to Publix.
The interior layout of the store is a bit overwhelming and confusing and I would much rather see less of the items I would find at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and more of the grocery items I expect to find in a grocery store.
Overall, my experience was good. I’m not certain the atmosphere is enough to sway me from Publix. I’m not certain I saved any money by comparison either.
Worth a visit.

This review is updated.
First, they used to receive a delivery of fresh seafood from Hawaii every Friday that usually includes ahi tuna, wahoo and mahi mahi. This is high quality fish at a value price. Quality is as good as whole foods and lower priced. This is no longer true. Their fish is now on par with other supermarkets.
They sublet space to a Sushi Shop that prepares the best grocery store sushi in Franklin. The proprietor has been at his trade for 14 years! He’s still at it and it’s still great sushi for a supermarket environment.
Their cheese shop, Murray’s is also first rate. Ask for tastes of things you find interesting.
CUtting out the Hawaii fish delivery drops their upgrade efforts.
On a positive note the Bakery is very good and the manager is really committed to both baking and providing customers with what they want.

I’m a Kroger regular and this is by far the most modern, «trendy» Kroger I’ve seen.
Vast improvement in terms of hot and fresh food, deli selection, new healthy wannabe publix and whole food items and layout (which is cool if you’re into that).
Selection of shelf items seems to have stayed pretty much the same which I personally am comfortable with.
Everyone is still very friendly although seems like they have a much larger staff and many newbies. Give them a break for not having it down yet. I think they’ll get there.
Parking feels a little tight but I’ve lived in big cities so it doesn’t bother me.
Love having Kroger gas which is one of the cheaper gas stations nearby.
I admit, I’m not loving adjusting to this new store because I had my old routine down but looking at it objectively — it’s a good store.

I really wanted to love this Kroger.
The accolades of Murray’s Cheese, and the olive bar, and the lovely produce/​floral, and the sheer size of it all… but as much as I appreciate what Kroger does in our community, sorry, this fell flat for me.
I visited at 7 pm on a Saturday night the day before Mother’s Day — day four of their Grand Opening of this new super mega huge marketplace store.
The foral department that I encountered first — very nice. Some lovely plants and great options to show moms a little love. The food buffets were all closed down for the night, so I can’t really comment there. I saw the fresh squeezed orange juice, and maybe I’ll come back and give that a try.
Visited the deli looking for some different salad type side options to go with the planned KFC for the next day (what mom wants, mom gets). As I intently looked over the offerings, a gathering for five employees were talking amongst themselves about 12 feet away ignoring me. That’s when I knew this wasn’t going to be good. Someone finally ackknowledged us, and we got a pound of their broccoli raisin salad. Yuck. Huge chunks of broccoli stalks with very little florets… then huge chunks of full stems way too big. It was all either too big or too small, and hardly any of it were the florets I was expecting. Fail.
Went looking for a couple of other items they just didn’t carry — a certain reduced fat sausage we like and a certain breakfast biscuit I like. The problem with some of these stores getting so huge that they carry Coringware, toys, office supplies, etc. is they don’t carry all the lines of the food. Dude, you’re a grocery store. Do the groceries first then add the high profit impluse items you love to carry, geez.
Visited the dairy case for some heavy whipping cream to go with the dessert I was planning — out. No Kroger brand whipping cream at all, I had to buy Purity and had to buy a full quart. What?
The cream was going with some of the strawberries they were hawking as their grand opening special — a quart for $ 1, which was a deal. But the strawberries were sub-​par, bruised and either overly ripe or dried out. They were OK for Sunday afternoon, but I had bought a second container for us for Monday and I had to throw them out. Fail again.
Went to check out, and had to wait four deep in every line — fail. And then the baggers were slow and put stuff in my reusable bags very awkwardly, don’t know why, and they kept asking didn’t I want this item or that put into plastic. No, I don’t want plastic, that’s why I brought all these other bags, silly.
If I have my preference and life is normal, I probably won’t be back. This store failed on me in more than three ways in one visit… sorry, guess I’m a Publix girl.