Kroger Launches Website to Share Stories, Ideas
The Kroger Co. has launched a new website: www.krogerstories.com, a home for narratives on everything from Kroger employees and innovative projects to ideas that are changing the way people think about and consume food.
The new website features a variety of voices, produced by both freelancers and Kroger associates. Its multimedia format features both long- and short-form written content, as well as video and photographic storytelling.
"We believe customers, associates and other stakeholders are increasingly making decisions about where to shop, where to work, and who shares their values based on how well they understand the ways a company makes a difference for their people, communities and the planet," said Jessica Adelman, Kroger's group vice president of corporate affairs. "And in this equation, we believe that stories – credible, authentic, human stories – matter more than perhaps anything else."
In one story, contributor Leah Lawrence shares her experiences connecting life in her hometown of Covington, Ky., with the culture and food of Italy via Kroger’s Hemisfares private label.
“For me, Kroger has always been about two things: family and nostalgia – I’m glad it has grown with me, matured with me,” she wrote. “HemisFares let me host a dinner party on my gray-painted floor, for lack of chairs, for lack of time or means to travel, for lack of time and energy at the end of the day. They’re providing me with an avoidance of sacrifice, with even more to enjoy at a time of day that is very important to me: dinner.”
And in another post, Kroger shared a written and video tribute to Larry Arnold, a 79-year-old employee in Pickerington, Ohio, who recently retired after 63 years with the Cincinnati-based grocer. The longest-serving Kroger associate at the time of his retirement, he started with the company in 1953, when he accepted a job as a clerk at the former Market Street Kroger store in Zanesville a week shy of his 16th birthday.
"On any given day, nearly half a million Kroger associates are doing incredible work. We get a fresh chance to make personal connections, to lift people up and lighten their load," said Ann Reed, VP of Customer 1st Promise. "Krogerstories.com is designed to elevate these unique stories and share the difference our wonderful associates make for our customers, communities and each other."
The Kroger Co. employs 443,000 associates and operates 2,796 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in 35 states and Washington, D.C.