Howdy Folks! Hope everyone is doing well today, today let’s start off with a small vocabulary lesson. The following word was coined in conversation with a friend on mine.
Krogerstons- (Noun) A Kroger store operating out of a former Albertsons; Esp. Those in the Houston Division. “Hey man, I saw Ray Childress down at the Krogerstons on Louetta, screaming something about cash for clunkers, and waving around a muffler”.
Krogerstons make up a large number of Kroger stores throughout the Houston area. Although they are far outnumbered by Kroger built stores, and have a shrinking count every day, Krogerstons are just another part of the Houston’s “suburban furniture”. For those of you unaware on the topic, Albertsons had a relatively brief stay in Houston. While far from being the shortest lived grocery chain in Houston, they only managed to last 7 years, from 1995-2005. Similar to Safeway, the chain’s exit wasn’t directly related to poor performance in the district, but larger financial troubles. At the time of exit, Albertsons had 43 stores in the Houston area, and Kroger acquired the majority of these stores in a direct hand off. The stores they bought were quickly given Kroger banners, and permeant signs shortly thereafter. Many other unique Albertsons features were left intact, such as Garden Centers, that would later be abandoned by Kroger. Other obvious features left by Albertsons included entire decor packages that lasted to around 2010 in some stores. While, these more distinct characteristics have all been removed, lets take a look at what exactly makes a “Krogerstons”
Great post; love all those quirks including that one-of-a-kind drive thru pharmacy. I would like to note that several Krogersons retain Albertsons Food/Pharmacy signage on their exteriors as well to this day.
Thank you, I plan to document a few more Krogerstons when time permits!
My closest and my preferred grocery store these days is a fairly small Krogertsons. Kroger, like Albertson’s before, does a good job packing a full service grocery store into relatively small footprint without making it feel cramped. I do like how the “food” and “pharmacy” signs on the facade remain from Albertson’s, a rare glimpse of the Albertson’s font when driving out and about.
My preferred store is not a Krogerstons, but it is a Kroger, and I agree with the sentiment of getting everything you need under a small footprint.
Krogertsons, It’s Your Store!
We have so many Krogers around here that I really have my pick of what kind of experience I want. The two Krogertsons that Jason mentioned earlier are near me as well. The FM 1960 W one is one I shop at pretty frequently. It’s right-sized to be sure. However, even though it was a Grocery Palace Albertsons and thus the latest and greatest that Albertsons had here in Houston, Kroger actually has less frozen food at that location than they do at the Cypresswood Krogertsons that was merely a Blue & Grey Market Albertsons. I’ve never been able to figure that one out!
But, yes, I do have a general preference for smaller Krogers than larger ones. I’m okay with the 1990s/early 2000s Kroger Signature type stores. In fact, the Jones Rd. & West Rd. Kroger might be my favorite Kroger to shop at in recent times, but I also like shopping at the Hwy. 6 & West Rd. Greenhouse Kroger and Cypresswood Krogertsons due to their more ‘normal’ sizing and layouts. Both those stores have hideous concrete floors, especially the Hwy. 6 store, so that is a problem with those locations.
A lot of the remaining Houston Randall’s are on the smaller side, but I like shopping at those as well. I don’t mind criss-crossing the store looking for items. OTOH, something like a Kroger Marketplace is just bad. It’s way too big and the grocery items are way too spread out. We won’t even get into HEB. I think my opinions about HEB are pretty well-known, lol.
I have two such Krogerstons near me – 12400 Fm 1960 Rd W and 9125 W Sam Houston Pkwy N. The FM1960 location just tore down their C-Store and are replacing it (and are nearly finished with it) with your regular kroger pumps only gas station with the tiny employee only building. I assume this has to do with whatever they’re about to do to the intersection of Eldridge and FM1960 – it’s a mess over there right now (you should see the Chick Fil A!)
I also assume 12400 FM1960 Rd W was the location that replaced 10535 Jones Rd.
Hi Jason, yes, the 12400 Fm 1960 Rd W Albertsons did indeed replace the very short-lived Albertsons at 10535 Jones Rd next to where Ollie’s is opening soon. The two Krogertsons you mention, 12400 Fm 1960 Rd W and 9125 W Sam Houston Pkwy N, are both examples of stores that had Albertsons’ famous (or infamous depending on your take on the decor) Albertsons Grocery Palace decor.
Food Town’s location on the North Beltway has a lot of preserved Grocery Palace decor: https://goo.gl/maps/165XzdoMvT4hWiyb8
Also, here is a good overview of the Grocery Palace decor from the Albertsons Florida Blog: https://albertsonsfloridablog.blogspot.com/2016/12/former-albertsons-4462-orlando-fl-south.html
There is also a Krogertsons not far from you at the intersection of 249 & Cypresswood. This store used Albertsons’ Blue & Grey Market decor like the 10535 Jones Rd location had. Although no Albertsons interior decor remains at that location, that I know of at least, the layout of the departments remains similar to how Albertsons had it which makes it quite different from normal Krogers. This store, along with the nearby Cypresswood & Champions Forest Kroger, were heavily damaged during Hurricane Harvey and have rebuilt interiors. Unfortunately for the Krogertsons, that means getting Kroger’s Fresh & Local decor package (and not a very good implementation of it at that) and concrete floors that look ugly, IMO. The store looked much better, IMO, before Harvey when the store had Kroger’s 2012/Bountiful decor package and a vinyl floor even if that vinyl floor was showing signs of wear.
Back to the 12400 Fm 1960 Rd W Krogertsons for a minute, yes, the gas station does look like it’s about to re-open after more than a year of being closed and re-built sans the old Albertsons Express C-store. As you mention, the Chick-Fil-A appears to have been demolished and will be rebuilt as well. The weirdest thing to happen at that intersection in recent times is the relocation of the Walgreens from a normal Walgreens building to a sliver of a subdivided space in the old Eckerd/CVS that never was across the intersection. While Walgreens downsizings are not unprecedented, especially in Texas, that whole situation with that location is just weird.