Research Paper

When Bernard Kroger Went from Poor to Rich

Every day some people have to go to four or more markets to be satisfied with the groceries they have instead of just going to one market. That all changed when Bernard Kroger created the first supermarket called “Kroger” that sold meat, bakery, and groceries under the same roof. Bernard Kroger was a hardworking and determined influential figure in history since he spent all his life savings on a store that he didn’t know was going to be successful. His willpower is what led him to be famous and to be a successful human being. When Bernard Kroger was creating Kroger, his motto was, “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” He used those words to help him shape the way he wanted Kroger to be. Bernard Kroger was dedicated to making a successful supermarket that would help many people get their groceries more efficiently and he did just that by selling meat, fruits, and bread under the same roof.

Early Life and Childhood

Bernard Henry Kroger was born on January 24, 1860, in Cincinnati, Ohio (Garrison). His parents being John Henry Kroger (b. 1815) (Dixon) and Mary Gertrude Kroger (b. 1831) (Garrison). Bernard Kroger was one of nine children. Even though Bernard Kroger was surrounded by german-culture in his early years in life, he attended a local Protestant parochial school where German was treated as a second language and English as the main language (Garrison). Bernard Kroger’s dad had a financial panic in his store which made him ill. The illness that John Henry Kroger had sent him to the grave. Because John Henry Kroger died, his shop was destroyed. This later led Bernard Kroger to work to support his family so he dropped out of school at the age of 13 and started working as a clerk in Rheum’s German Drugstore. Before Bernard Kroger’s dad died, his dad taught him the necessary skills to be a salesman which helped him create the business “Kroger” (Dixon). A year later, he got a job as a laborer on a farm earning 6 dollars a month. Bernard Kroger’s experience on a farm wasn’t the best experience he had since he recalled it being the most unforgettable experience of his life (Garrison).

Beginnings

The strictness of Bernard Kroger’s mother (Mary Gertrude Kroger) caused Bernard to go the route of making a business. Mary Gertrude was strict with her children because she “felt responsible for the initial success of the family store and for making sure her kids were disciplined” (Garrison). John Kroger inspired Bernard Kroger to create a business too since he himself made a business, but the difference between his business and Bernard’s business is that his business ended up in failure and Bernard Kroger’s business ended in success. Also, since Bernard Kroger’s dad taught him the skills necessary to be a salesperson, he thought he would make use of those skills to create a business (Dixon). “At the age of twenty-three, Bernard Kroger invested his life savings of about $372 along with his friend, B. A. Branagan, and founded the Great Western Tea Company” (Garrison). Bernard Kroger was first buying baked goods at other stores and reselling them at his store. He soon didn’t like the idea of having to buy baked goods from other bakeries and having them be resold at his store so he started his bakery. Bernard Kroger ended up saving money from not buying baked goods from other stores. He also made the baked goods at a cheap price which ended up making him a profit (Dixon). During the first weeks of business, the Ohio River flooded Kroger’s store. Once the water drained away, Kroger lost over $350 on his business (Garrison). Even though Bernard Kroger went through many hardships, he never gave up and kept on striving (Dixon).

Accomplishments

Bernard Kroger accomplished to have more than 2,800 stores in 35 states with annual sales of more than $121.1 billion. Kroger is one of the largest rank retail stores in the world (History - The Kroger Company). Bernard Kroger founded the Great Western Tea Company. He expanded his business with the name “Great Western Tea Company” before later changing the business name to “Kroger” in 1902. When the company “Kroger” started, they sold bakery and goods at a cheap price, making them a profit. Because Kroger had his goods at a cheap price, he started receiving death threats from other companies. The other companies were scared that Bernard Kroger would put them out of business since almost all the customers went to his store because his store goods were being sold at a cheap price. Bernard Kroger wasn’t frightened at all by these threats, but instead “he responded by expanding his bakeries” (Dixon). Bernard Kroger was eager to have customers shop and buy goods from his store so he advertised his store name, “The Kroger Company”, in his newspapers. Bernard “invested heavily in advertising his grocery products,” and then he later took the spotlight of the newspapers in his local area. After Bernard Kroger’s business grew, he used horses and wagons to transport his deliveries to customers in 1908. Soon after the wagons and horses have been introduced to the business, Kroger’s friend commented how silly the wagons look by saying, “These wagons look like they belong in the circus.” Bernard responded to this by saying, “Good, if you noticed, so will other people. It’s good advertising.” The first disaster struck with the horses and wagons. Branagan, Bernard Kroger’s friend, was trying to outpace a train, so he streaked across the tracks of the train barely managing to escape the train uninjured. On the other hand, the wagon and horse he had been driving, had been destroyed which left the “Kroger Company” to lose over 500 dollars (Garrison). Even after many unlucky things that happened, Bernard Kroger kept on striving to make “Kroger” a successful company (Dixon).

Impact on the World

Bernard Kroger has changed many lives in the world by creating a supermarket called “Kroger” that sold meat, fresh baked goods, and groceries under the same roof. By creating the store “Kroger”, Bernard has saved many people’s time. Instead of people going to many stores to buy their groceries, they can just go to one store and buy what they need (Dixon). Bernard Kroger was born in a poor family since his parents were German immigrants going to America (Garrison). At the age of thirteen, Bernard Kroger dropped out of school. He dropped out of school to go work and to support his family’s issue with money which means he didn’t get the best education he could have gotten. Even though Bernard Kroger didn’t have the best education, he was still determined to construct the store “Kroger.” Bernard Kroger used his experiences he got from working on a farm and in stores to construct “Kroger” (Dixon). Before Bernard’s father died, his father taught him useful information that would also help him create “Kroger” (Garrison). Despite the fact that Kroger dropped out of school at the age of 13, he still got the necessary knowledge to make his dream come true which is building “Kroger” (Dixon).

Lessons Learned

Bernard Kroger is an impressive historical figure since he dropped out of school at the age of 13, but he still manages to successfully build a store for what today ranks as one of the largest companies in America. Even though he lacked the knowledge of school education, it didn’t stop him from reaching his goal (Dixon). In life, people go through many hardships that make us want to give up on life, but when Bernard Kroger was a boy, he was poor. He had to work many jobs to support his family (Garrison). At first, Berard Kroger bought the Great Western Tea Company in 1883. Then in 1902, he changed the store name to himself which is what we all know and come to love, “Kroger.” By that point, Kroger owned forty stores and sold 1.7 million dollars worth of merchandise in the previous year alone (Barney Kroger - Ohio History Central). Bernard Kroger gave us an example to follow which is to not get discouraged if something doesn’t go your way or if an unfortunate event happens. Take everything steps by step and always be patient.

Works Cited

“Barney Kroger - Ohio History Central.” Ohio History Central, https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Barney_Kroger. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021

Dixon, Christine-Marie Liwag. “The Untold Truth Of Kroger.” Mashed.com, 10 Dec. 2020, https://www.mashed.com/90061/untold-truth-kroger/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Garrison, Zachary. “Bernard Heinrich Kroger.” Immigrant Entrepreneurship, 22 Aug. 2018, immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/bernard-heinrich-kroger/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.

“History - The Kroger Co.” The Kroger Co., thekrogerco.com/about-kroger/history/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.