Challenge of the Mind Project & Poem

Rafael Herrera

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

March 2nd, 2022

Fresh For Everyone

Introduction

Grocery stores are a very common thing nowadays, but it wasn’t like that during the early 1900s. Before grocery stores, people had to go to a baker, a butcher, and a grocer to get what they needed, but Bernard Kroger changed that. He was one of the first people to found a grocery store. He had a very particular way of thinking too. He thought it would be easier and more convenient if you only had to go to one place to get your groceries. “He had a simple motto: ‘Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself’” (The History of Kroger). According to Zwiebach, “Kroger had three strong personal traits that contributed to his success, according to the company history: He was frugal, choosing to sacrifice his comfort and put the business first. He never counted the hours he worked. He always worked harder than any of his employees.” All of this, his hard work, and his dedication helped him make his business successful.

Early Life

Bernard Kroger was born on January 24, 1860, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was one of nine children (Garrison). His father, John Henry Kroger,  was a businessman who had a dried goods shop in downtown Cincinnati (Dixon). He and his store will later be one of the main inspirations for Kroger to found his store. His mother, Mary Gertrude Kroger, had a family farm and store in Cincinnati too, but like many other families, she struggled to survive. She later became a housekeeper, and there is when she met John. Kroger later describes his mom as “a strict disciplinarian who was responsible both for the initial success of the family store and for instilling a sense of discipline in her children.” Both of his parents were German immigrants (Garrison), and they came to America for survival and opportunity. According to Garrison, “Bernard, like many children of immigrants, attended a local, English-language, Protestant parochial school, where German was treated as a second language.” Bernard had to drop out of school at 13 to help his family because the “financial panic of 1873 destroyed his father's dry goods business and he died shortly after.” This was a significant event that boosted Kroger into helping his family and founding his store.

Beginning of Career

Kroger didn’t start his store without a purpose. Everything he did came with inspiration and reasons. One reason was that he thought it would be more convenient if you could buy everything you need under the same roof, for people had to go to a butcher, a grocer, and a baker before grocery stores (The History of Kroger), but his major inspiration was his father. Johan had opened a dried fruits store in Cincinnati, but “the financial panic of 1873  destroyed his father’s dry goods business and he died shortly after” (Dixon). With all of this happening to Kroger, he had to drop out of school at the age of 13 to help his family. He started to work at a drugstore as a clerk (Garrison). He later moved on to William White & Co., working as a delivery man. Here, he learned the need for customer service. His next job was with Imperial Tea Co., but when the company started to fail, Kroger was put as manager. But Kroger made a counteroffer: “He would agree to run the business, but rather than be paid a salary, he wanted 10% of the profits and sole authority to make business decisions” (Zwiebach). Later, he invested his savings,  and with the help of a friend, he founded the Great Western Tea Company, later renaming it Kroger Grocery and Baking (Garrison). Various disasters struck his business after. His friend was going to make a delivery and saw that a train was going to pass, so he rushed over the tracks. Luckily he wasn’t harmed, but the wagon he was riding was destroyed, and he suffered $350 in losses. Not long after, another disaster happened. There was a massive flood that covered a lot of businesses in Cincinnati, including his. A lot of people were shutting their stores down, but Kroger had already made 75 dollars, and he kept on pushing forward.

Significant Accomplishments

Kroger was always looking for a way of beating his competition, and he was very good at it. One of the things Kroger did to become famous was to paint his name on whatever he could. One example of this was how every store had colorful and eye-catching billboards. He then made cards that showed kids playing, and the cards had his name and the location of his store stamped on the back. He even had his delivery trucks have his name painted on them (Garrison). All of this was part of Kroger’s genius marketing plan. Everyone in town knew who he was, and he was receiving a lot of attention. Kroger also introduced in-store bakeries. According to Garrison, “Much of the company’s success is attributable to its decision to become the first grocery chain in the nation to operate in-house bakeries, which mass-produced loaf upon loaf of affordable bread.” This led to his store being very self-sufficient. He also bought various local meat packing houses and placed those butchers inside of his store. He now had a bakery, a butcher, and a grocery inside the same building (Garrison). To lower his prices, Kroger decided to buy wholesale. “Instead of purchasing individual cases of a certain product, Kroger stores began ordering in bulk, filling whole railroad cars. Ultimately, Kroger saw bulk-buying as a chance to cut prices and force his competitors to match him step-for-step or fall by the wayside” (Garrison). Because of this, he got death threats from his competition. One of the notes he received said, “If you don't raise the price of bread at once, you will be killed or shot” (Dixon). He wasn't intimidated though. Instead, he expanded his business. A pitfall he could have experienced was the economic panic of 1893. His father’s business had gone down because of a similar event 20 years earlier, but this didn’t demotivate him. Instead of panicking, he got all of his money and bought out various of his competition. He had bought 17 stores in total. This move was a great risk, and it could have left him in bankruptcy, but within a year, the stores turned out very profitable. All of this made Henry Kroger a very accomplished man.

Impact on the World

Kroger was a very successful man, and everything he did made a big impact on the world. An example of this would be how Kroger was one of the first grocery stores. He introduced many modern grocery store customs like having everything you need to buy under one roof and having people go to his store.  He also introduced the idea of his customers coming to his store and buying their groceries instead of them being delivered to their homes (Garrison). This changed America for the greatest because now we have a lot of different ways of buying our groceries. Not only did he impact the United States, but he also helped his community out a lot. In Cincinnati, “he paid for 5,000 school children to be admitted to Cincinnati’s Coney Island, a theme park located outside of the city” (Garrison). He also went on to build Kroger Hill’s farm for anemic and tubercular children and supported the anti-tuberculosis league. Another thing Kroger did was donate an average of $30,000 to charities a year (Garrison). All of this made Kroger a great man and let him leave a big mark on the earth for other people to take inspiration from.

Lessons Learned From Their Life

Most founders leave a mark after they leave, and Bernard Kroger was a good example. According to Zwieback, “Kroger had three strong personal traits that contributed to his success, according to the company history: He was frugal, choosing to sacrifice his own comfort and put the business first. He never counted the hours he worked. He always worked harder than any of his employees.” These traits made him a great and hard-working man. Kroger was also a very innovative man. He was always trying new techniques to serve his customers (The History of Kroger).  He has shown that anything can be done through hard work and determination. The lessons Kroger has left us are very valuable, and we can use them by never giving up on anything, even if it seems very hard or impossible. This man has inspired other people to create very amazing things, and it is all because of the value of his work.

 Works Cited

Dixon, Christine-Marie Liwag. “The Untold Truth About Kroger.” Mashed, Static Media, 9 Oct. 2017, www.mashed.com/90061/untold-truth-kroger/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

Garrison, Zachary. “Bernard Heinrich Kroger.” Immigrant Entrepreneurship, German Historical Institute, 22 Aug. 2018, www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/bernard-heinrich-kroger/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2021.

"The History Of Kroger." Kroger, The Kroger Co. www.thekrogerco.com/about-kroger/history/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.

Zwiebach, Elliot. “Kroger Founded on Hard Work.” Supermarket News, Informa Connect, 11 Feb. 2008, www.supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/kroger-founded-hard-work. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

"The History Of Kroger." Kroger, The Kroger Co. www.thekrogerco.com/about-kroger/history/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.