Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

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alphakilo470
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Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by alphakilo470 »

Here in Marietta, we had a few "wedge" Krogers in the 90s and, on top of that, one Superstore that was remodeled inside and out to be a wedge when the design was still brand new (though not so thoroughly; it was on Roswell rd.) only to be replaced by a new wedge in 1996. Said 1996 wedge on Roswell rd was updated in 2000 or 2001 to have a newer style glass facade and beige/green script interior. It seems the same for all the wedge stores here; only a few years after opening they redid the inside and out. Why was the wedge decor so short loved, why were they so quick to erase it (greenhouse stores, for some reason, continue to be updated and still thrive here) and does anyone have any photos of these stores in original state? Maybe a Kroger exec in the Atlanta area just loved Greenhouse and hated wedge.
pseudo3d
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by pseudo3d »

Had to look up what a "wedge" Kroger was. As for the design, I can't recall seeing any wedge Krogers built in Texas (mostly greenhouses or whatever they picked up), but I could be wrong (Texas was a funny market--Kroger Family Centers still had a full selection of general merchandise into the mid-80s)
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BK31
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by BK31 »

I'm not sure about the wedges and I too had to look it up. I've only lived in Marietta since 07 and had both my normal Krogers go through some fairly major renos in the last couple years. The Parkaire Kroger off Lower Roswell Rd and Johnson Ferry went from a Superstore 2 with tower to the newer triple tower look a couple years ago. When they were doing that reno I worked at an architecture firm across the street and ran into the Kroger architect who has an office in Smryna, GA. I chatted on briefly with him since I was on my lunch break grabbing food and he was heading back to his office, but I found out he does a ton of the updates to Krogers around the SE, inside and out. Maybe if you tried contacting him you might have some luck. His Name is Larry Kay at Integrated Design International and their website has the occasional before shot on his remodels. www.idiarchitects.com

I just looked and he's got some shots of a wedge in Duluth GA that they've already updated and he might be able to help you out if he's kept more before pics on file.
alphakilo470
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by alphakilo470 »

Found this by accident earlier. I was wrong in that apparently this store was never had a wedge exterior. It did have the neon/grid interior though. It seems like an oddball store to me because of it's mix of wedge and millenium elements. They also gave the store a renovation recently which included an expanded deli, a salad bar, sushi bar and they re-arranged the layout. The interior decor is still script (cool by me; Script and Neon are my favorites). While the renovation was in progress I noticed date stamps on some of the fridge/freezer units marked late Summer of 1996 so I'm guessing this was one of the first stores with the Millenium exterior facade and last with the grid interior. There's another store almost identical to it in Atlanta off Monroe Dr.

http://evergreencorp.com/projects.php?x ... ory=Retail

The same company that built this store also built another Kroger in Douglasville which featured an identical exterior but the Millenium interior.

http://evergreencorp.com/projects_t.php ... ory=Retail

Also, the former Superstore that was later converted to Wedge is, as of early this year, selling food again but not to the general public. It was completely gutted last year and made into a Restaraunt Depot. The interior has no hints of it's former use but the exterior is still the same albeit painted white and blue (the former occupant, a clothing store, had painted it white).

Thanks for the reply BTW. I'm too shy to shoot questions towards a guy I don't know but since you mentioned it, what was with that interior on the Lower Roswell/Johnson Ferry store? I recall there also being a store on Roswell Rd. near the Roswell/Marietta border that also had the corrugated metal accents and old movie style font. I'm guessing that was a brief experiment before script but after Millenium. Kind of reminds me of the Schnuks stores Kroger bought a few states north of me. Also, the Lower Roswell/Johnson Ferry store has had it's facade redone a few times over but I didn't realize it was a Superstore at one point. When I moved here to Marietta, it was a Greenhouse. That store must really make money for the company as it is constantly being updated and expanded. The interior before the 2011 remodel even had some hints of Neon/Grid (note the ceiling over main area being higher than over produce, bread, etc). Also did you note the Alpharetta store on the site you linked? It kind of looks like the current styling but a bit different. Like that store was an experiement of some sort. Also, according to them, 3.5 million dollars! For a grocery store remodel! Kroger isn't a cheap company.
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BK31
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by BK31 »

Your first link is the Kroger closest to my house, small world.

I haven't been inside the Kroger at Roswell Rd and Coleman (border of cobb/roswell) for a while, but pass it most days on the way to work. It did have the corrugated and art deco fonts and so did the one in Roswell off of Mansell and Hwy 92, but that one just had a light decor swap and pharmacy relocation in the last year in addition to adding a fuel center. That had corrugated, deco font AND neon accents as well as a clucking chicken over the egg cooler, but that's all gone now. If the Coleman Village Kroger hasn't had a decor update already it will probably be soon. I'll stop by in the next couple of days if I'm not running late for work.

The Parkaire Kroger always seems busy and has one of the largest kosher sections around East Cobb due to the large Jewish population in the immediate area. I haven't verified this since the remodel, but the deli had additional slicers so they could solely dedicate one to cheese so no dairy and meat touched the same blade. I never asked if they did ham/pork on a different slicer though. I liked the old interior, but the new interior is pretty interesting, though I don't know how well it'll hold up over time, especially the wall graphics. I have a feeling it was one of the first in the area with the new design elements and may be a test lab of sorts to see things in a real world setting. Every so often there's a tweak to the interior signage here or there and there were 3 or four different types of aisle markers for a while. It's not horribly far from both the architect and Kroger's regional office in Atlanta so it could make sense as a working lab. My wife swears she saw Bruce Lucia there once.
pseudo3d
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by pseudo3d »

The Alpharetta Kroger was indeed experimental (google it with "Supermarket News")--it opened in 1996 as a 96k square foot store (that's huge for a regular Kroger) with a food court and a few other features, like an area with warehouse shelving. I don't know what it's like now. What was the link again with the pricetag?
pseudo3d
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by pseudo3d »

Correction: 1994, not 1996. But the renovation page referred to a "25 year old Kroger", so either the 1994 one was NOT the one renovated (in 2006, it would've been 12) and they renovated a Greenhouse (fantastic work if so--other Greenhouses haven't been nearly as lucky) or they've got the date wrong. The former is likely right, since the article referred to a Kroger three miles away.
pseudo3d
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Re: Modern Kroger designs in Marietta

Post by pseudo3d »

Further digging:

- It actually opened in May 1993 (wasn't that the same month as the Jewel-Osco concept?)
- Address is 10945 State Bridge Road (Jones Bridge and State Bridge)
- Interior décor was exposed HVAC, painted dark green with splashes of neon
- It's probably obviously been renovated since, but it's an attractive store.
- According to Yelp, the store not only lost a lot of uniqueness over the years (as to be expected) but straight up deteriorated enough that they only utilized a bit more than half the space. It's been renovated since.
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