Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

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TenPoundHammer
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Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

Post by TenPoundHammer »

As most of you know, one of Kroger's trademarks was a cube-shaped sign out front with "Kroger" printed on four sides. It's not incredibly common, but I have seen these "cube" signs recycled after the departure of Kroger from that store. Here are some examples:

* Alpena, MI - I'm not 100% certain that this was ever a Kroger, but signs (no pun intended) seem to point to the fact that it was. This store was later Hamady (a Flint chain) for a brief period, and was IGA until the mid 1990s, when it was converted to Neiman's Family Supermarket. The cube sign is still in use and sports Neiman's logo on four sides; an electronic message sign has been added to the post, however.

* Cheboygan, MI - Again, I'm not totally sure that this was ever a Kroger, but the sign leaves fairly little doubt. This location, like Tawas City (below), was taken over by Carter's Foods in the 1980s and closed in 2006. Peebles has since taken over half of the old store, leaving the other half vacant for now. I haven't been by here to see if Peebles recycled the Kroger cube sign, but Carter's did.

* Tawas City, MI - Closed late 1970s or early 1980s, which seems to be when Kroger closed its locations in northern Michigan. Became Carter's in 1983, closed 2006. Now a second location for Neiman's Family Supermarket. Carter's expanded the building twice, so now it looks nothing like a Kroger.
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Post by wnetmacman »

Natchez, MS has one of these too. It's called Sports Center now, and was a superstore prototype.
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Post by Groceteria »

A few I've seen on still-open stores:

-- The Woodhaven MI store featured in this topic.
-- Martinsville VA (Greenhouse)
-- Marmet WV (Greenhouse)
-- Athens OH (Greenhouse)
-- 3417 North High Street, Columbus OH (Greenhouse)
-- Surfside Beach SC (Greenhouse)

I think there are a few others in Columbus OH and maybe around Roanoke/Danville/Southwestern Virginia as well. I just can't recall exactly where...

Several can be seen here as well, although these photos are a few years old.
TenPoundHammer
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Post by TenPoundHammer »

Those are cool, but I was actually more interested in ones in use at stores that are no longer Kroger.

Just thought of another one. A superstore era Kroger on N. Euclid in Bay City was converted to "Mr. B's Foodland" in the 1980s. It closed in the early 90s and sat vacant for a long time. About five years ago, Family Dollar opened up in one half of the old store (using the original Kroger/Mr. B's entrance), and a Salvation Army thrift store took the other half, both businesses using the "cube" sign (which was also used by Mr. B's). Recently, however, Family Dollar closed, and in a strange move, the Salvation Army store moved into the old Family Dollar space, leaving the other half vacant again.
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Post by Edric Floyd »

In Macon, Ga

Two greenhouse Krogers still use the cube sign
North Ave (Gray Hwy East of downtown) and Forsyth Road NW of Downtown

The former Kroger (greenhouse) on Eisenhower Parkway still has the frame of the old cube sign. It is rusted out now. The Kroger moved into a new store a mile away in 2001

The Kroger in Warner Robins, Ga (a greenhouse built in 1981) recently changed its old Cube sign to the style simular to the new Krogers that added fuel centers and changed to new sinage that includes the gas prices under the logo. The Warner Robins store does not have a fuel center, instead other businesses in the shopping center are listed in below the Kroger logo.

I did see some old cube signs in the Nashville, TN area in buildings now used by other businesses. One was for an Oriental food market.
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Post by Groceteria »

TenPoundHammer wrote:Those are cool, but I was actually more interested in ones in use at stores that are no longer Kroger.
Sorry. I misread your subject.

I can't find any photos in my collection, but I seem to remember seeing a few recycled cubes, maybe in Columbus or elsewhere in central Ohio. I think one may have been on a Goodwill store.
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Post by krogerclerk »

The only chain grocer to keep the Kroger cube I can think of is Red Food in Chattanooga, though they were converted to BiLo over a decade ago and BiLo replaced the cubes with their when the BiLo replaced Red Food on the two, of seven former Kroger stores, that are still operating. Red Food used a round shape logo with Red Food, similar to Winn-Dixie's old circle, sans the check(or should I use chek) mark.

I think the cube may have survived on the Kroger-turned Food World stores in Alabama, but I'm not 100% on that. Four greenhouse stores in Guntersville, Scottsboro, Sylacauga, and Talladega become Food World in the 80's. The one I've seen most frequently, Scottsboro, has relocated to the Red Food/BiLo location next door. I'm pretty certain the world with Food World in it was on the cube and very likely is at the other three, which have only had minor interior remodels and are still laid out in the original format.
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Post by alphakilo470 »

There's a greenhouse style Kroger near my house that has a cube logo. The same Kroger also doesn't appear to have seen any renovations since it opened but even so, the styling is the only thing that really lets you know the store is more than a few years old. It's like a time capsule. I'll take some photos next time I drive past it.
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Post by steps »

This might be a lil off topic, but does the Kroger Sav-On have/had any relation to the former California chain?

Those pictures are very interresting! I wish there were more smaller "neighberhood" stores still around.
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Post by Groceteria »

I think that's been covered here in more detail before but I can't seem to find it. But no, there is no relationship. The name, as I recall, came from a different Sav-on chain Kroger acquired somewhere along the way.
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Post by Toby Radloff »

A former Kroger superstore in Massillon, OH used the cube sign to advertise a Goodwill store and a CVS pharmacy; the CVS part of the sign was whited out after CVS pulled out of Stark County. I think the CVS was originally a SupeRx that was later taken over by Revco.

A former Kroger superstore which became a Big Lots in Mansfield used the four sided sign as well...Kroger built a new store in that same plaza, which is on Rt. 42.

A Giant Eagle near downtown Pittsburgh uses the four sided sign-the store is a former greenhouse.
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Re: Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

Post by danielh_512 »

Uniontown, PA - now used by Giant Eagle
Moon Township, PA - now used by Kuhn's
Ross Township, PA - now used by Kuhn's
Waynesburg, PA - now used by Aldi
Ashland, OH - now used by Tractor Supply Co.
Morgantown, WV - now used by Rite Aid

Ones still in use by Kroger

Benwood, WV
Elkins, WV
TLones2012

Re: Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

Post by TLones2012 »

CVS is moving back into the Massillon-Canton area, with one new store across from the above mentioned former Kroger in Massillon, which I remember in its last days as a grocery, then becoming Goodwill..
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Re: Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

Post by Swifty »

This one is interesting. I remembered it from high school from a trip I took to this area (15+ years ago). It's kind of obscure...

It's in Lanett, AL at 1401 South Gilmer Avenue.

It's a greenhouse, and it has the cube sign, but they have completely de-emphasized the fact that it's a Kroger. They pretty much just call it "Lannett Food and Drug." However, on the cube sign, you can just make out a tiny Kroger logo at the top. And there appears to be a tiny Kroger logo on the far left of the building.

Here's an overhead shot:
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safa ... CCAQ8gEwAA

Street view it to see the signage.

I'm not super familiar with Kroger, as I've never lived in one of their markets. Is this common practice for smaller towns?
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Re: Kroger "cube" signs still in use at former Krogers

Post by krogerclerk »

The Lanett, AL Kroger is a non-union Kroger surrounded by unionized Kroger locations in LaGrange, GA and Auburn and Opelika, AL. Kroger had previously closed its store in Lanett probably about 5 years earlier due to labor disputes and only returned as a non-union operation. At the same time non-union stores opened using the towns name on the cube in Brunswick and Warner Robins, GA and Talladega and Sylacauga, AL. The Brunswick and Warner Robins stores were eventually covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the other Georgia Kroger locations while Talladega and Sylacauga were sold to Bruno's and only Lanett continues as a non-union location.
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