A little while ago I received a tip-off that there was a largely unaltered Kroger superstore in Jackson, Michigan; one county west of Ann Arbor. I checked it out on my last road trip, and I wasn't disappointed! (Well, aside from about the fact that my pictures didn't turn out very well...)
The outside looks just the same now as it did when it was built; with original brick facing, covered concourse, cube, and rectangular exterior sign.
Inside, the store retains wall graphics of the mauve/grid style from the early '90s (which, although not original, are nevertheless rather scarce today). Better yet are the aisle signs, which look to be 1980s items from the "greenhouse" era. (Another greenhouse-era artifact were the built-out corner curves of the upper wall soffits.) After seeing so many superstores and greenhouse stores given graft-overs with the "millennium" decor package, I thought it was kind of neat to see a Kroger store that had practically no "millennium" elements at all.
The original brick inlay floor tile was present and accounted for. (A little bit of the tile looked as though it had been resurfaced in the greenhouse era as well.) An interesting element was an oblong patch or two of brown brick along the back wall...I hadn't seen that in a superstore before.
Again, I wasn't disappointed. After seeing so many superstore buildings given half-arsed renovations or being repurposed for other retailers, this still-operational store was a pleasant surprise.
Kroger superstore, Jackson MI
Moderator: Groceteria
Kroger superstore, Jackson MI
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
Andrew Turnbull
Re: Kroger superstore, Jackson MI
A few superstores had brown brick in front of meat counters, especially service meat counters which Kroger had for a while. Another brown brick spot was around the specialty cheese shop.