I was given some promotional items as a gift for attending, all thoughts and opinions are my own. This guest post is written by my mother 🙂
I had the priviledge of attending a “bloggers” pre-opening tour of the new Kroger Marketplace with my daughter. As we drove in the parking lot, I immediately began to feel that this was not just any old Kroger!
We were warmly greeted in the atrium by Krystal Howard. Daughter had interacted with her before on other blogging projects and I was very impressed with her friendliness and infectious excitement about the new store. The atrium was VERY large and each element was tastefully arranged with the grocery baskets visible, but not distracting from the charming, and inviting, entrance.
As we entered the main store I was immediately struck by the store decor and the colors of the produce department and the floral department! Most impressed! I was ready to shop right then . . .
The produce department has a good selection of organic produce and also features “seasonal” items that will rotate. The area is large and well stocked with a large variety of produce.
The area next to produce and floral that has a Starbuck’s, fresh juice bar, fresh “take out” bar as well as a “cafeteria style” serving line that features food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – freshly prepared. There is an outside covered patio to enjoy a meal, if that is what you want to do! Oh yeah, there is also a milk shake bar and fountain drink area —– be refreshed while you shop!!!!
Murray’s cheeses have partnered with Kroger and the selection is amazing. My husband and I love to have cheeses and meats for dinner with crackers or a fresh loaf of French bread – that part of the store was going to be used OFTEN. The deli portion had 6 slicers, so one can anticipate – NO WAITING!
Next to the deli was the bakery —- again, glorious color. They had a wide variety of things to choose from. One of my favorites were the colossal cupcakes (not expensive at all) – one could pop in on the way to work and get a cupcake, card, balloons, flowers, or a small gift for a co-worker —- how cool is that? One stop shop. I thought that throughout our entire tour —- what a great place to get food for a party as well as the gift . . .
Across from the deli was a place that I knew would be a favorite – I call it a store within a store . . . the aisles feature the “healthy” food, but not just that – the organic yogurts, milk, eggs, and other items are way up on my list of items to shop for – including coconut water and pomegranate juice for the smoothies I drink every day. There was also a HUGE selection of gluten free items!
At the end of the mini-store there were two items that really impressed me – one was the fresh peanut butter station and the other was the spice station. How many times have you needed a spice for a recipe and you knew you did not want to buy a whole jar of an expensive spice, but you had to have it? Kroger Marketplace has a spice selection that you can choose what you need, package it with the exact amount, and viola, no waste!!!!!
There is an extensive wine and beer selection. There are over 600 brews to choose from and the wine selection was over the top. You can actually go in and “take 6” from the beers. What a great way to sample before wasting money on an entire pack and not liking it.
The store itself is LARGE, to say the least. It is the size of two “regular” Kroger stores. I was impressed that the aisles were wide and you could tell that you would be able to get around without the constant running into another customer. Each section of the store was well thought out. Our hostess told us they design Marketplace stores with the area being served in mind. Again, not just a Kroger that we have known in the past, but a community designed facility with the consumer foremost on the designer’s radar.
There are so many unique areas that it is hard to talk about them all. There is a community room that can be reserved for parties. There is an extensive pharmacy with TWO drive through lanes. The toy section has good toys to choose from (remember the one stop shop!). There are dishes, pots and pans, cooking utensils, and even a cell phone accessory center.
One of the final places we visited was the “home decorating center” – there were so many unique home decorating ideas as well as a small selection of furniture. Everyone on the tour wanted to spend more time exploring that area!
Need towels? Kroger Marketplace has them. Need some office supplies. They have them. What about décor items for your bath? Bingo- they have it!
Other tidbits that I picked up while touring – there is a sensor that registers when people are coming in to the store – if there is a rush, more check out lanes are opened. The store is energy certified – when you visit (and you should!), notice the skylights! If they don’t have an item you want – ask! One never knows . . .
So, after a VERY long post (but I had to tell you all the exciting things that I saw!) – I hope you visit and support this over the top store in our community. I have made it my “go to” store and we have saved on not only our groceries, but also have used our Kroger points to save money on gas. Not a bad deal at all. In the past I have not been impressed with the cleanliness of Kroger stores – to date – and we have visited multiple times since the store had opened, it has been clean each and every time. That aspect alone goes a long way with me. The employees continue to be friendly, the shelves are stocked, and the produce (which has also not been real good in the past), has been excellent – fresh and of good quality.
All in all, a definite thumbs up!
Welcome Kroger Marketplace!
Thank you daughter for asking me to tour with the bloggers and for allowing me to do a post!
Come on everyone – let’s go Krogering!!!!
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