The Kroger Co.
Company History
Kroger History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio
When was Kroger founded?
Kroger was founded in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Barney Kroger, making it 143 years old.
- Founded
- 1883
- Founding place
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Founders
- Barney Kroger
- Headquarters today
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1883–2026)
- Current CEO
- Gregory S. Foran
- Acquisitions
- 5
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1883 | Founded in Cincinnati |
| 1883 | First Kroger Store Opens |
| 1956 | Acquired Big Chain Stores |
| 1963 | Acquired Market Basket |
| 1983 | Dillon Companies Merger |
| 1999 | Fred Meyer Acquisition |
| 2001 | Acquired Baker's Supermarkets |
| 2014 | Harris Teeter Integration |
| 2018 | Ocado Partnership |
| 2024 | Albertsons Merger Blocked |
| 2025 | CEO Change and Fulfillment Reset |
| 2026 | Greg Foran Becomes CEO |
- Where was Kroger founded?
- Kroger was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1883.
- Who founded Kroger?
- Kroger was founded by Barney Kroger.
- When did Kroger start?
- Kroger was founded in 1883.
- How old is Kroger?
- Kroger is 143 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In 1883, 23-year-old Bernard "Barney" Kroger invested his $372 savings to open a grocery store in Cincinnati, initially called the Great Western Tea Company. His motto was "Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself." Kroger cut costs by making products in-house; the company began baking its own bread and later added meat departments to its grocery stores, early steps toward the one-stop supermarket. That habit of owning manufacturing still shows up in Kroger's network of food plants supplying Our Brands.
Founders
Barney Kroger
Kroger possesses a disciplined, foundational founding story, rooted in the competitive local mercantile economy of the late 19th-century Midwest and driven by a single entrepreneur's obsession with product quality and aggressive cost-cutting. The company was founded in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Bernard (Barney) Kroger. The son of German immigrants who owned a small, struggling dry goods store, Kroger possessed a pragmatic understanding of retail failure. He famously pooled his entire life savings of $372 and opened his very first grocery store, the Great Western Tea Company. His foundational, famous motto was: 'Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.' Kroger's foundational key move was pioneering the complex concept of vertical integration in the grocery business. At the time, grocers bought everything from expensive middlemen. Kroger found this inefficient. He became the very first grocer in the United States to operate his own bakeries directly inside the stores to lower costs and guarantee freshness. Furthermore, in 1904, he transformed the industry by purchasing a local meat market and heavily integrating it directly into his grocery stores. Previously, housewives had to visit separate butchers, bakers, and grocers. By consolidating these distinct services under a single roof, Barney Kroger essentially invented the foundational concept of the modern American supermarket. His hard-nosed focus on cutting out middlemen and constantly reinvesting profits into local expansion established the dominant corporate architecture that defined Kroger for the next century. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Founded in Cincinnati
Barney Kroger opens the business that becomes The Kroger Co.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFirst Kroger Store Opens
Barney Kroger opened his first grocery store in Cincinnati in 1883.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDillon Companies Merger
Kroger merged with Dillon Companies in 1983, extending its reach west.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFred Meyer Acquisition
Kroger expands significantly through the Fred Meyer transaction, adding multi-department and western U.S. scale.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHarris Teeter Integration
Kroger gains a stronger Southeast and Mid-Atlantic premium grocery footprint.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOcado Partnership
Kroger signs an exclusive U.S. partnership with Ocado to build automated customer fulfillment centers.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAlbertsons Merger Blocked
In December 2024 a federal judge in Oregon granted the FTC's request to block the $24.6 billion Albertsons deal; Albertsons terminated the agreement days later.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCEO Change and Fulfillment Reset
Rodney McMullen resigns in March 2025 and chairman Ron Sargent becomes interim CEO; later in the year Kroger records $2.5 billion in charges on its automated fulfillment network and sells Vitacost.
Source: thekrogerco.comGreg Foran Becomes CEO
Former Walmart U.S. and Air New Zealand chief Greg Foran becomes CEO on February 9, 2026.
Source: sec.govMajor Acquisitions
Fred Meyer Stores
1999Kroger's acquisition of Fred Meyer Stores for approximately $13.5 billion in 1999 was the largest in the company's history at that time and represented a transformative geographic and format expansion. Fred Meyer operated approximately 800 stores across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Mountain West, and Mountain States, primarily in large-format multi-department locations selling groceries alongside clothing, electronics, hardware, and jewelry. The deal gave Kroger immediate scale in markets where it had limited or no presence and added a premium multi-department format capability that complemented its supermarket-focused portfolio.
Harris Teeter Supermarkets
2014Kroger acquired Matthews, North Carolina-based Harris Teeter Supermarkets for approximately $2.5 billion in January 2014, adding 227 stores across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states and a premium supermarket banner with a strong reputation for fresh food quality, store cleanliness, and customer service. Harris Teeter operated in markets including Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, the Washington D.C. Metro area, Richmond, and coastal Carolina markets where Kroger had limited or no presence. The acquisition provided immediate scale in high-growth Sunbelt markets with attractive demographic profiles.
Roundy's Inc. (Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, Mariano's)
2015Kroger's acquisition of Roundy's Inc. For approximately $800 million in 2015 added three distinct grocery banners: Pick 'n Save and Metro Market in Wisconsin, and the premium Mariano's banner in the Chicago metropolitan area. The deal represented Kroger's entry into the Chicago market - one of the largest U.S. Metro areas in which it had lacked significant presence - as well as a meaningful expansion in Wisconsin, where Pick 'n Save was the leading conventional supermarket banner. Mariano's, positioned as a premium urban grocery experience, provided Kroger with a format for urban and affluent suburban markets that differed from its traditional suburban supermarket model.
Vitacost.com
2014Kroger's acquisition of Vitacost.com, an online natural health and organic food retailer, for approximately $280 million in 2014 represented an early strategic move to build digital commerce capabilities at a time when most traditional grocery retailers were still treating e-commerce as a peripheral experiment. Vitacost operated as a pure-play online retailer selling vitamins, supplements, natural foods, and health products through its website, with a customer base concentrated in the health-conscious consumer segment that Kroger was simultaneously trying to capture with its Simple Truth organic brand launch.
Home Chef
2018Kroger acquired Chicago-based meal kit company Home Chef in 2018 for $200 million upfront, with earnout payments that could raise the total to $700 million. The deal gave Kroger a meal kit brand to sell both by subscription and in its stores.
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Kroger Company History FAQ
When and where was The Kroger Co. originally founded?
The company was founded in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by 23-year-old Barney Kroger under the name Great Western Tea Company, opening his first retail grocery store with $372 in personal savings.
How did Kroger introduce in-house bakeries and meat counters in the early 1900s?
In 1901, Kroger became the first grocery store in America to bake its own bread, and in 1904, it was the first to introduce fresh meat butcher shops inside grocery stores, creating the modern one-stop supermarket concept.
When did Kroger develop the modern combination superstore format in the 1970s?
During the 1970s and 1980s, Kroger replaced thousands of small neighborhood stores with large 50,000+ sq ft 'combination superstores' that integrated full grocery, pharmacy, bakery, deli, and general merchandise departments.
How did Kroger defeat a hostile takeover attempt in 1988?
In 1988, Kroger successfully repelled a hostile takeover bid by corporate raiders KKR and the Haft family by executing a $4.1 billion corporate restructuring and paying shareholders a special dividend, preserving company independence.
When did Kroger complete the $13 billion mega-merger with Fred Meyer in 1999?
In May 1999, Kroger completed a landmark $13 billion merger with Fred Meyer, Inc. (incorporating Ralphs, King Soopers, and Smith's), creating the largest traditional supermarket chain in the United States.
When did Kroger partner with Ocado to pioneer robotics grocery fulfillment?
In May 2018, Kroger formed an exclusive US partnership with UK technology leader Ocado Group, investing hundreds of millions to build automated robotics Customer Fulfillment Centers across the country to power digital grocery delivery.
When did Kroger launch the 'Zero Hunger | Zero Waste' social impact initiative?
In 2017, Kroger launched its landmark Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative, committing to eliminate food waste in company operations and directing billions of meals to local communities across America.
What is The Kroger Co.'s scale and national footprint today?
Kroger operates a multi-banner U.S. supermarket network with $147.6 billion in fiscal 2025 sales and about 403,000 employees, making it the largest traditional supermarket operator in the United States.
How did Kroger start?
Kroger was founded in 1883 by Bernard "Barney" Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using his entire life savings of $372, he opened a tiny grocery store. His massive, industry-defining innovation was vertical integration: he was the first grocer in America to physically build his own bakeries and meat processing plants, allowing him to massively undercut competitors on price and guarantee perfect freshness.
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