I shop at Kroger, sometimes. The stores are usually nice and clean and the employees are mostly pleasant. They offer great selections in a variety of categories. They have convenient locations with clean parking lots with easy access for coming and going and they have really nice shopping carts too. Since I have been visiting their stores, I have little or no complaints except one. Their commercials seem to always try to claim that they offer the lowest prices in Grocery shopping. That really annoys me at times to see those commercials because the reality of the situation is that Kroger is one of the more expensive Grocery stores to shop at. Just wanted to put that out there so that people are more aware about them. They offer great service in many ways, but don't claim to be so inexpensive when you are not is what I would say to them.
Kroger is a little spendy yes. But, my wife has a way of avoiding a lot of the cost of going there. She goes on a Thursday or a Sunday to watch for the manager mark downs. She normally does extremely well. Some of the meat might expire on the day she buys it but it goes into the freezer or used that day. Another of the things she does religeously is to look at the receipt. Many times, an item is on sale but does not reflect the sale at the register. After she sees a mistake, we go to the customer service desk and show them the error. If the item isn't over 5 or 10 bucks we get the money back that was charged and the product free. We got 2 very nice water melons that way this summer.
I love Kroger! If you work the Kroger plus card, the 5 for $5 and coupons, you can save a ton of money. They are friendly, and checkout lines are usually short. They have improved so much in the past couple of years. The produce is especially noticeably better. I remember a few years back, they just had a box of orange fruit and no signs to differentiate between oranges, tangerines, and clementines. Now, they even have a fancy salad bar and hot bar. I can't afford to buy it most of the time. But, lettuce is cheaper if you buy it by weight. Just steer clear of the temptation to add extras to the salad from the bar.
I enjoy Kroger stores. Like you said they are usually clean and have good service. The prices aren't bad either. All in all they are definitely in the upper tier of grocery stores in my opinion. The best would have to be Ingles, but they are a local store only. Mostly in the NC/SC/GA/TN area.
Becareful of the deals and savings that stores do offer because most specials are actually meant to make you spend more money. Kroger has this buy one get one free of meats which cost more than if you go down to the other refrigerated section and find the same meat in a chunk. Take it home and make your own cuts.
