Bakers / Kroger in the Omaha area

[Stargazer]

Hey, when's the last time Kroger built a new store in the metro?

[bbinks]

Hey, when's the last time Kroger built a new store in the metro?

Benson park, I think. But that was to take over an old Albertsons.

[ScrattyB]

170th and Center? Maybe 25-30 years ago?

[ProgKingHughesker]

170th and Center? Maybe 25-30 years ago?

Google earth satellite footage from April 1999 shows the Lakeside store under construction and land being cleared for the Pepperwood store (the next footage is from 2003 when both were long open). I think the most recent Bakers to actually open was the 120th and Center location, which opened a few months after the Benson Park Albertson's also as Albertsons, but only stayed so for about two years. Also at some point in the mid 2000s the Saddle Creek store was completely gutted and rebuilt.

[Brad]

Hey, when's the last time Kroger built a new store in the metro?

According to the Douglas County Assessor, both Pepperwood and Lakeside were built in 1999, but I believe that was when Bakers was still a subsidiary of Fleming foods and calling their own shots. Technically Kroger has never built a store in Omaha.

That said, there have been rumors circling for many years now of a new southern metro location.

[jessep28]

Pepperwood opened in the Spring of 2000. They pulled me over from my store to work for a few hours on the store's opening day.

Lakeside opened in 1999.

[nativeomahan]

I was surprised to read that in terms of revenue from groceries, Kroger sells more food nationally than Walmart or anyone else.
That is not to say they are the most popular. I think Publix gets that nod.

[Louie]

I was surprised to read that in terms of revenue from groceries, Kroger sells more food nationally than Walmart or anyone else.
That is not to say they are the most popular. I think Publix gets that nod.

Publix has a great reputation.

[TheSeventhBrat]

Hey, when's the last time Kroger built a new store in the metro?

According to the Douglas County Assessor, both Pepperwood and Lakeside were built in 1999, but I believe that was when Bakers was still a subsidiary of Fleming foods and calling their own shots. Technically Kroger has never built a store in Omaha.

That said, there have been rumors circling for many years now of a new southern metro location.

Kroger purchased Baker's from Fleming in 2001. The current locations on 72nd and Ames, 120th & W Center and Bellevue's Twin Creek are all former Albertson's purchased from No Frills in 2004, because Albertson's refused to do business with Baker's. Saddlecreek and Bellevue's Galvin became a part of Baker's around 1995, when Fleming acquired Scrivner/Festival Foods. Fleming sold off the Festival building in LaVista to Hobby Lobby. They donated the Festival building on 89th & Fort to the Nebraska Humane Society.

I left Baker's over a year ago and my main contact has also left the company, so my information could be out of date. I am aware that Kroger owns/owned land near 84th & 370, 180th & Q, around Blair High and I-680, and near Cabela's in LaVista. All of these properties were assigned store numbers and some of them were marked for Kwik Shops, with Kroger selling off Kwik Shops, I'm not sure what happened with those properties.

Kroger did take a serious look at building stores in Omaha, but the shift to online grocery shopping, among other things, curtailed those plans. One of the things Kroger was concerned about is the tight labor market in Omaha.

[ProgKingHughesker]

^Also the Baker's in Florence (which I used to work at) was at one point a Hinky Dinky, dunno if it went straight from Hinky Dinky to Baker's or not, but I know Saddle Creek and Galvin at least used to have the same exterior as that one.

I assume the Blair High and 680 land is for an eventual replacement for the 90th store, but if they were in a hurry to replace that one you'd think they would've just made an offer on the Richman-Gordman/Conagra space next door while it sat empty. As far as I remember Florence and 90th are the only two stores in the area they don't own.

[TheSeventhBrat]

^Also the Baker's in Florence (which I used to work at) was at one point a Hinky Dinky, dunno if it went straight from Hinky Dinky to Baker's or not, but I know Saddle Creek and Galvin at least used to have the same exterior as that one.

I assume the Blair High and 680 land is for an eventual replacement for the 90th store, but if they were in a hurry to replace that one you'd think they would've just made an offer on the Richman-Gordman/Conagra space next door while it sat empty. As far as I remember Florence and 90th are the only two stores in the area they don't own.

Some of the properties Baker's are on are owned by Kroger, some are owned by others. Interestingly, two (Eagle Run & Pepperwood) are still owned by Jack Baker.

Baker's on North 30th is owned by James Newman. His office is located at 1014 Vine Street in Cincinatti, which is the headquarters for Kroger.

Eagle Run & Pepperwood are owned by LLCs, which are managed by PDM, which is owned by Jack Baker.

90th & Fort is owned by Newquest out of Texas. No connection to Kroger that I found, but I will admit to not looking too hard.

Lakeside is owned by 1st American Commercial Real Estate out of Texas. I do know that when this plaza was first built, it was owned by Alegent Health.

120th & W Center is owned by Seldin Companies of Omaha. This was a former Hy-Vee, then sold to Albertson's. They tore the building down and built the current structure. This was among the stores sold to No Frills, who in turn sold the lease to Kroger.

72nd and Military is owned by Kroger. Similar to the 120th Street store, this was an Albertson's, purchased by No Frills and then sold to Kroger.

Saddlecreek is owned by Dillon Companies, which is owned by Kroger. This property was a Festival Foods when Fleming (former Baker's parent company) purchased FF's parent company, Scrivner Foods.

Galvin & Twin Creek in Bellevue are owned by Kroger. Galvin is a former Festival and had been a Hinky Dinky in a previous life. Twin Creek is a former Albertson's.

Baker's in Fremont is also owned by Dillon's/Kroger. This had been a Food4Less at some point. I can't remember if it had been a Festival or not. It was purchased by Fleming, along with locations in Columbus and Grand Island. Those two locations were sold to B&R Stores and became Super Savers.

When Albertson's left the Omaha market, Kroger offered to buy some of their stores. Albertson's flat out refused. So No Frills bought them all and then spun 120th & W Center, 72nd & Military, and Twin Creek to Baker's/Kroger. I'm sure the fact that several former Baker's employees (Lonnie Eggers, Bill Brewer, Bob Trant & Donnie Wilde had all been Store Directors for Baker's at one point or another -- and I worked for all of them at Spring Valley) were running No Frills at the time helped things along. Kroger ended up with the nicest, newest buildings and No Frills took over the less desirable locations.

[Greg S]

it's not a remodel, but Kroger is doing some work on their store on 132nd and Maple to be able to stock more. They've moved some shelves around and are building others up. Looks like they also added one in the back near the dairy. They are definitely attempting to maximize their space and increase the storage/shelve space.


Greg