I know I said in my last blog post that I wouldn't have a post for April. Luckily, that was an anticipation rather than a fact, and my commitments have aligned in such a way that I'm able to do this post for you guys tonight! And boy am I glad: after finding all these pictures from around the web, I've been wanting to share them ASAP.
Consider this a 'missing' décor post of sorts. My "O Kroger, Where Art Thou" series has heretofore covered every Kroger décor package to grace the walls of its Mid-South stores, at least since the Bauhaus days. The key word there is Mid-South. Around the country, while Kroger's décor packages have mostly been similar, exterior designs have certainly varied by market. There's also one elusive interior design, scarcely used and even harder to find today through remodels. Its short lifespan and exposure has also made it rather hidden on the internet. But I've managed to track these photos down, so, with all due respect to their owners, here goes!
Mid-South Retail Blog contributor 11110 left a comment on
the neon/wannabe neon décor post describing the décor featured in this post. The text in italics throughout this post is from his/her comment, and is accompanied by pictures of the described elements that either he/she linked me to or I've dug up.
Between the Neon and Millennium eras in the 1990s, Kroger (Particularly the Atlanta KMA) came up with an art deco inspired décor complete with Grid Patterns, Neon Lighting, and corrugated metal. It's been discussed on RetailWatchers and Groceteria as the Olympic Spirit décor, but I like to term it as the 'For Goodness Sake' décor after the slogan Kroger Atlanta used during that era.
From the outside, most of these stores looked similar to stores built during the millennium era. I actually think that millennium exteriors in the Mid-Atlantic and Atlanta KMAs were somewhat inspired by this décor instead of the actual Millennium package.
Anyway, in this décor package we start off with the Produce department. The Produce department would have a large marquee size neon sign in the center of the produce department while the walls would be painted hunter green. Floral would have a smaller black sign with yellow 'Flower Gallery' neon laid against a grid pattern feature.
Meat and seafood had separate signs but I don't recall the meat department having actual neon (I could be wrong, though) The Seafood sign had a picture of a fish that was lit up in neon. Lunch meat had a white Neon 'Meats' sign the same size as the one used in Produce.
In the Deli and bakery department, you had large props (Kinda like Albertsons uses in the theme park décor) like a giant rotisserie over the rotisserie oven or a stack of donuts over the donut case. Both the deli and bakery had neon signage. These and the meat & seafood department would be outfitted with corrugated metal trim.
The Dairy department would have a neon sign like the two found in meat & Produce, but Kroger would have a large "Kroger milk house" sign over the walk in dairy cooler where milk and yogurt are sold.
 |
| Smyrna, GA, Kroger. You can see the "Milkhouse" on the left edge of the pic. Courtesy Yelp. |
Frozen foods would have a large marquee size neon sign too, but in this department, instead of it being a word, it would be a picture of a penguin with frozen foods letters on the bottom. A separate, more colorful sign for Ice Cream also gets used with this on occasion.
The Natural Foods section has a small Black and Yellow neon sign and what looks like a millennium era Nature food banner.
The Pharmacy would be outfitted with purple crown molding and white tiles. The pharmacy sign would be neon as well although unlike the marquee sized signs, this sign is mounted on the wall and not suspended from the ceiling.
The cases are white with white trim and the checkouts are stock millennium registers (although the store I went in had its checkout lights 2012'd). The aisle signs seemed to vary by store.
So thanks again 11110 for leaving that comment and providing us with a detailed description of this décor - hopefully these pictures have brought it to life as well! As for its alter ego, Olympic Spirit décor, the RetailWatchers forum is to be credited. Below in quotes are some details taken from their members' discussion at
this post about the Greenville, NC, store back when it closed, along with some additional pictures thrown in for good measure.
The Greenville store "has a little used decor package that was in use between the teal/mauve grid and neon package and the millenium/spirit decor package. This art deco inspired decor was rarely used outside the Atlanta KMA."
"This is the first case I know of this décor package being used outside of the Atlanta KMA, unfortunately most have already been converted to the last Ralphs inspired décor. Here we referred to this package as the Olympic Spirit décor, due to its being used in stores that first opened when the 1994 Olympics came to Atlanta and Kroger sponsored the Spirit of Atlanta blimp. While unconfirmed, I've been told the décor was used in the Houston market, and the last example I know of being built was 1999 when the millennium package was introduced.
The downtown Savannah store had this package along with 3 Alpharetta locations, a Dunwoody location, the Vinings greenhouse remodeled, one in Peachtree City, and maybe Tucker. The customer service counters and other counters were dark red or hunter green depending on location and stainless steel was the other primary color. It was a natural evolution as the replacement for the mauve grid neon package which made the millennium package look like a step backwards."
While many of the stores with this décor reportedly were built with what is majorly considered to be the millennium-style exterior design (though not in the Mid-South), it was in other store types as well, such as the remodeled greenhouse pictured above. I'm thinking its introduction into the Houston market came with an entirely new exterior look to match: judge for yourself with the photos below.
 |
| Possible For Goodness Sake exterior at Houston, TX, Kroger. Courtesy Yelp. |
 |
| Possible For Goodness Sake exterior at Houston, TX, Kroger. Courtesy Yelp. |
Well, now that we've covered this décor I'm fairly certain we've covered them all, haha! I would like to once more note that all photos in this post belong to - and are linked back to - their respective owners, and are featured here with no malicious intent. In fact, some of the places I found these pics surprised me - for example, several of them come from a
Good Eats fan site that covers places Alton Brown visited on the show, so in theory you might be able to see some of this décor if you ever happen upon a few
Good Eats reruns, which I thought was pretty cool!
Anyway, to close off this special post, here's a special badge to wrap up this series - I believe we've earned it. ;)
Until next time - which should be in May - have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!
Retail Retell
