48 Facts About Bernard Kroger

Bernard Heinrich "Henry" Kroger was an American businessman who created the Kroger chain of supermarkets.

Bernard Kroger allowed customers to enter his stores, shop with prices clearly marked on every item, and take the merchandise home themselves instead of waiting for a delivery.

Bernard Kroger was known for his philanthropy and donated to parks, hospitals, and medical research.

Bernard Kroger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the fifth of ten children of German immigrants Johan Heinrich and Mary Gertrude Bernard Kroger.

Bernard Kroger's father John Henry came from Lusche in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and was born in nearby Addrup.

Bernard Kroger's family lived above the dry goods store his parents owned.

Bernard Kroger quit school and went to work at age thirteen to help support his family.

Bernard Kroger quit his first job in a drug store because his Christian mother objected to him working on Sundays.

Bernard Kroger then worked as a farmhand near Pleasant Plain, Ohio, for six dollars a month.

Bernard Kroger eventually contracted malaria, quit the job, and walked the 37 miles back to Cincinnati.

At the age of 25, Bernard Kroger married Mary Emily Jansen, the daughter of German immigrants.

Bernard Kroger then began working as a door-to-door salesman for the Great Northern and Pacific Tea Co.

Bernard Kroger turned the failing grocery around, earning the store a $3,100 profit.

Bernard Kroger is credited with the creation of the successful low-cost, self-service grocery chain model that persists today.

Bernard Kroger's innovations include creating the first grocery to mark the sale price on every individual item and starting the practice of giving a premium to every customer who bought coffee or tea.

In 1902, Bernard Kroger advertised his "profit-sharing" system, where his customers were given "proofs of purchase".

In 1912, Bernard Kroger was the first grocer to use automobiles as delivery vehicles.

Bernard Kroger purchased a fleet of 75 Ford Model Ts, replacing 200 horses and delivery wagons in Cincinnati.

Bernard Kroger pioneered combining grocery stores with a bakery and later added formerly stand-alone meat markets to his retail grocery store concept.

Bernard Kroger was one of the first grocers to advertise in newspapers and advertised extensively in local papers as early as 1895, which he felt led to his success.

Bernard Kroger always paid suppliers cash for their products and gained price advantage by buying products in bulk.

Bernard Kroger was the first grocer with an internal quality control lab founded in 1921 and the first to introduce scientific consumer research.

Bernard Kroger was adept in using the public's sensitivity to price in marketing the goods offered in his stores.

Bernard Kroger continuously expanded his market area, reaching into Kentucky with new locations in the 1890's.

In 1902, Bernard Kroger continued his acquisition program, buying 14 Dayton, Ohio, grocery stores from the Cincinnati Grocery Co.

Bernard Kroger stores appeared in Missouri in 1912 and Indiana in 1924.

In 1899 Bernard Kroger called for all other retail grocery stores to join his effort to limit retail grocery store hours by closing at 7:00 pm Saying he recognized "the right of working people to have their evenings to themselves", he set the 7:00 pm closing time to accommodate those whose work ended at 6:00 pm so that "they have a chance to get their groceries" in the remaining hour.

Bernard Kroger retained the remaining 6,000 shares for himself and advertised that those shares would never be sold.

Bernard Kroger was the first to include fresh meat inside US grocery stores.

Bernard Kroger advertising told homeowners that if they provided their phone number they would "take pleasure in calling [them] up every morning for [their] order".

In 1908 Bernard Kroger purchased the Great China Tea Company and the Schneider Grocery and Baking Company.

Bernard Kroger resigned from the company's board of directors in 1931.

In 1900, Bernard Kroger invested in the creation of Provident Savings Bank and the Provident Trust Company.

Bernard Kroger was elected president of the bank in 1904.

In typical fashion, Bernard Kroger set about to grow the assets of the bank.

Bernard Kroger sold his holdings in the bank in 1928, shortly before the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Bernard Kroger was chairman of the board of the bank at the time of his death.

Bernard Kroger was appointed a director of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and worked in that capacity until 1936.

Bernard Kroger was president and a director of the First Bank of Palm Beach.

Bernard Kroger built the 17-mile inter-urban electric commuter railroad and roadway between Cincinnati's Erie Avenue near Red Bank Road and the west side of Milford.

Bernard Kroger then extended the line from the center of Cincinnati to Blanchester, Ohio.

Bernard Kroger said if nominated, he would accept and make the bid for governor because "the conditions in the state of Ohio are ripe for a business administration of its affairs".

Bernard Kroger was involved in many charitable ventures, including the opening of parks, donations to zoos, and medical research.

Bernard Kroger immediately funded a factory where blind adults could produce brooms and mops which Bernard Kroger sold in his stores, passing all of the sales proceeds to the Welfare Association.

Bernard Kroger was a benefactor in the Cincinnati area fight against childhood tuberculosis and anemia.

In 1916 Bernard Kroger offered to spearhead fundraising to double the capacity of the camp.

Bernard Kroger donated five tigers for the Cincinnati Zoo's new Tiger Grotto in 1934.

Bernard Kroger noticed a request for "a fine cow, preferably Holstein, for the babies" in the hospital's 1929 newsletter and sent a "generous check".