Todd V.
Yelp
This store has been a mixed blessing. It's in a dense shopping center with plenty of retail available, but the management of this store is either oblivious or simply apathetic to customer problems. The bad parking design choices during the building of this complex haven't helped. (There is 2-level parking available, but the second level should have been built for the Kroger, not the Target.)
The only saving grace of this review -- why it's not 1-star -- is the pharmacy department, which is absolutely *outstanding*. They are on the ball and have always been fast, responsive, and (almost disturbingly) friendly.
For the rest of this text, let me share a letter I gave to the pharmacy department, after years of getting lip service from the general management of the store. While it did trigger a response from the corporate office, the store's GM has not done anything to address these concerns. I will not go into this store anymore if I can, at all, avoid it.
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August 24, 2015
Dear pharmacy staff of Kroger #461 Caroline Street,
Thank you for your great work. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to come to this location any longer, as I no longer feel safe entering the retail store. Your store's management has decided repeatedly that customers' (and employees') safety is of no concern to them.
Regularly, the front sidewalks are crowded out by various products (spring plantings are the worst), forcing patrons to walk through vehicular traffic to get into and out of the front doors, and causing foot traffic jams around the exit doors.
In fact, just yesterday, a line of chained-up bascarts blocked fully half of the pedestrian sidewalk, with no building permits, emergency vehicles, caution tape, or guide signs explaining why. I was told by a member of management that some sort of resurfacing was going to happen soon, but that sort of thing does require (by law) caution signs or indications to prevent customer injury.
These intentional occlusions of frontage walking space are patently illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and may well be illegal under local fire code ordinances. I have brought these issues to the attention of store management on many occasions, and have been summarily dismissed every time. I have also been ignored by regional management, when they have been in the store to observe operations.
Further, I have sustained multiple minor injuries thanks to blockage of walking space, being forced to walk into traffic, bascarts locking up in the brickface paving,* and other issues which I've mentioned to management only to be ignored. I'm a very accepting person by letting these injuries go; many others would certainly have made a much bigger fuss after all the bruises and bumps I've sustained here. All this leads me to fear how many other safety violations are lurking in this retail store.
(* Yes, I'm aware that the brickface paving was the development company's design choice. Brickface paving is never a good choice for a grocery, as it mercilessly rattles bascarts and the products in them, and it should ideally should be replaced by asphalt.)
If I actually had the stamina to do so, I'd detail all my experiences to corporate C-level management. However, given the apathy endemic to this store's management team, at this time it's easier for me to choose an alternative and leave the Caroline Street complex behind. Maybe, by putting this bug in your ear, someone will finally pay attention.
Most importantly:
None of this reflects badly on the pharmacy staff. You've been professional and completely aware of problems, and you've been honest to my husband and me when problems arise. You've always fixed those problems with no hassle, too. Over the past few years you've become the pharmacy I always wanted, and I'm going to miss you.