Groceteria.com

Posted: **09 Feb 2007 16:52**

Posted: **09 Feb 2007 18:47**

Beautiful!

The exterior is a "superstore" prototype from the early to mid 1970s, while the interior was the one used in most "greenhouse" stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I wonder if it was remodeled inside or if this was just sort of a transitional store. It does seem to have the "superstore" floor tiles.

Either way, great stuff. Thanks!

EDIT: I originally said "superstore" floor tiles, because I just wasn't paying attention...

Posted: **09 Feb 2007 22:09**

I would guess the greenhouse interior is from a remodel. It looks as if a hodge-podge updating has been attempted, as the graphics seem to have been repainted from their original colors and the thank you sign above the exit is from the late 90's/early 80's decor package. The store may predate the superstore and be a remodel/expansion of a 1960's build. The rest of the shopping center has a mid-80's to early-90's makeover look, most centers built during the superstore era matched the Kroger, unless their was another tenant such as Zayre or Kmart. What makes me think remodel to an pre-superstore is the front jutting further into the parking lot than the rest of the shopping center. Many superstores converted to greenhouses in the 80's were enlarged by expanded the facade forward as their often wasn't enough room to expand to a more standard prototype. The greenhouse interior was often used in superstores that were expanded by taking in the adjoining SupeRx and the superstore exterior was kept, while the interior was given the greenhouse decor.

Posted: **09 Feb 2007 23:00**

krogerclerk wrote:The store may predate the superstore and be a remodel/expansion of a 1960's build.

I was thinking that too, since it seems more rectangular than the classic greenhouse. Most of the ground-up greenhouse stores were closer to square, as I recall, with split aisles.

I sort of get the same feeling about the one in Galax I posted on the front page of the site a few days back as well.

Posted: **09 Feb 2007 23:32**

Groceteria wrote:
krogerclerk wrote:The store may predate the superstore and be a remodel/expansion of a 1960's build.
I was thinking that too, since it seems more rectangular than the classic greenhouse. Most of the ground-up greenhouse stores were closer to square, as I recall, with split aisles.

I sort of get the same feeling about the one in Galax I posted on the front page of the site a few days back as well.

That sounds like the Kroger in Grand Blanc. It opened in the 1960s as the anchor of a small mall. Sometime in the greenhouse era, it swallowed the adjacent storefronts (and the northern mall entrance), resulting in a very long and narrow store. When you enter from the corner entrance, you can see down the looooong side aisle only. I made a crude sketch, which can be seen here: http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u68/ ... ndMall.jpg

Posted: **06 Apr 2007 11:29**

Hello all,

I haven't posted in many years, several years ago I did a run down of still operating kroger superstore/ a & p colonials, but alas most of them have closed in the past six years.

Anyway, I wanted to give my 2 cents on this location, as was the kroger of my childhood, before the larger store opened at gibraltar and 75. Yes the coloration of the wall signs have been altered, apparently recently the aisle signs have been updated as well. I can verify this as I purchased my Easter ham there last night. As far as I can tell the present design dates from the 1970's, this was not an expansion on a previous store. Store was erected about the same time as the k-mart across the street during the first retail boom in the area. Shopping center itself has been extensively modernized circa 1995 to match the target constructed there. About that time a smaller building containing a cunningham's (later perry) drugs was demolished, this structure sat at the former south edge of the center between vic tanny and the center proper. I remember the entire center had the natural cedar shake pseudo-mansard roof popular in the 70's, one anchor if you could call it that was "dancer's", a small clothing store/ department store located roughly where the china buffet is now.

Not much to say about the kroger except it is an original superstore, a near carbon copy was built in flat rock about the same time in the k-mart center there. It closed during the strike circa '86 or so and became a foodland, later foodtown store and now sits vacant. It was heavily modernized if you could call it that with the standard foodland geometric interior and blue white and yellow color scheme circa '90 or so, with a full length internally lit canopy covering the superstore arches.

-Eric

Posted: **06 Apr 2007 18:48**

Given the brick facing, etc. this seems unlikely to have been a remodeling of a pre-superstore location. The windows also look too low to date from a previous Kroger generally closed older stores and replaced them with superstores. This got them into a lot of hot water with community groups in places like Cincinnati where a lot of empty stores were the result.

The stores that lasted well into the superstore era tended to be larger than the 16-19,000 sf stores Kroger built in the 50s, or were in inner city or small town locations. The few that I saw enlarged made no effort to take on a superstore exterior--usually they just took on more storefronts and they usually kept the individual letters for signage, rather than the single blue on white sign. The practice of updating the exterior decor seems to be something has occurred much more often in the current "brick house" cycle of store design.

Posted: **06 Apr 2007 22:07**

Incidentally, last time I went by there, I noticed that the Kroger sign's K was missing, so that the sign said "Roger" instead of "Kroger."

Posted: **07 Apr 2007 04:28**

Awesome photos. Store comes off like a Smiths.

Posted: **14 Apr 2007 14:08**

I've split the posts about other area stores that had veered far away from the original topic of the Woodhaven Kroger into a new thread here:

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtop ... =7494#7494

Posted: **24 Aug 2008 23:05**

I went to the Woodhaven Kroger today and took some photos... one thing to note is that the bottle returns have been moved to the back-left corner of the store, and the clock is gone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssbn737rm/ ... 923669062/

(also some photos of another Woodhaven Kroger, formerly a Farmer Jack (unremodeled, so it's a Kroger with the A&P corporate interior from the late 90's)

Posted: **24 Aug 2008 23:50**

It's nice to know that the "K" is back on the Kroger sign again!

Posted: **09 Sep 2008 13:00**

Thank you so much for the interior pics. I have been in this store a number of times too (haven't been in probably six months) and taken a lot of exterior pics but nothing good inside. The store is a weird combination of greenhouse and post-grid pieces. I'm certain from looking at it that it was built as a superstore. It's also not the only one in the Detroit area with a greenhouse interior. The Grosse Pointe Farms store on Mack near Moross (pre superstore I'm sure) also has a mix of the two designs. It is a rather small store, probably a mile or so south from another recently opened Kroger converted from a FJ Food Emporium. I haven't been in the Farms Kroger in a while but I doubt they've done anything to the inside; it still has the black on white signage on two sides of the building and on the rear (actually the entry side) there is an oval Kroger oval over the entryway.

Posted: **12 Sep 2008 01:52**

There is a store in Jackson MI that is identical to this one right down to the interior more or less

Posted: **25 Sep 2009 20:20**

I was at that shopping center the other day and noticed that the "K" they replaced a while back does not line up with the rest of the letters. The letter seems to be a bit higher up in the box than the others. I'm surprised they replaced the one letter, instead of replacing the whole sign with a more modern design; they did a whole bunch of these when they took over all those Farmer Jack stores. (Most of them have the usual signs with the big K and a few for some reason have simple blue block letters.)

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