Assignment 1-Financial Research Report

Kroger Supermarkets were started in 1883 by Barney Kroger in downtown Cincinnati. Mr. Kroger started his business with the motto: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” Through the years Kroger has strived to uphold this motto to its customers and to provide great service, the freshest products and expansion to meet the needs of their customer base making it one of the world’s largest retailers. Kroger now has over 2,600 stores in 34 states with $108.5 billion in annual sales. Kroger operates 37 food processing facilities and Kroger was the first grocery retailer to use the electronic scanner.

Kroger’s corporate strategy consists of continuously innovating and creating new ways of bring value to the customer. They were pioneers for many of the things that we now consider norms in grocery stores. In the past, Kroger had rapidly expanded to many store locations to gain market share. This expansion strategy caused them to lose profits in

In the United States, the food retail industry is absolutely massive. According to Statista, this industry brings in nearly 5.27 trillion dollars annually and 594.4 billion of that is from grocery store sales. In this market, the 20-ton gorilla in the room is Walmart, racking in nearly 20% of the entire market at around 118 billion dollars in 2013 according to the Harvard Business School case study. Following Walmart, Kroger and Costco own the biggest next largest slices bringing in 76 billion and 71 billion respectively. In this highly competitive market that has some of the smallest margins of any industry it can be tough to get ahead and even tougher to grow. However, Trader Joe’s has managed to pierce what was once a very small world

Trader Joe's faces several threats to its business, as competitors try to invade the company’s niche and attempt to imitate the company’s core strategies. The supermarket industry itself faces a major threat, as larger chains such as grocery retailers Wal-Mart and Tesco have begun to open small-format stores that mimic the Trader Joe's approach. This invasion results in additional cost pressure for incumbents like Trader Joe’s, which had to let go employees in order to become more cost competitive.

My parents receive an earned income, meaning they work for it, unlike unearned income like child support and disability. My mom works as a Human Resources Director; she over sees all investigations in her facility and hires and fires people. My dad works as an Operations Sales Manager, so he over sees all of the different sales. They both have salary wages, so their income isn’t based on hours.

Competitor analysis is a serious part of the organization therefore; Target must identify and address all issues pertaining to the business. Target must pinpoint the tangible competitors, and substitutes, evaluate opponents’ objectives, strategies, strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities and threats, and uncover what opponents Target should take on or stand clear of. Therefore, Target must analyze the company’s economic, sociocultural, technological, political, and future.

Kroger’s mission is to be a leader in the distribution and merchandising of food, health, personal care, and related consumable products and services. They envision the company will operate in a way that reflects their belief that the organization levels closest to the customer are best positioned to serve changing consumer needs. The mission and vision of Kroger is socialized and dependent on their employees (Retail Industry, 2012).

The corporation I chose to discuss is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a publicly traded corporation that includes the following domestic companies, McDonald’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Boston Market. This paper will discuss the following:

Grocery industry is a highly competitive market with thin profit margins. Super markets are dominant players in the grocery industry. They use grocery offerings to drive traffic to their higher profit margin retail items. With its operations efficiency, Walmart, the largest grocery retailer has been able to offer significant price drops. This also forces other grocery stores to drop prices which keeps the profit margin thin. Even with all the advantages of operational efficiency and economies of scale, Walmart’s share in grocery sales was down at 51% in 2011.

Acquisitions have also been important in the history of Kroger. In 1983, an acquisition of Dillon Companies Inc. allowed it to become a retailer of food, drug, and convenience stores from coast to coast. The biggest merger occurred in 1999 with the 13 billion dollar acquisition of Fred Meyer Inc. making Kroger the largest supermarket chain in terms of geographic coverage. The company was also the first to test

The Kroger Company grew in 128 years from one store to over 3,500 stores of various banners and products. The Kroger Company is the largest food and drug retailer in the United States and is growing constantly with diversity in the retail market, dealing in food, pharmacies, apparel, jewelry and fuel. Kroger is governed by a 14 member Board of Directors including a Chief Executive Officer. Kroger is a leader in Corporate Social responsibility by maintaining environmental consciousness, social awareness and energy conservation awareness. Kroger is committed to customers, builds diversity and focuses on growth. The company operates a large part of it’s own manufacturing and distribution to increase profit

The grocery industry is highly fragmented, with a multitude of strong regional players (Safeway, Publix, Kroeger, Wegmans, etc.). The largest grocery retailer in the United States is Wal-Mart, with an estimated 33% share. Other major retailers are targeting this segment of the industry, focused on a relatively narrow selection of key commodity foods at relatively low prices (Forbes, 2011). Whole Foods competes in a segment occupied by differentiated grocery players including Trader Joe's, Fresh Market and a highly fragmented selection of local and regional upscale and health-conscious grocery stores. The big players in the industry usually carry ranges of organic and natural products as well, siphoning off some business from Whole Foods. As Whole Foods grows, it comes into competition with mainstream grocery retailers more frequently (McLaughlin & Martin, 2009).

The Kroger brand was born in 1883, Bernard 'Barney ' Kroger took his life savings of $372 to open his first store in downtown Cincinnati. This location is by I-71 that passes the Great American Ballpark. Barney Kroger, the son of a merchant, had a simple "Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself." This was the credo that would serve The Kroger Co. well over the next 130 years as the supermarket business evolved into a variety of formats aimed towards satisfying the needs of their shoppers in as many aspects as possible. With nearly 3,619 stores in 34 states under 24 different names, such as Kroger, Dillons, Turkey Hill Minit Markets, Ralphs, Tom Thumb Food Stores, QuikStop, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Littman Jewelers with an annual revenue of more than $70 billion. Kroger today ranks as one of the nation’s largest retailers.

The Kroger organization is a great company that focuses on the customer needs when shopping. It is amazing that Kroger has great staff members as well as manager that love to see the organization improve and expand. The managers and staff members are willing to take the time a improve leadership programs to better assist customers. The organization is willing to let managers make decision to improve the financial obligation of the company. The Kroger industry has great managers that in the past as well as present improve the company financially over the years.

At present time, I believe the two most pertinent factors for the Kroger company are sociocultural forces and environmental factors. According to Orlando,2017, Kroger has formed a partnership with Lucky’s supermarket located throughout central Florida and will open eight more stores in the state adding to their numerous banners. Kroger will have to conduct research on the forces that include lifestyles. cultural differences and attitude that could have an impact on their stores.