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Notable people · Business

Bernard Kroger

Cincinnati-born grocer who opened a single store at 66 Pearl Street in 1883 with $372 and built the Kroger grocery chain. He died on Cape Cod and is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.

Bernard Kroger
Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1860-01-24
Died
1938-07-21
Known as
Business
Organizations
Kroger

Life story

Bernard Kroger was born in Cincinnati in 1860, the fifth of ten children of German immigrants who ran a dry goods store. He left school at 13 to help the family after the 1873 downturn, and a stint as a farmhand near Pleasant Plain ended when he caught malaria.

He opened a grocery at 66 Pearl Street with a partner. Wikipedia dates this to 1884; Kroger's own company history says 1883.

He added firsts that spread across the trade: marked prices, a bakery in 1901, a meat-packing operation in 1904, delivery by automobile in 1912, and a quality lab in 1921. He bought 15 Dayton stores in 1902 and incorporated in 1904.

He sold the company for $28 million in 1927, started Provident Savings Bank in 1900, and gave to Cincinnati charities, including a camp for children and tigers for the zoo. He died on Cape Cod in 1938 and is buried in Spring Grove.

Timeline

  • 1860-01-24: Born in Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1873: Leaves school at 13 to work (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1884: Opens first grocery at 66 Pearl St (company says 1883) (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1902: Buys 15 Dayton stores (Dayton, OH) source
  • 1904: Company incorporated; buys a meat packer (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1912: Uses 75 Ford Model Ts for delivery (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1927: Sells the company for $28 million (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1938-07-21: Dies at Cape Cod, MA; buried at Spring Grove (Cape Cod, MA) source

What Bernard is known for

  • Founded Kroger in Cincinnati, 1883
  • Added in-store bakery and fresh meat departments under one roof
  • Kroger grocery chain
  • Provident Savings Bank (1900)
  • Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company (17-mile electric line, 1904-1919)
  • Kroger Hills Camp for Anemic Children

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Family

  • wife: Mary Emily Jansen
  • father: Johan Heinrich Kroger
  • mother: Mary Gertrude Kroger

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Bernard Kroger was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • The first store's year is 1883 on Kroger's own history page but 1884 in Wikipedia; sources disagree.
  • Disputed: The claim that Kroger introduced self-service in 1895 comes from company lore and has not been independently confirmed.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

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