Bellevue Kroger store's grand reopening is oh-so-good!
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| Image by EastRowMama |
After closing earlier this year for a massive remodeling, the doors reopened this week, revealing a beautiful new store with many expanded features, while preserving just enough of the old familiar floor plan to make long time customers feel right at home.
Dingy and tired for many years, the old Bellevue Kroger nevertheless provided the community with a reliable resource for the things they really needed from a grocery store.
I shopped there not only for convenience, but for secret, sentimental reasons too.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
You see, I’m the kind of shopper that circulates. I never just shop at one store. I like Trader Joe’s for certain things, and Remke’s
for others and Findlay Market for yet others. But the Bellevue Kroger was, well, it was
always just somehow familiar and reliable.
It felt shabby and worn around the edges. The produce department sometimes left me growling empty threats
under my breath about leaving for Meijer and never coming back. (I adore Meijer's produce department, by the way. But the checkout experience is perpetual utter misery.)
But, I knew the baking, dairy, and frozen aisles like the back of my hand. I
could navigate them blindfolded.
I knew
exactly where everything was in that store, and I could whiz through when I was
in a hurry to round up dinner, even with a screaming toddler in tow. I knew I could find staples – real, basic
food ingredients to make real, nutritious meals. And I always felt safe in there, even if it
was midnight – an important - and rare - feature in an urban grocery store.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
But that’s not the main reason I loved the Bellevue
Kroger.
The main reason I love that
store is because it’s the store my grandmother shopped.
Before moving to Melbourne, they lived in Bellevue for many years – almost my entire childhood, in fact.
Before moving to Melbourne, they lived in Bellevue for many years – almost my entire childhood, in fact.
Every time I’d make my rounds through, I was reminded that
my grandmother had walked those very same aisles countless times before me. I loved the notion of walking in her
footsteps, pushing a cart, leaning on it, browsing, reading labels, choosing
standard favorites and occasionally tossing in something new, just as I knew
she had.
My grandmother fought, and ultimately lost, a battle
with cancer. The treatments made her
very ill and I would go and stay with her and my grandfather in Melbourne to help take care of her on those hard days.
As
her condition deteriorated, it made sense for us to be closer so we could be
able to help more. We began looking and
found our current home in Newport. I was
so excited the day we told her we were moving closer.
Sadly, my grandmother passed away just a month before we moved in. But it was still
good we were there. We were able to look after my grandfather, who, in many ways, was lost without his love of over 50 years.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
What’s interesting is that she was like me – or rather, I was like her –
a shopper that circulates. She loved
shopping all over the city, exploring, finding deals, finding new ingredients
and trying new things. But, like me, that
Kroger store was where she did most of her day-to-day grocery shopping.
It was with mixed feelings that I ventured into the new
Kroger Marketplace at the South end of Newport when it opened.
The foodie in me was giddy with the prospect
of having Murray’s Cheese Shoppe a literal 10 blocks away from my front
porch. The surprisingly good toy and game
department has rescued me at the last minute a few times from forgotten invitations to
kid birthday parties and baby showers.
I’ve
even found myself strangely tempted by some of the home furnishings offered. (So
weird to consider buying home décor at the grocery store isn’t it?).
I acclimated myself to the “new” Kroger. I finally reached a point where I could find
my way around. Never mind it still took a
little longer to shop…because it was so big.
And then they CHANGED THINGS AROUND.
Just when I had the place figured out, they moved a bunch of
aisles around. It threw me into a veritable
rage! Why?! I’m a busy working mother! I don’t have time to relearn the store! It slowed me down at a time when I needed efficiency!
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| Image by EastRowMama |
With my trust in the new store betrayed and my nerves frayed, when I really wanted to just do my regular
shopping and not “get all fancy,” I’d hit the Bellevue Kroger.
When the Bellevue Kroger closed
for its alleged “remodeling,” I was skeptical that it would even ever
reopen because it is situated so close in proximity to the new Marketplace. Oh - how I've missed it.
But open it has.
I’ve strung you along long enough… Let me just go ahead and say it: Halleluiah! And thank goodness they have reopened! The new Bellevue store is gorgeous.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
There's a bike rack so you can leave the car at home and get a bit of exercise if you just want to grab a few things.
It has just enough of the familiar old floor plan that I feel like I know where I’m going and can find things where I expect them to be. Yes, there are some pretty big changes. But there are whispers of the familiar everywhere.
It has just enough of the familiar old floor plan that I feel like I know where I’m going and can find things where I expect them to be. Yes, there are some pretty big changes. But there are whispers of the familiar everywhere.
They didn’t completely upset the apple cart and then
randomly stack everything back. Produce
is still where I thought it would be, and so is the meat and dairy
department.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
The frozen aisles have been
moved from the middle of the store to the far end – where the chips and
detergents used to be. That’s a little
unexpected.
The deli has been moved to
the opposite end of the store near produce, where it should have been all along.
You don’t get Murray’s cheese at Bellevue, but there is a beautiful butcher case now. And hot soups! Yes – the deli has a soup kiosk! Let me tell you, you are going to LOVE this
store.
The pharmacy is about triple its original size, taking over
the footage that was the old, adjacent, stand alone Kroger liquor store. Oh – and it has a walk-up window outside
too. You don’t even have to go in when
you are feeling like death and all you want is the pills the doc prescribed to
make it all better.
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| Image by EastRowMama |
Beer. Remember the
beer section? It was pretty basic: national
brands – that was about it. So, look at
it now – a whole amazing aisle of national, regional and local beers. And, for kicks, you can build your own six
pack by-the-bottle for $8.99, mixing and matching from a good dozen or two of
loose single bottles of micro brews. How do you like it now?
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| Image by EastRowMama |
There’s still no wine at Kroger stores in Kentucky. What’s with the goofy Kentucky liquor laws
anyway? I’m not complaining too much
because it’s still cheaper to buy here than in Ohio, but criminy, it’s awkward
to schlep a kid into a liquor store to pick up a bottle of merlot to go with my
Bolognese sauce. That’s not
Kroger’s fault though. I digress. I do that.
What of it?
Bottom line: The
Bellevue Kroger did not go away when it closed.
It is still very much alive and a part of our neighborhood like it
always was – but better than ever! Go
and see for yourself!
Disclosure: I am a marketing professional who writes articles for a range of clients that are published in various places from time to time. I strive to operate with the highest integrity, ethics and transparency. The content of this blog is my own and all posts and topics are published by my own volition and choice. I received no incentive, payment or other consideration in exchange for writing this article from any of the parties mentioned herein or otherwise.
