What Is America's Oldest Grocery Store Chain?

All around the country, you can find modern grocery store chains that were once old-school pioneers in the industry. Publix is a Southern grocery staple that traces its heritage back to 1930, while Piggly Wiggly became the first modern grocery store all the way back in 1916. Its self-serve operation forever blurred the lines between what separates a grocery store from a supermarket. Although both of those are rather old, there's still one grocery store chain that precedes them, and it's a chain that still has significant name recognition today.

With 1,257 stores around the United States, Kroger has grown considerably since its founder Barney Kroger opened the first store in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1883. Fast forward over 140 years and Kroger is still running strong as one of America's most recognizable food retailer chains, with an estimated combined worth of over $43 billion as of 2024. It's quite a success story for the oldest continuously operating grocery chain in the United States. 

Barney Kroger didn't run into the retailer business completely cold. By the time he opened his first store, he already had experience managing the floundering Imperial Tea Company, turning it profitable in less than a year. That makes it less surprising that Kroger had great success virtually from his first store's inception, although the feat is still no less impressive. After sinking his entire life savings (a grand total of $372) into the first store, it didn't take long before he was able to open a second location, doing so only a year later in 1884. Understanding that prospective shoppers would need to visit the grocer, the baker, and the butcher to fulfill their shopping needs, Kroger sought to combine all three into a one-stop shop. The growth of his brand continued, and after 25 years had passed, Kroger could lay claim to over 100 locations. 

A potential key to the growth of the Kroger brand could be how the store approached the experience of grocery shopping, integrating facets that have now become synonymous with grocers overall. Beyond pioneering the inclusion of a butcher shop and bakery in the grocery store, it also introduced many shoppers to the idea of a "loyalty program." Kroger was even the first grocery store to test electronic barcode scanners. Now, it's leading the way by heavily investing in AI to make the shopping experience faster and easier for customers. It's no surprise, then, that Kroger grew substantially, and continues today as one of America's most prolific grocers.