The end of Disco Kroger

This is surprising. And a bit sad: 

Another Houston grocery store is closing its doors. 

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. will shut down its location in the 3300 block of Montrose Boulevard in mid-January, the company said. 

The location had been losing money for some time, according to a statement from the company. 

"We never want to close any of our stores," Kroger officials said in a statement. "However, to keep prices low for our customers across the city we cannot continue to operate a store that has lost money for a sustained period of time." 

But more than just being a grocery store, the location also was affectionately known by some as "Disco Kroger." 

Why the name? According to the Houston Press writer Jeff Balke, the nickname stems from "the diverse and often bizarre late-night crowds you can find there most nights of the week, but especially on the weekend." 

"I often wondered why they just didn't get it over with, hang a disco ball in the middle store and pump in some dance tunes after 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights," mused Balke in his 2010 article.

"Disco Kroger" is probably the most iconic example of the colloquial tradition of assigning nicknames to local Kroger stores; it's the store with the sometimes-quirky clientele serving Houston's (now-rapidly-gentrifying) "Gayborhood." It's strange to imagine a Montrose without it.

Culturemap's Steven Devadanam explains the hard business calculus behind its demise:

The closing is not a complete surprise to industry watchers. Kroger has faced increased competition in the neighborhood from both H-E-B's Montrose Market and a Whole Foods Market that opened last year on the border of Montrose and Midtown. The brand’s relatively small footprint and lack of amenities — witness the coffee robot at Whole Foods — didn't measure up to its more modern competitors.

Perhaps the closure of Disco Kroger, along with last summer's shuttering of the Midtown Fiesta, are examples of "H-E-Bification:" the San Antonio-based grocer has spent the last several years aggressively expanding their Houston business with new-build stores featuring larger footprints and Texas-centric food selections in order to lure grocery shoppers from older establishments. Houstonia's Craig Hlavaty has tried to resist being H-E-Bified: 

While everyone else seemingly has already defected to H-E-B, I have stuck by that grimy grocery store. Why? I have never quite been able to get on the H-E-B bandwagon because I am naturally a contrarian and a creature of nostalgic habit. 

Plus, I have also gotten a weird pickup vibe from the West Alabama H-E-B, the Bumble to Disco Kroger’s trashy Tinder. I swear a subset of the H-E-B clientele only ​​goes after yoga class. I have heard more awkward pickup lines along those aisles than I can remember. Ms. Lululemon and Mr. Under Armour, pushed together by fate on the coffee aisle. Did you know that they actually make keto-friendly coffee now?  

Unfortunately for Hlavaty and other Disco Kroger loyalists, resistance has become futile. However, not all the blame should be placed on H-E-B; niche stores like Trader Joe's on West Alabama and the aforementioned new Whole Foods on Elgin have probably also played a role in Disco Kroger's demise. 

(Could Combat Kroger be next?)

The store's current employees will not be laid off, but will be reassigned positions at other local stores when Disco Kroger closes. The store's pharmacy records will be transferred to the "Posh Kroger" on West Gray a couple of miles up the road, which made its own (unsuccessful) attempt to rename itself about a decade ago.

Jeff Balke eulogizes the 42-year-old establishment, which (to add insult to injury) was also was the scene of a fire a couple of nights ago. On a tangental note, I'm upset about the closure of my favorite Montrose hot dog stand.