Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Name that Kroger! Take Two

Last year, I wrote about a popular tradition of assigning nicknames to inside-the-loop Kroger Stores. The Kroger store located on West Gray in the River Oaks Shopping Center (pictured here) apparently has several nicknames, including "Posh Kroger," "Deco Kroger," or "River Oaks Kroger."

It turns out that store management has their own ideas on what this particular store's nickname should be. I recently went there to pick up a few items on my way to getting Kirby from school, and found these laminated signs at every check-out aisle:
"Our goal is to make EVERY CUSTOMER feel like a HOLLYWOOD STAR each time you enter our store," the sign reads in part. "HOLLYWOOD KROGER IN RIVER OAKS IS REACHING FOR THE STARS IN ALL THAT WE DO!"

So there you have it: Kroger store #355 at the corner of West Gray and Dunlavy is henceforth to be known as "Hollywood Kroger," where you can expect to be treated like a celebrity as you shop! Each shopper will be assigned their own publicist and band of paparazzi to follow him or her up and down the aisles and there will be a walk-in Betty Ford Clinic next to the produce section.

Seriously, though: will the name take? Or will Houstonians reject management's decree establishing the store's official nickname and continue to refer to it by its organic, colloquial nicknames?

I think I already have my own new nickname for this store: "Really-Goofy-Attempt-At-Emphasizing-Customer-Service Kroger."

1 comment:

John said...

I'm so embarrassed for them.