Mr. Snyder’s Extended Neighborhood: Kroger Center

Here we go with Mr. Snyder’s Extended Neighborhood: Kroger Center. I call it Kroger Center because I cannot think of another name right now and this strip center, a mere 0.428 miles from my house, is anchored by a Kroger Signature store.

Here it is. Stately looking, huh?

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This used to be my regular grocery store. After years they disenchanted me with their prices, so I switched to Walmart for groceries. Currently I am a regular HEB customer. But that is another story.

I have witnessed no less than two “grab and run” robberies at this location. The first one looked to be successful as they were able to load their pickup with five or six cases of beer.

The second event was a failure. One of the employees gave chase. The shopping cart in use tipped over, dropping cases of beer and a few packages of Pampers on the parking lot. The perps got away, however. The poor souls had to get by for a while without beer and Pampers. Sometimes life is a bitch!

They have beefed up their security quite a bit now. They no longer allow backpacks in the store. Thieves attempt to steal using shopping carts, so they ban backpacks. I am sure this makes sense to someone, somewhere.

Of course, there is an associated strip center. Here is a look at the south part of the building.

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Starting on the left: I had my bank accounts at Chase Bank until 2018. Originally, I was with Texas Commerce Bank. They were merged, bought out and eventually branded as Chase. The service and courtesy from Texas Commerce was excellent. Chase? Well, you guessed it, big national company steeped in mediocrity.

I could still be with Chase but in 2018 they allowed my checking account to be hacked three times on three consecutive days. Then they blamed me for it. I moved my money to another nationally known bank and the hacking stopped.

Next door to the right is Allstate. Well, ok fine, I am again a former customer. I had respect for Allstate because they were the only company I could find that would sell me auto insurance when I started off on my own here in 1975. In 2010 they started playing games with their pricing for auto and home, so I wound up changing. BTW: I do not recommend the agent at this location.

Again, to the right is Mai Tai. This is a nice pho noodle joint. Tasty food and cheap.

Now, let us look at the north section.

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Near the middle of this photo, Mike no longer owns Mike’s Liquor. He sold it.

On the right end, we have Catfish Station. I have never done business here. I am just not into fast sea food. This location was originally a Quizno’s. I bought a lot of sandwiches there.

There is a free-standing McDonalds here also, but I did not waste the bytes to take a photo.

While we are here, let us turn around and look across the street.

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Hey, here it is, a Planet Fatness! This was originally a Sears Hardware store. I bought lots of stuff there, including a genuine Kenmore dryer.

To go along with Planet Fatness is a Jack in The Box!

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We also have here a nicer restaurant. I present for your approval, The Backyard Grill.

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This is one of my favorites for Tex-Mex, BBQ and steaks.

Sure, click this one too!

Let us never forget the free-standing Aldi store on the south side. I took a quick tour through the store but did not buy anything. They have dozens of “look alike” products. The boxes and cans look much like name brands but are not. How do they get by on trademark violations?

It costs a quarter to get a shopping cart. Ok, fine, a quarter is refunded if you put the cart back in the rack.

That is all for this episode of the continuing saga of Mr. Snyder’s Neighborhood. Accept no Substitutes.

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