Kroger Marketplace — Attraction in Union

PSA: When purchasing goods from the Union, KY Kroger, be sure to verify your purchased products are not spoiled/rotten/moldy - this location does not seem to remove expired products despite their "fresh" campaign. On four occasions shopping here I informed someone in-person that there are several expired (rather, "best if used by" 6/8/25) Organic Valley milk containers (mind you this carton seems to market to consumers for their children). On each occasion, I was informed they would take care of it or let someone know who can take care of it.

On Sunday, after the milk was 14 days past its sell-by date, there it sat still on the shelf. So I called and I spoke with the Customer Service Manager named Jenny (that was of course after being placed on hold to speak to the store manager only to have the line picked up by a different person asking how they could help me a few times. After 40-something minutes of being on hold Jenny answered). I provided her the brand name and explained that they're two weeks past their sell-by date and people look for this brand with DHA for their kids so my concern was that they would sell expired dairy products to someone who would feed it to a kid who can't SAY it tastes foul, without checking the date.

Jenny agreed it was disgusting to still have this milk on the shelf two weeks past expiration, and assured me she would take care of it. I thanked her, and explained I would be in to buy some groceries on Monday morning (today) and if the milk was still there I would contact corporate and post something on social media.

Still there this morning.

If I'm mistaken, and somehow the only date printed on this carton is entirely unrelated to when the milk expires then someone please enlighten me - but the best I can find is that the date is the "best if used by" date, and milk is generally okay 5-7 days past the sell-by date so best-case scenario they're still selling milk that spoiled over a week prior.

I spoke to the employee working the self-checkout registers this AM and explained that the milk was still there - I believe she personally walked back and took the milk out of the refrigerators after telling her about it (I didn't stick around to find out, but she told me she would and headed back that direction) - She's great.

I had assumed this was a one-off, but coming here to write this review and seeing all the others, yikes. Publix may be more expensive for a lot of products, but I'm glad someone is moving into the area - hopefully it gives Kroger a reason to start caring again (given they wiped out any competition here, they haven't had much reason to care for a while...

When this Kroger first opened, I thought they had done an excellent job. However, after a few years, it’s clear that the management struggles to run a store of this size effectively. Parts of the store are consistently messy—for example, the clearance section. It used to be well-organized on the floor, making it easy to shop, but now it’s shoved against a wall, perpetually disorganized, and filled with expired foods, spilled cosmetics, and broken, unsellable products.

The cold drink aisle is another problem. It has those redundant advertisement monitor doors that are supposed to show stock levels but are usually incorrect. Clear glass doors would be a much better solution and more energy-efficient.

I’ve also encountered pricing issues many times, where expired sale tags are left on the shelves, and I’ve had to ask for price corrections at checkout. While the addition of self-checkouts with conveyor belts is nice, almost every time I use them, an associate has to assist me for reasons that aren’t clear.

A particularly frustrating experience occurred recently when I was leaving the store. A manager stopped me and instructed the employee they were training to ask if I had paid for the items on the bottom of my cart. The manager assumed we hadn’t scanned alcohol because no ID check occurred—despite the fact that the employee being trained had already checked our ID but the manager clearly wasn’t paying attention. The employee seemed more on top of the situation than the manager.

Another issue is with the fried chicken—don’t bother buying it unless you’re okay with eating feathers. Thankfully, I noticed before purchasing.

Kroger also needs to rethink how they handle delivery and drive-up orders. Employees are constantly running around with massive blue carts, which is extremely inconvenient for in-store shoppers. Just the other day, both ends of an aisle were blocked by these carts. I left my cart at the entrance to grab what I needed, only to turn around and find it rolling away. An employee, who was blocking the aisle, decided my cart was in their way and just pushed it out into the walkway. Instead of apologizing, they told me not to say sorry, as if I was the problem.

On top of all this, the store’s sales and coupons aren’t as good as other Kroger locations. For example, I bought 12-packs of Pepsi during a “Buy 2, Get 2 Free” deal. The very next day, I went to the Walton Kroger and saw they had a better deal—“Buy 2, Get 3 Free.”

Unfortunately, Kroger seems to be going downhill. I hope they take the time to read reviews like this and learn from...

I feel so bad for the workers. The union doesn’t care about them whatsoever. Management lets the store hear up during the summer and those poor people are sweating. They look like they’re gonna pass out. My mom and grandma have a hard time shopping in there sometimes. Not sure why they can’t afford to fix the air conditioners. But it’s probably why the power sometimes goes out and food goes bad. Also, from a reliable source, plus I’ve witnessed this. They don’t give proper breaks to anyone! Especially the minors! I’ve heard several complaints and know people who work there. They come home exhausted and hungry because Kroger is breaking Kentucky Law when it comes to breaks. And unfortunately for those working, it seems that management is allowing this mistreatment of the lower paid employees. And will in fact punish or even fire any employee that stands up for themselves. Or reports anything to the union. I’m sickened that Kroger has moved buildings and act as if they are a high end company, yet they treat most of the employees that don’t kiss their butts like garbage. I honestly can’t believe that this is still happening after all this time! I knew it was bad at the old building, but they’re still making these mistakes in their new building. I almost don’t want to complain about how they keep their store. Since it only seems that the lower paid employees will always get the short end. I wish the employees would ‘unionize’ and go on strike. Georgetown has many other grocery stores we can shop at. That probably treats their employees and their store much better. The reason I haven’t said anything now is because I didn’t realize that employees were being shamed, punished, and fired for complaining. GIVE. THEM. THEIR. BREAKS. This is so irresponsible and...