Kroger Marketplace — Local services in Virginia Beach

This recently became our grocery store. We’ve been to this store 4 times now, I believe. My husband seems pleased with shopping there.

The meat is good. The selections are limited each time we’ve been there.

I can make some suggestions because I can’t ever find anything I need in this store.

I have a lot of (allergy categorized issues) that I need to be careful of what I eat and they have chosen the worst way of “helping” people with food allergies. They don’t have a section for “us.” They say “they are mixed in.” Well, that’s not helpful because 1) I can’t find anything I need and 2) I like to be able to just shop for types of things I like, let’s say snacks and I can’t be spending 20 minutes searching the entire multitude of snacks aisles trying to find a couple things I even COULD eat when most of what I find that way isn’t anything I WANT to eat as I’m seeing everything I CANNOT eat, or they aren’t completely allergy-friendly for me, or good in my tastes and texture preferences. Who wants to see Oreos and 50 kinds of yummy cookies they CAN’T eat just to find 1 cookie that tastes like chalk that they CAN eat?! Nobody wants to be tasty-tortured while grocery shopping. Lol

For example, Wegman’s has an entire cheese section completely devoted to dairy-free and vegan. I go there and see 20 types of cheese options I CAN choose from. At Kroger, there’s 1 type of 1 brand of cheese, only Daiya cheese slices in American or Cheddar (Daiya isn’t even good at sliced cheese; they are good at shredded cheese, but the only dairy-free shredded cheese there is Kroger brand). NO OTHER DAIRY-FREE anything cheese-related at all.

Gluten-free pasta is another example. They have all the worst gluten-free pastas none of the ones worth actually eating. The only gluten-free pasta is called Impastables Cauliflower linguini and it’s in the frozen section wherever it’s sold (NEX base), as are most of the breads.

They do sell Udi’s hamburger buns, which are the only good GF bread, even though it has rice, which is really bad, also very high in arsenic.

I had to get different chips not as healthy an option as the ones I usually get at Aldi that only have veggie ingredients.

I couldn’t find only avocado in cups because they have about 10 guacamoles and no just avocado.

It takes us a really long time to find anything in this store because, like for example, the nuts and berries packs you out into a salad are way hidden far away on an aisle facing the opposite way nowhere near the salads you put them on. They are in the cheese section, oddly.

They haven’t had a really great selection of fresh veggies or fruits, although they do have a big produce section. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of what I want when we go. That may be because I am picky and I am used to shopping elsewhere, with my favorites I like, that I cannot find there “mixed in.”

I can’t get the gluten-free cod fish pieces, gluten-free garlic bread, dairy-free ice cream treats, chips, cookies, crackers, chicken nuggets, breakfast items, dairy-free varieties of types of cheeses, pasta, flour, mixes, milks, pancakes.

I never saw the pedialyte. After we got home this last time I mentioned it and my husband said he saw it over in the pharmacy area.

They only have sugar-free coffee syrups (which is disgusting btw) except 1 not sugar-free flavor that is salted caramel, 2 things I can’t have , and it tastes way too salty anyway. Hazelnut is the most popular and they only sell it and 3 other flavors in sugar-free.

They only sell 2 coffee creamers in dairy-free.

There was another thing but I forgot now.

The point is, Kroger is not allergy-friendly. I can’t find 3/4 of what I need or want at Kroger. I have to skip at least a dozen items on my shopping list each time shopping and make special trips to Wegman’s later on. If you have to be careful what you put into your body, you may want to just shop at Wegman’s.

If you don’t have to be careful to not get anaphylaxis or blow up like a balloon from food allergies, you may be very happy...

This Kroger is poorly managed, but has potential. I witnessed the astounding potential first hand. Inspectors, who I assume were sent from corporate, were doing an inspection at the same time I happened to be doing my shopping. The place was almost utter perfection. Anything resembling perfection would never cross your mind on any other day.

Friends, allow me to divulgence the true scene which will befall your eyes, should you choose to grace those walls with your presence. Upon entering through the automatic doors you'll notice trash strewn about the floor. Dodging the overflowing trash cans you'll walk towards the carts and stop abruptly. You'll see various pieces of trash hung on the carts as if they were a sad homage to a field of fully ornamented Christmas trees. Smile friends, because in the words of Bachman Turner overdrive "B-b-b-baby you you ain't seen n-n-nothing yet!".

You'll stroll through the second set of automatic doors and this is where your troubles begin. Having passed the carts reach for a basket only to find an empty basket holder.

In multiplication two negatives go head to head to become a positive; the same can often occur outside of the mathematical realm. Coming to the realization that you have no practical method to carry your entire list of groceries with only your hands, you begin to despair. Fret not my friends, you'll soon realize half of your grocery list is out of stock and you needn't carry much at all.

You smile as you see majority of things on your fruit and vegetable list are non existent. The burden of carrying everything on your list is lifted from your shoulders. Your smile widens as you notice there are no bags for anything, even if it were in stock. As you carry a stalk of celery in one hand and a carton of milk in the other you boldly head to the checkout line.

Smiling, as only a fool who recognizes his first world problems can smile, you reach the register. The thing on the other side says in a pompous tone "I wasn't about to go home or anything, don't worry about it.". As you awkwardly murmur a single solitary laugh you now realize the all divine truth. The gods hate you and all attempts to escape your new and clearly eternal prison will only result in further anguish.

You black out. You awaken in your driver seat to the sound of car door banging into your own. "It was only a nightmare" you say as you breath a sigh of relief. Your eyes widen and pulse quickens as you look at your passenger seat and see them. A stalk of celery and a carton of milk sit gleaming in the...

I came in to return some "soft goods" (not food) items a few minutes after ten. There was a sign saying guest relations was closed so I went to the self check out where Jhe Jhe greeted me. I explained that I was trying to do a return and around that time, the security guard working came in and leaned next to her on the window. She looked back at him and he said that guest relations is closed. I asked if there was a manager in duty and she said there was no one up there and I would have to come back when they were open. I asked if she would mind calling for a manager because I work the hours they are open and at first she said there was no manager and when I questioned that she said she couldn't leave the front area. I wasn't asking that- just to walkie or call for someone but she seemed like she didn't know what to do the security guard seemed bothered. I saw someone stocking a few feet away so I said it was ok and went up to the that person. Her name was Kelly and I asked if she could help me and she said I would have to go to guest services. I again explained I work when they are open and asked if she could walkie a manager. She said Sean was the manager but she thought he was on break. I asked if there was anyone else that could help and she was visibly annoyed. I asked if she was saying that no one could help me and she laughed and said, "no, I'm just saying I can't" and then looked behind me to Jhe Jhe walking over and said, "call Sean and see if he will come up here. Then she looked at me and told me to wait at guest services. Then Kelly started speaking really loudly, asking other people if they needed help, saying things like, "no problem, have a great night." It was really performative and weird. I waited for a while at guest relations and no one came so I left. The reason Kroger appeals to me is the late hours of operation and the usually friendly staff. I worked retail for 20 years myself and have never heard of not having a manger/ supervisor on duty (who closes the tills at night?), or only being able to do a return at certain times of the day. They are open almost 2 more hours and seemed to be acting like they were closed and were being interrupted/ couldn't be bothered to help. Really terrible customer service and really weird interactions all around.

TLDR- Dont come in after 10 expecting to get help/ good...