Page 56 - Retail_Sustainability_Award_09-to-18

Taking it to the Store...
Where Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Visiting Kroger’s Cincinnati, OH, headquar- ters, one might expect this mammoth supermarket conglomerate to brandish an attention-wielding flagship store with an engraved plaque indicating it is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified store. But that wouldn’t fit in the spirit of Kroger’s philosophy to sustainable development. The firm actually takes a decidedly unpretentious approach, coming at sustainability from the social side, a community-centric, char- ity-rich platform at the core.
It’s not that Kroger rejects LEED attributes — many of its stores incorporate sophisticated initia- tives that exceed the LEED checklist. In fact, Kroger has many multifaceted, yet targeted strate- gies to reduce energy and carbon footprint, slash waste, and switch to eco-friendly products, explains Carl Bosse, expense, sanitation and sus-
tainability manager for Kroger’s retail operations. He, along with Keith Oliver, vice president of facil- ity engineering, and Denis George, energy manager, were on the scene during a trip to Kroger’s Harper’s Point and Loveland stores in the suburbs of Cincinnati to highlight accomplish- ments and share innovative on-going research to increase efficiencies.
Kroger’s engineering, logistical and technology- savvy feats underlie a broader sustainability policy and guiding principle intimately tied to the com- munities it serves.
“This year, we are elevating the engagement of our division, embracing our customers and associates,” says Terry Coughlin, store manager of the Harper’s Point store, in Montgomery, OH.
“Two years ago, Kroger razed and rebuilt the Harper’s Point location, doubling square footage
to 106,000-square-feet, the largest conventional store we have in the enterprise,” he says. Employ- ees mirror the multi-ethnic and religious makeup of the community. “They speak the languages and live the cultures, helping me to better understand our customers,” says Coughlin, noting a vibrant Jewish community and pointing out that one of the largest Catholic churches graces the neigh- borhood. “We also have a sizable population of Asians and Middle Eastern customers as well as a pocket of Russian immigrants. We have a pulse on the community.”
That pulse can be felt shaking up a robust pro- duce department, where customized product selection, promotions and merchandising tap into community needs. “We’re on an ‘Extreme Pro- gram.’ Whatever items are available, we’ll order,” says Coughlin, adding, “The focus is perishables, a
with the three-second rule,” says Ted Julian, senior manager of corporate expense/sanita- tion/sustainability. If it takes the associate more than three seconds to prepare a product for
composting, it doesn’t make sense.
It’s a mindset, he continues. “In our indus-
try, it’s pennies, not dollars, but pennies add up real fast extrapolating across 2,400 stores. Sus-
tainability has become a buzzword tagged on to a title, but we’re the guys in the trenches, going to the landfills, charged with finding ways to take costs out of the business. We’d love to
42 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2012