Sunday, December 17, 2017

Nicknames and brand names

Here in Atlanta, at this particular point in time, the two big grocery chains are Publix and Kroger. At least in our part of town.

In conversation just now, I realized that the Kroger's in our general vicinity all have nicknames. The Disco Kroger is an area that used to be heavily populated with Yuppies. The Crisco Kroger is a part of town with a large LGBT community. The Kosher Kroger is, of course, in an area with a heavy Jewish population. The Murder Kroger is on the edge of a rough part of town with a murder occurring in the parking lot every few years.

As far as I am aware, none of the Publix stores have comparable monikers.

So, three questions.
How do these designations arise?

Why does Kroger and not Publix have these appellations?

Is it brand beneficial to Kroger to have these nicknames?
I don't really have answers to any of the questions. Kroger has been here longer (since the 1950s as best I can tell whereas Publix came in during the 1990s) so that might be part of the "why?" I am guessing that it is a little brand beneficial in that nicknames would seem to be a proxy for community engagement. But really, I just don't know. And it is odd.

I see there is Reddit post on named Krogers in Atlanta from three years ago with an associated map. There is an updated version here.

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