Why Kroger Shoppers In Atlanta Nickname Each Of The Stores

Atlanta is an interesting place. For example, did you know that Coca-Cola was invented there in 1886? Or how about the fact that there are over 71 roads in the city with the word "Peachtree" in the name? Yes, this Southern metropolis has a lot of fun and surprising aspects to it. And one that's a little lesser known is the idiosyncratic practice of Atlanta shoppers giving nicknames to many of the Kroger stores within their city. This practice appears to be a unique phenomenon — Kroger has over 1,200 stores; it also owns 18 other grocery chains, but seemingly only Atlanta residents have seen fit to apply monikers to their shopping centers over the years. The nicknames seem to be based on various criteria, and some include "Disco Kroger," "Stinky Kroger," "Hipster Kroger," "Kosher Kroger," "Gay Kroger," "Krobar," and "Murder Kroger." There are even one or two that contain words we can't publish here.

If you're visiting Atlanta, perhaps from one of the U.S. states without a Kroger, you might be surprised to hear residents refer to their nearest market by a nickname. But the rationale for most of the names is somewhat intuitive. For example, Disco Kroger (which closed in 2021) was next to a club. Stinky Kroger is near a sewage plant. Gay Kroger is in a historically LGBTQ+ area. 

As for "Murder Kroger" (on Ponce De Leon Avenue), this moniker has a gruesome origin: a homicide in the store's parking lot in the '90s. There was an effort by the store to rebrand as "Beltway Kroger" after a major update in 2014, but as is often the case with trying to give yourself a new nickname, it was not totally successful, and it is still widely known by its original moniker.

So where did this naming tradition come from? There's no definitive answer, but former Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, who attended the re-opening of "Beltway Kroger," gave his theory to Decaturish, saying, "At one point Kroger [was] kind of our main staple store in Atlanta and it may still be the one...We like to give affectionate names to things..." 

Kelly Allen, an Atlanta real estate agent and influencer, has a similar take, noting that nicknames turn these Krogers into "cultural touchstones that define a neighborhood." Naming Kroger locations is just one of those things that makes Atlanta that much more interesting.