The Affordable Grocery Chain Customers Love That's Secretly Owned By Kroger

You may or may not be surprised to learn that many of the "small" brands you've come to know and love are actually quietly owned by much larger conglomerates. Just as General Mills owns Annie's and the Hershey Company owns Skinny Pop, Kroger is actually the proud owner of the beloved Midwestern grocery chain known as Baker's. But don't expect to see the standard Kroger layout if you head to this grocery store. Baker's has a style that's all its own — and customers love it.

Baker's is a fairly run-of-the-mill grocery chain that sells fresh produce, meats, dairy, and all the good stuff you'd expect to pick up on a normal grocery run. The chain is predominantly located in Nebraska and is just one of the many familiar grocery chains actually owned by Kroger. Customers on Reddit call it "the best grocery store in town," not only for its superior quality but also for its affordability. According to another Reddit user, Baker's is "the best compromise between quality and price."

Baker's was created by Abe Baker in 1927 and remained in the Baker family until 1992, when it merged with a company named Fleming. Fleming sold the chain to Kroger in 2001, and the giant grocer acquired 16 supermarkets under the Baker's name in Omaha, Nebraska — sort of like when Kroger bought Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion. But Baker's wasn't purchased by Kroger until the turn of the century, and many customers have fond memories of the store even in the earlier years, such as this Redditor who recalled that "back in the 80s and 90s, Bakers was such a great store. My girls could say Bakers before they ever could say McDonald's."

Even into the 2020s, customers praise the grocery chain's reasonable prices, like this Reddit user who noted: "If you shop the deals, it's probably the cheapest grocery store around and it's decent quality." People also go bananas over Baker's membership and points system, which they say can help you save a significant amount on groceries; it sounds like it could easily earn the chain a spot in our ranking of grocery chain rewards programs. In another Reddit thread, many customers note that Baker's is the best grocery chain in the area because of its wide selection of products, applauding Bakers' selection of affordable meats, milk products, and fresh produce. As one Reddit commenter put it, "I can get 90% of what I need at Bakers so I do that."