When Kroger opened its store at 3430 State Street, advertising proudly proclaimed: ”Kroger Takes Another Mighty Step in Saginaw’s Great Parade of Progress.” Its location, on the western edge of the city, made it convenient to established neighborhoods and Saginaw’s rapidly expanding suburbs. Centered in a sea of parking – there was room for 750 cars, this was clearly a place to which customers drove. If there was any doubt, the adjoining branch of Second National Bank featured drive-up windows.
Kroger had operated stores in Saginaw since the 1920s; however, the State Street facility was quite different from their earlier Saginaw Units. Newspaper descriptions detailed its convenience and extolled its modernity:
“The West Side supermarket, opening Wednesday, includes the latest ideas in store design.
It is the most recently built store for the food chain. Kozy was manager of the Midland Kroger store before coming to Saginaw to manage the new store. He has been with Kroger's for 22 years. Co-manager of the store is Roy Kamischke, former manager of Kroger's two stores on Genesee. Both stores recently were closed. Kamischke has worked 10 years for Kroger's.
Banks of fluorescent lights and rows of adjustable spotlights are used to highlight the grocery and meat display counters. The ceiling is covered with acoustical tile, and the rear wall is decorated with a strip of farm-scene wall paper [sic].
Automatic conveyors will carry merchandise to the 40 x 100-foot basement for stamping and return them to the main floor the same way. Also in the basement will be employees’ restrooms, plus motors and controls for all freezers and refrigerators.” The Saginaw News, February 26, 1956.
Promoted as a “Wonderland of Food,” this was a place where customers selected what they wanted. Ads proclaimed:
“SEE . . . the completely self-service MEAT DEPARTMENT. Reach right into the frosty white cases and serve yourself the exact cuts you want. Top grade meats! And what variety. Kroger Tenderay Beef, succulent pork, veal and lamb. The plumpest poultry, the finest sea foods.”
The store featured nine checkout lines and entrances were, for customer convenience, operated by an electric eye.
Although the store was ultra-modern, advertising made it clear that Kroger was still sourcing “country-fresh” foods – of course, the strip of farm-scene wallpaper was a constant reminder of the store’s connection to agriculture and wholesome country air. And before we leave the store- through the automatic door, we will note the store carried a limited line of toys – especially during the holiday season. However, we will wait until another visit to explore the toy selection.
In 1981 the store was sold to Albert F. Kessel and became part of the newly formed Kessel Food Market, Inc. chain.
Today, much of the building is occupied by a Family Dollar.
This link will take you to the history of the Kroger Company.
The Recipe: 13 Egg Angel Food Cake*
“FREE…500 FRESH KROGER BAKED ANGEL FOOD CAKE. To be given to the first 500 women customers entering the new Kroger store on Opening Day. Kroger Angel-Food cakes are fluffy night[sic.] ‘n luxurious – made with Kroger’s 13 Egg Recipe.”
--The Saginaw News, February 27, 1956.
Ingredients:
1 C. cake flour
1 2/3 C. granulated sugar
1 3/4 C. egg whites (from about 13 eggs)
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cream of tartar
1/2 t. vanilla or almond extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300' F.
Sift the flour 3 times, then add 2/3 cup of the sugar and sift 1 more time.
Beat the eggs until frothy. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until they just begin to form soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar gradually while continuing to beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Mix in the vanilla.
Sift the flour mixture over the whipped egg whites in 4 additions, folding in each addition by hand until just incorporated.
Spoon into an ungreased 10x4 inch tube pan. Rap on a hard surface a few times to release any bubbles. Bake until spongy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours.
If the pan has feet, invert it onto a flat surface. Otherwise, invert over the neck of a bottle. Let cool 2 hours. Use a thin serrated knife to cut around the edges and release the cake.
Slice the cake and serve with whipped cream and strawberries if desired.
Notes:
*Recipe borrowed from completelydelicious.com
--Make sure that your mixing bowl, beaters, spoons, pan etc. are all completely grease-free or your cake may collapse on you.
--We used a combination of store-bought and smaller farm eggs--and ended up using 14 eggs instead of 13--it is the amount of whites that counts.
--We were worried about leaving a cake perched precariously on top of a bottleneck for 2 hours in the CTK, so we simply inverted the cake pan on top of a cooling rack. The center of our pan does stick out further than the edges, so the desired effect was still achieved.
--Our cake was done in about 1 hour, so keep an eye on it or it will be too dry!