Kroger is an American grocery store chain. It is the largest grocery store chain in the country. It is headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and has markets in almost all states. In this article, we will see what are the requirements to work at a distribution center of Kroger and the kinds of distribution center jobs available there.

Company History –
Kroger was founded in 1883 by Bernard Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1883, Bernard Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a grocery store in the Mount Airy neighbourhood of Cincinnati. $372 then means around $9,278 today. Kroger tried to make his own products so the customers didn’t have to go to a separate bakery.
A hundred years later, in 1983, Kroger was acquired by Dillon Companies grocery chains. David Dillon, the founder of Dillon Companies is the CEO of Kroger now. Kroger today employs more than 339,000 employees.

Jobs available at Kroger Distribution Centers –
At Kroger, you can apply for the following kinds of Distribution Center jobs.

Warehouse Order Selector – For the job of an order selector, the candidate is required to be able to manually lift products that weigh in the range of 60 to 90 lbs. The candidate must be able to work night shifts, weekends, holidays as well as overtime. For this job, you will have to pass a criminal background check and will also be drug-screened. Educational requirements are none.

Forklift Operator – Forklift operators are required to lift the correct products and load it on the appropriate trucks. Again, for this job as well, the candidate will be required to be available for overtimes and call-ins, and is required to perform all distribution tasks efficiently. The candidate must be in a good physical condition to replace damaged cases on pallets which weigh in the range of 22-55 lbs. A high school diploma or a general education degree and two to three months of prior experience is important in order to apply for this position.

There are supervising positions also available at Kroger Distribution Centers such as Warehouse Associate position but it requires 2-5 years of prior experience in supervising. The candidate is required to plan production or staffing need on daily,weekly or periodic basis as well as overseeing HR records for all associates. If you are interested in a non entry-level position and have years of experience, you can apply for supervision jobs too.
Following are the states where the distribution centers of Kroger are located  –

California
Indiana
Kansas
Ohio
Oregon
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Washington

Getting a distribution center job at Kroger –
To apply for a job at Kroger online, head over to their company website at www.kroger.com. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “careers” link. This will take you to the careers page of the site. Under the category of careers, you will see several options to choose, one of which is “Distribution Center Opportunities”. Once you click on it, a page displaying the list of all the distribution center locations will be displayed. You can click the link of the location of your choice (For example, Kroger Distribution Center, 701 Gellhorn, Houston TX 77029). Once you click on the location of your choice, you will see an acknowledgement screen. Click ‘Next’ to proceed. That will take you to the ‘Online Employment Application’ page. Click “Apply Now”. Once you click it, you will see a page with a description of the distribution center you chose. The important thing to notice there is that it says – “The application process will take up to 50 minutes depending on the position for which you are applying. Please have your employment history, educational history, a list of previous addresses as well as your social security number readily available before continuing with this application.” So have the required information ready. Once you click ‘Next’, it will ask you whether you want to create a restart code and password, which will allow you to restart the application session from the point you left off, if you choose to exit. After that step begins the procedure for filling in the details of your online application form.

Here are some additional points that will give you more information on distribution center job at Kroger –

• The base pay for a warehouse order selector is $12.50/hr.
• The base pay for a warehouse forklift operator is $14.05/hr.
• Sample interview question – “What is your biggest weakness?”
• Sample interview question – “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?”
• Sample interview question – “What are the challenges you’ve faced before and how did you overcome them?”

So there’s the summary of what you need to know in order to get a distribution center job at Kroger. The employee satisfaction is good and 68% approve of the C.E.O David B. Dillon. The pay is very good and the employee benefits include health insurance, $5,000 bonus potential, up to $5.25/hr extra with Incentive Bonus Pay, Paid Vacations, discount on Kroger brand products. For those who are seeking a distribution center job, Kroger is an excellent choice.