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In Search Of
Kosher Lunchmeat
Commerce Township Kroger
eliminates kosher selections.
ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A
customer unhappy that he
could not find fresh kosher deli
meat at his local Kroger’s store,
a former Hiller’s Market, contacted the
Jewish News to investigate.
Hiller’s Markets, a local grocery
company most recently run by Jewish
owner Jim Hiller, enjoyed a nearly
75-year run in Metro Detroit. Kroger,
the nation’s largest grocery chain, con-
cluded its purchase of the seven-store
chain in July 2015, closing the Hiller’s
Market store near one of its own loca-
tions. The remaining six stores were
rebranded as Kroger. The original, out-
moded Hiller’s Market in Berkley wasn’t
part of the deal.
Steve Achtman, a 28-year resident
of Walled Lake, prefers shopping at
the Kroger supermarket on 14 Mile
at Haggerty in Commerce Township.
Noticing that the fresh kosher deli
meats were being eliminated, Achtman
was told the store is “redoing their dis-
play cases, and if they have room they
will put kosher deli meat back in.”
Not placated, Achtman said, “How
does a Kroger store within the Jewish
community make this change without
questions from the Jewish community?
Kroger buys out Hiller and they start
making changes?”
According to Rachel Hurst, consumer
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March 9 • 2017
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ing,” said an employee at the West
Bloomfield Kroger.
The store manager said, “We have
a free-standing case with fresh beef.
Another case contains fresh Empire-
brand chicken that is delivered two to
three times a week.”
The manager said individual Kroger
stores “don’t have a say in what we
carry, but we pride ourselves on being
receptive if there is a customer request
for an item we don’t currently carry. We
have to go through a customer request
form online. Then corporate calls us
and deals with the customer request.”
The manager, formerly employed
by Hiller’s Market, said, “I’m sure that
for some kosher items that didn’t sell,
they’ve gone by the wayside. But that
goes for any product. We are always in
flux with our display cases, changing
what we carry to improve the custom-
er’s experience.”
For now, Achtman is purchasing his
kosher meat at Johnny Pomodoro’s
Fresh Market, 32906 Middlebelt, in
Farmington Hills. Some other options
include Harvard Row Kosher Meat &
Poultry, 6221 Orchard Lake Road, West
Bloomfield; Noah’s Marketplace, 21800
W. 11 Mile, Southfield; and One Stop
Kosher Food Market, 25155 Greenfield,
Southfield. •
Arrest Made In Hillel Bomb Threat
This event is accessible to people
with disabilities.
A light meal will be provided.
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affairs manager at Kroger’s corporate
office in Novi, the change is strictly a
business decision.
Achtman’s local Kroger store is “going
through a miniature remodel to be
more consumer-friendly,” Hurst said.
Management constantly re-evaluates
the use of store counter space, attempt-
ing “to stock products consumers are
wanting to buy and make the best use
of our real estate. We have to be good
stewards of our company,” she said.
While the 14 Mile Kroger store offers
“many other kosher products, such
as fresh kosher chicken and beef, and
Hebrew National-brand hot dogs,”
Hurst said the “fresh kosher meats we
had been carrying were not selling in
the quantities we wanted. We were los-
ing more product than we were selling.”
The store’s selection of prepackaged
kosher lunch meat was also discontin-
ued for not selling up to expectations,
but should be coming back. Hurst said
merchandising staff in Novi are cur-
rently looking into vendor options.
Kosher prepackaged lunch meats
and sausages can be found by the dairy
department at the Kroger supermarket
at 4395 Orchard Lake Road at Lone
Pine in West Bloomfield.
“The only kosher deli meat we carry
is Hebrew National salami for slic-
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL),
Detroit JCRC/AJC and Jewish
Federation welcomed the arrest last
week of a St. Louis man in connection
with bomb threats against at least eight
Jewish institutions
across the U.S., includ-
ing Hillel Day School
in Farmington Hills.
Juan Thompson,
31, of St. Louis, Mo., is
alleged to have made
at least eight of the
threats against JCCs
Juan Thompson
and other Jewish insti-
was arrested
tutions in January and
Friday in St. Louis. February as part of a
sustained campaign
to harass and intimidate a former girl-
friend. Thompson has been charged
with one count of cyberstalking, and
other charges may be pending.
“We are relieved and gratified that
the FBI has made an arrest in these
cases,” said Heidi Budaj, ADL Michigan
Regional Director. “We are grateful to
law enforcement for their continuing
effort to resolve this matter. Their dili-
gent efforts to solve the remaining cases
bring us hope that there may a quick
resolution of the remaining open cases.”
These incidents have caused anxiety
and concern in the Jewish community
in recent weeks.
“We commend law enforcement for
this positive development in the pursuit
of justice in the wake of these threats,”
said Dr. Richard Krugel, president of the
Jewish Community Relations Council/
AJC. “Our community has appreciated
the many calls we have received from
community and government leaders,
and our interfaith partners, expressing
concern and support.”
The arrested individual was on the
radar of ADL’s Center on Extremism,
which had followed his past activities,
including his deceptive and at times
false reports for a news website about
Dylann Roof, who murdered nine peo-
ple in a black church in Charleston, S.C.
Most recently, Thompson allegedly
announced in November 2016 that
he was running for mayor of St. Louis
to “fight back against Trumpian fas-
cism and socio-economic terrorism.”
According to ADL research, Thompson
also claimed that he wanted to dis-
mantle the system of “racial supremacy
and greedy capitalism that is stacked
against us.” He created a Gofundme
page to raise $5,000 for his ostensible
election bid. He got $25. He has tweeted
various rants against white people, call-
ing them “trash” and saying they “have
no shame.”•