The largest supermarket chain in the country, Kroger,

The largest supermarket chain in the country, Kroger, used new urbanist designs by Gibbs Planning Group to gain city approval for its new 55,000 square foot “village model” store in Birmingham, Michigan. The city, which has adopted new urbanist codes, required the store to have entrances on the street. Kroger therefore included liner shops with entrances from both the street and the inside of the supermarket. A main parking lot in the rear of the store and a “slip” street with parking in front also made the village model more compatible with Birmingham’s traditional downtown. When the store was complete, however, Kroger locked the streetfront doors, forcing all customers to come and go through the main supermarket entrance. Kroger was able to get around the code because the city failed to specify that the streetfront doors be “operable.”