How do ghosts make themselves noticed in public places? They may cause lights to flicker, or gently touch you on the arm or cause a cold spot or warm breeze to blow your way, or they may shift produce or other items as you walk by.
During a recent visit to the area’s Asian grocery super store, I noticed overhead lights blinking as I moved through the aisles of the store. It wasn’t the first time; the same thing occurred on two previous visits. Was it possible the store was haunted?
A Look Back in Time
Time for some research! My first thought was someone must have died at the store or perhaps someone was killed there.
Online research resulted in the discovery of a drive-by shooting death about three miles north of the store in 2021. (Rest in Peace Carmen Cai Yi Lee.) There were other shooting deaths in the area and OSHA reported the death of three employees in other facilities around the small suburban town, yet no deaths were reported in the store.
Perhaps this death went back further in time? In the 1940s, a black community sold its land so an auto plant could be built nearby. The price for the land seemed relatively fair – about $3500/acre. The city would not rezone the parcel unless the land purchaser could provide alternative housing for the displaced residents, which it did.
Because the presence in the store didn’t “feel” like it is in distress, I’ve decided to wait to determine if assistance is needed.
Hauntings of Retail Stores in the U.S.
Apparently, my local grocery store is not the only place in the U.S. where unusual experiences have been reported. An employee of Market Basket in Wilmington, Massachusetts said she saw an elderly woman in a white nightgown and cap standing near the register. An 8-year-old boy haunts a San Francisco Safeway, and a trio of ghosts haunt the Dimond Center mall in Anchorage, Alaska. Then there’s a story about a Walmart store in Galveston, Texas, according to Jamie Frater, head editor of listverse.com.
“Built on the former site of St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum (good lord, Walmart, have some restraint in picking cursed locations to build!), the Seawall Walmart has been plagued with hauntings from the start of construction. St. Mary’s, destroyed in the hurricane of 1900, saw the deaths of 90 children and 10 nuns, 100 dead at one blow, that’s got to be enough bad energy to curse the land it stood on for at least 200 years.”
Murder Kroger by Another Name
If you live in Atlanta, you’ve heard of Murder Kroger. Built in the 1980s on Ponce de Leon Avenue, the store was the site of multiple murders over the years including fatal shootings and the discovery of corpse. The area was recently revitalized with the development of the Beltline walking/biking trail through downtown Atlanta.
Kroger decided to close the store in 2016 and reopen in a new space along Ponce de Leon, renaming itself “Beltline Kroger” in the process. Despite its new look and the inclusion of an inhouse beer and wine bar, it looks like the old name will never truly go away.
“The building is completely demolished, but the nickname still remains. Murder Kroger… to some an elaborate joke, and to some a painful location of the past.” – Eva Erhardt