We recently featured our friends at Kroger Co., but also want to make you aware of the company's latest milestone as it celebrated its 130th birthday yesterday. A release has more:

The Kroger Co. celebrates the 130th anniversary of the company’s founding today. On July 1, 1883, a young, hard-working German immigrant named Bernard “Barney” Kroger opened his first store in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In this 130th year, Kroger is poised to pass $100 billion in annual sales, provides employment to more than 343,000 associates, is one of the largest retail companies in the world, announced an industry-leading 37 consecutive fiscal quarters of positive identical sales growth and has been named the most generous company in America.

The heritage of exceptional customer service, passionate community service and entrepreneurial innovation established by Barney Kroger continues today. Highlights include:

• A new strategy beginning in 2013 that will: strongly invest in existing stores, introduce a variety of new store formats, expand market share in existing markets and take Kroger into new markets across the United States.
• More than $250 million in community support in 2012, including more than 200 million meals to regional food banks