By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Store manager Keith Eve in the Kroger store located a few blocks from Clovernook Center for the Blind. The aisle signs were lowered and and the white-on-black lettering make them easier to read. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

NORTH COLLEGE HILL - The uniqueness of the Kroger store here doesn't stand out to the naked eye. But for customers who are blind or visually impaired, the store's layout and special design features could be perceived as a giant welcome mat.

Textured sidewalks near three entrances let the visually impaired know that they're crossing high-traffic areas as they approach the store, about 10 miles north of downtown Cincinnati at 7132 Hamilton Ave.

And there are no vending machines, benches or newspaper stands near the entrances, where they could become obstructions.

Once inside the store, which opened in June, visually impaired customers can request assistance from store employees who have been trained in the "Human Guide Technique" to help them find their way around the store and even load groceries.

Weekly sales fliers available at the customer service desk have been printed in Braille at Clovernook Center for the Blind, located just a few blocks south of the grocery store. Many of the store's disabled customers have connections to Clovernook.

"These are things that anyone with sight probably wouldn't notice," said Gary Rhodes, a Kroger spokesman. "But for someone who is blind, it makes a big difference."

The accommodations and services that Kroger incorporated into the store have been recognized with a national award from the American Foundation for the Blind and a local award from the Inclusion Network - a Greater Cincinnati nonprofit organization that promotes inclusion of people with disabilities.

The Inclusion Network has named Kroger the winner of its 2003 Community Inclusion Award, to be given at the group's annual awards dinner Jan. 30 at Paul Brown Stadium.

The American Foundation for the Blind will present Kroger with its annual Access Award on Feb. 20 at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles.

Both awards recognize Kroger's efforts to help knock down some of the barriers that make life difficult for the blind.

"The American Foundation For the Blind values the thinking and consideration of the supermarket chain that wanted to make sure that people with visual impairments and other disabilities have an easier time shopping at their store," said Tony Candela, a spokesman for the foundation for the blind, which sent visually impaired "mystery shoppers" to the store to evaluate it.

"The artistry of what they did is in the subtlety of what they did," he said.

Mr. Candela said that while the North College Hill Kroger is more user-friendly for blind people than most, it doesn't draw attention to their disability.

That was the goal when Kroger began laying out plans for the store about a year ago, with advice from Clovernook officials.

"The accommodations and services that Kroger incorporated into this new store have truly made shopping more accessible to people with vision problems," said Cynthia Jackson-Glenn, Clovernook orientation and mobility specialist.

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com