Dive Brief:
- Kroger plans to invest about $160 million to open four new stores under its Kroger Marketplace banner in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email on Wednesday.
- The first of the new locations is scheduled to debut in the Bonds Ranch section of Fort Worth this fall, with stores in the cities of Little Elm and Anna and in Sendera Ranch, a residential community in the Fort Worth area, to follow.
- The stores will bolster Kroger’s presence in a fast-growing part of the U.S. where it faces tough competition from other grocery chains.
Dive Insight:
Kroger is investing around $40 million to build each of the four new stores, which will each span approximately 123,000 square feet and generate between 250 and 300 local jobs, according to the grocer.
The company said it has broken ground on the Little Elm and Sendera Ranch stores and plans to begin preparatory work on the site in Anna later in September.
The grocery stores will each feature a fuel center, a Murray’s Cheese counter, a pharmacy and an expansive selection of general merchandise in addition to fresh departments such as produce, floral, meat and seafood.
Kroger also noted that it directs “millions of dollars” annually to update around a dozen existing stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
The Dallas Business Journal earlier reported that Kroger plans to open the new Marketplace locations.
Kroger’s announcement that it is adding to its fleet in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex comes as rival grocery chain H-E-B expands rapidly in the metropolitan area. Last month, H-E-B opened a new store in Prosper, Texas, its ninth namesake location in the region. The Texas chain is also considering opening its first store under its flagship banner in Dallas on property it recently acquired in the city.
In April, Kroger announced that it is building three supermarkets and renovating 16 other stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Kroger is focusing on adding and upgrading stores even as it implements austerity measures in the wake of its failed effort to merge with Albertsons. Steps Kroger is taking include closing 60 underperforming stores in various parts of the U.S., laying off about 1,000 corporate employees and cutting positions at its 84.51° retail analytics subsidiary.
In August, Kroger combined its Dallas and Houston divisions, creating a unit with more than 210 stores in Texas and Louisiana. Rudy DiPietro, a former Ahold Delhaize USA executive who joined Kroger in March, heads the division.
