Kroger plans to include a “deli of the future” prototype in a new store set to open later this month in northern Kentucky, the grocery chain confirmed in a Monday email.
The 6,500-square-foot prepared food section will anchor a Kroger Marketplace store in Edgewood, Kentucky, that will replace an existing store and also feature a gas station, apparel department and liquor shop.
The open-kitchen deli concept, which Kroger said is “inspired by restaurants and the classic neighborhood deli,” will offer made-to-order sandwiches built around house-roasted meats and homestyle sides. It will also feature a Murray’s Cheese station and Private Selection by Snowfox sushi. In addition, the “first of its kind” deli will include counter and high-top seating and allow customers to watch employees prepare food, Kroger said.
The new Marketplace store that will house the deli will occupy a site that was formerly home to a K-Mart store and is about 10 miles from Kroger’s headquarters in Cincinnati. Kroger said it invested $25 million to develop the new location, which is set to open on Sept. 19. The store will span about 101,000 square feet, according to a report in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Cincinnati Business Courier earlier reported about Kroger’s plans to include the deli concept in the new store. The deli will be three to four times as large as a standard Kroger deli, the news outlet reported. “People are going to stop and look, because it is absolutely unlike anything we’ve done before,” Jake Cannon, president of Kroger’s Cincinnati-Dayton Division, told the Business Courier.
Other grocery chains have also been focusing on deli upgrades to help their stores stand out. Weis Markets, for example, expanded the deli and foodservice area at a store in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, as part of a remodeling effort that it completed earlier this month. Similarly, a Schnuck Markets store in Mahomet, Illinois, that is undergoing a full renovation will receive a larger deli counter with new hot cases.
