Dive Brief:
- Kroger plans to invest more than $112 million in store projects in central and northwest Ohio, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email on Wednesday.
- With the investment, the grocer plans to open two Kroger Marketplace stores in the state — one in Delaware and another in Canal Winchester — and remodel 15 locations this year.
- Kroger said the investment in its Columbus division follows the grocer’s efforts in recent years to elevate its stores across Ohio and West Virginia.
Dive Insight:
Kroger is investing around $30 million to build each of the two new stores that are part of its efforts to ramp up its presence in central and northwest Ohio.
Construction on the Delaware store started in September, and the 123,000-square-foot store is expected to open in early fall. The grocer broke ground on the Canal Winchester store on March 6 and expects to open the 118,000-square-foot store at the southeast corner of Diley Road and Greengate Boulevard in late fall. Both locations will include a fuel center.
Kroger said it will invest approximately $24 million to renovate stores in Reynoldsburg, Worthington, Gahanna, Waterville, Wheeling, Brewers Yard, Pataskala, Wheelersburg, Weirton, Toledo, Dublin, Lambertville, New Albany, Sylvania and Lancaster.
“These investments underscore Kroger’s confidence in the long-term growth of our communities and our ongoing commitment to meet customers where they live, work and shop,” Kroger Columbus Division President Jon Young said in a statement. “By bringing new Kroger Marketplace locations and enhanced shopping experiences to our cities ranging from central Ohio to Toledo, we’re focused on creating convenient, modern stores that deliver fresh, affordable groceries for local families.”
The Columbus Division runs 114 stores across Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. That division has invested more than $450 million over the last five years to improve the customer experience and increase access to fresh foods in Ohio and West Virginia, according to Kroger.
The latest investment comes as the grocer grows its number of Kroger Marketplace stores around the country. Last year, the grocer said it plans to break ground on three Kroger Marketplace stores in North Texas in 2026 and is investing about $160 million to open four other locations under that format in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The grocer also has work underway on three Kroger Marketplace stores in Indiana and one in South Charleston, West Virginia, which will be its first Kroger Marketplace store in that state.
