Dive Brief:
- Kroger intends to construct three supermarkets and renovate 16 others in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana as part of a plan to invest $130 million in its Cincinnati/Dayton division in 2025, the grocer announced Thursday.
- The grocer also plans to use some of the capital it is injecting into the division this year to build four fuel centers and cover the cost of energy and maintenance improvements.
- Kroger is enlarging and upgrading its operations in the three states as Publix expands its budding presence in Kentucky and as Kroger deals with lawsuits stemming from its failed plan to merge with Albertsons.
Dive Insight:
Two of the new Kroger stores will be located in the cities of Edgewood and Newport, Kentucky, both of which are located just outside Cincinnati, where Kroger is headquartered. The third store the grocery company plans to add to the region is slated for Eaton, Ohio, about 25 miles west of Dayton, Ohio.
Kroger said the 50,000-square-foot store it plans for Newport will include a pharmacy, a gas station and an off-site wine and spirits store. The Edgewood and Eaton locations, meanwhile, will each include a pickup facility, expanded departments and a fuel center, according to the announcement.
The grocer said it plans to use some of the money it has allocated for capital improvements in the Cincinnati/Dayton division to upgrade 16 stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Those investments, which total $45 million, will include an expansion of the Kroger Mulberry store in Milford, Ohio, and a new fuel center at the Derr Road Kroger location in Springfield, Ohio. Kroger did not indicate which other stores it intends to renovate.
“Our investment of $130 million underscores our commitment to our associates, customers and communities while providing a best-in-class shopping experience for everyone,” Ann Reed, president of the Cincinnati/Dayton division, said in a statement.
The investments, which come as Kroger regroups following its unsuccessful bid to merge with Albertsons, add to the $84 million Kroger set aside in 2024 for capital improvements in Ohio and Indiana. Those expenditures included $45 million to upgrade 15 stores in the two states and $39 million to build a Kroger Marketplace store in Warren County, Ohio, that opened in December.
Meanwhile, Publix opened its first store in Northern Kentucky last month and has four more planned for the region.
