By Renee Larr
Kroger’s new $24.6 million store at 116th Street and Olio Road opened to the public Nov. 2 after a ribbon cutting ceremony. The 124,000-square-foot building replaced a smaller store in the same location.
“It’s significantly bigger than the old one. It’s bigger than two football fields in size. That allows us to have a greater variety of products in the store,” said Eric Halvorson, public affairs manager and media spokesman for Kroger.
The store boasts a larger selection of spirits, lunch and dinner items from its new bistro, a Murray’s Cheese shop and a Starbucks kiosk. The new location will offer ClickList, Kroger’s online ordering service, for the first time. It also will offer a larger variety of bulk foods.
“The store is what is called a grocer-raunt. A grocery store with a restaurant,” Halvorson said. “You can get a variety of things there if you’re not in the mood to cook. You can just go to the bistro and get dinner there.”
There also is wellness center with a clinic and pharmacy.
“The wellness area is led by a PhD holder from Purdue. People can go in and get some advice on various things,” Halvorson said. “The Little Clinic has the medical expertise for a variety of things from vaccinations to sports physicals.”
The outside design of the building was designed with area neighborhoods in mind.
“There is a trail that runs behind the building which links a couple of trails in the neighborhood so people can follow the path right behind the store and as they do they’ll find out the back of the store looks like a house,” Halvorson said. “For example, everything matches all the way around. We didn’t just put bricks up on one side and the concrete blocks in the back. It’s a complete building architecturally designed all the way around. It’s compatible with the homes and other buildings in the neighborhood.”
For more, visit kroger.com.
