Market news story:
The Roanoke Times
Ripe for growth
Bonsack store will be Kroger's largest in the region
By Jenny Kincaid-Boone
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The assortment has become even more diverse in the past several years, with the advent of new names to the local supermarket spread, including The Fresh Market, Ukrop's Super Market and Save-A-Lot.
These retailers are eating up market share in the Roanoke and New River valleys.
Still, a mainstay in the national and local grocery world is holding its own and gearing up to open its largest store in the region this week.
Kroger will open its doors Thursday off U.S. 460, in the Bonsack area, as part of a retail center named Kroger Square at Bonsack.
This brick building with tan trim, spreading 84,000 square feet, will house the grocer's latest bells and whistles, from energy-saving designs to self checkout kiosks and an in-store dining area.
Kroger, however, has chosen what some may consider an inopportune time for a new mega-store.
Twenty-seven percent of consumers cut back their grocery spending in July because of high fuel prices, compared with the previous year, based on a monthly survey by BIGresearch. Last July, only 16.2 percent of consumers reported spending less on their grocery purchases, according to the same report.
People are slashing grocery budgets so they can afford to pump gasoline into their vehicles and cover the cost of other ever-rising expenses, including energy bills and food.
Kroger is viewed by some retail experts as a middle market player, falling somewhere between high-end concepts and Wal-Mart, though its prices still can't compete with the giant discounter.
Kroger officials are confident that a new Roanoke County store is worth the $20 million investment in a region where the grocer has built a long history.
Kroger planted its first Roanoke Valley location in 1929. It now has 18 stores in the Roanoke and New River valleys, trailing only Food Lion.
Kroger targets Bonsack
The Bonsack area was ripe for a larger Kroger presence, the grocer says.
It was time to replace a weathered Kroger store at a strip center on Orange Avenue in Roanoke. Building a new location about a mile away was the logical solution.
"The store we had currently was not what we wanted as a store in the future," said Penny Goddin, vice president of merchandising for Kroger's Mid-Atlantic region, based in Roanoke. "It was more economical for us to build a large facility to serve our needs."
Plus, this part of Roanoke County is growing, population-wise, she said, noting some home construction under way in the area.