Kroger Breaks Ground on Largest Midwest Store to Date

The Kroger Co. is expanding its presence in Central Ohio for the first time since 2009 with the addition of a Kroger Marketplace location in the Columbus suburb of Plain City. Kroger officially broke ground on the 123,000 square-foot store on Nov. 9, with the location expected to open by the end of 2024.

The state-of-the-art Marketplace location, which is being billed as the grocer’s largest Midwest store to date, will include enhanced produce, deli, bakery, meat and seafood departments, as well as a sushi counter and a Murray’s cheese shop. There will also be an expanded apparel section, fuel center and more.

Kroger’s latest Central Ohio location will anchor Plain City’s sprawling Jerome Village Market, which will also be home to a 20,000 square-foot multi-tenant retail center with a variety of dining, retail and neighborhood shops. As part of the groundbreaking, Kroger’s Columbus Division showed its support for the local community by making a $100,000 donation to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.

Meanwhile, Kroger Chief People Officer and SVP Tim Massa had a candid conversation with Progressive Grocer Editor-in-Chief Gina Acosta at the publication’s Grocery Impact event last week, where Massa talked about building the workforce of the future and championing associates to shape company culture.

"No one has a playbook for what the future of work will be; however, Kroger's goal remains to center our associates in everything we do, making sure the decisions we make are data-driven and support associates long-term career growth," said Massa. 

The national retailer is uniquely positioned to serve, empower and develop associates to unlock their full potential and drive organizational success. 

"Kroger has a longstanding culture of opportunity. At its core, we work to advance an inclusive culture where associates feel valued and can be their authentic selves," commented Massa.

Serving more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, Cincinnati-based Kroger is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also included Kroger on its Retailers of the Century list.