The Kroger Co. will offer more Americans delivery through the addition of a spoke facility in Central Ohio. The addition of a delivery spoke brings e-commerce to the Central Ohio area, including Columbus, and will extend the grocer’s reach and ability to provide services to its customers.
“We’re proud to expand the Kroger fulfillment network in our home state,” said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger’s SVP and chief supply chain officer. “The new service is an innovative addition to the expanding digital shopping experience available to Kroger customers. Our delivery business continues to accelerate with the growth of fulfillment and spoke facilities.
“This expansion will further our commitment to create career opportunities and serve shoppers fresh food fast through interconnected, automated and last-mile solutions across America.”
The 61,000-square-foot facility located on Shook Road in Lockbourne will collaborate with the fulfillment hub in Monroe, Ohio, and serve as a last-mile cross-dock location that extends the fulfillment network reach to customers up to 200 miles away. At full capacity, customers in more than 250 Central Ohio zip codes can experience Kroger Delivery. The facility will employ up to 200 employees.
“When our customers think of food, they think of Kroger,” Arreaga said. “The addition of a spoke facility in the Columbus division is one more state-of-the-art example of how Kroger is fulfilling its commitment to providing our customers anything, anywhere, anytime.”
The opening of the Columbus area fulfillment center follows another e-commerce achievement for the grocer in the area, the recent launch of the Boost by Kroger Plus membership program. For either $59 or $99 per year, Boost provides customers access to benefits like free delivery and two fuel points for every $1 spent on groceries and general merchandise purchases through delivery, pickup and in-store.
“We are proud that the nation’s largest grocery retailer is headquartered in Ohio, where Kroger continues to evolve its national growth strategy,” said J.P. Nauseef, Jobs Ohio president and CEO. “This new, cutting-edge spoke facility in the Columbus region will connect more people to fresh food, create hundreds of jobs and bolster efficiencies for Kroger customers in Ohio.”
The expansion in Central Ohio represents an extension of a partnership between Kroger and Ocado, a world leader in technology for grocery e-commerce. In 2018, the companies announced a collaboration to establish a delivery network that combines artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and automation in a bold new way, bringing first-of-its-kind technology to America.
Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said Kroger Delivery “underpins the permanent shift in grocery consumer behavior and elevates our position as one of America’s leading e-commerce companies.”
Kroger operates customer fulfillment centers in Monroe, Ohio; Groveland, Florida; Forest Park, Georgia; and Dallas, Texas, with additional customer fulfillment centers slated for California; Frederick, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; Romulus, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina as well as South Florida and the Northeast.
For more information, visit thekrogerco.com.
