Kroger Central Division has finished a nearly $1.9 million remodel of the Beck Lane Pay Less Super Market in Lafayette, Indiana, marking the project with a morning ribbon cutting Aug. 6.
The work brought a new layout, new look and new equipment throughout the store, along with a counseling room for pharmacy patients. The store opened in 2003 and employs 140 associates.
“The remodeling here helps us accomplish two essential goals: to provide the quality you trust and the value you love,” said Mike Goodwin, president of Kroger Central Division. “We added features and upgrades that make the store more convenient and comfortable, and which showcase the new everyday low prices available across the store.”
Goodwin said the updates were meant to meet the expectations of today’s shoppers without losing the store’s history in the neighborhood.
Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said the investment strengthens the local economy and reinforces confidence in the city’s future. “This significant upgrade demonstrates Kroger’s continued commitment to serving our community and providing an enhanced shopping experience for its customers.”
Longest-tenured associate honored
Store leaders and Kroger executives recognized grocery clerk Doug Atkins for 34 years with the company, making him the store’s longest-tenured hourly associate. Atkins received a commemorative plaque and a Kroger gift card, and helped cut the ribbon.
Food bank donation
Goodwin, store leader Richard Pettiner and district manager Christopher Buckner presented a $27,500 check to Food Finders Food Bank of Tippecanoe County, followed by a donation of more than 100 cases of Kroger products loaded into a Food Finders vehicle for the food bank’s Fresh Market.
“Food insecurity is not a distant problem, it is present in every community in Indiana,” said Kier Crites Muller, president and CEO of the food bank. “A new study of hunger in America confirms the scale of need across the 16 counties Food Finders serves, and remember behind every number is a child, a family, a senior, a veteran, a neighbor working hard to make ends meet.”
The contribution falls under Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste plan, created in 2017. The company says it has since given more than $1 billion to hunger relief nationally, including 582 million pounds of rescued surplus fresh food, and contributed to the delivery of more than 4 billion meals.
Beck Lane is the latest in what the company is called “an ambitious year” for Kroger Central Division, whose 2026 construction and remodeling projects exceed $200 million in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio. The division, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, completed a $1.7 million remodel of the Southern Plaza store in Indianapolis on July 31; a $2.2 million project in Pekin, Illinois, in April; and opened a $40 million Marketplace in Noblesville, Indiana, in June.
Pay Less Super Markets, founded in Anderson, Indiana, in 1947, has operated as a Kroger banner since 1999 with stores in Anderson, Lafayette, West Lafayette and Muncie.