WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Residents here soon will have their own Kroger Marketplace to meet their grocery needs.
The township, which is home to more than 61,000 residents, currently has two Kroger locations. The nearest Kroger Marketplace is on Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Liberty Township.
"Grocery stores in general are critical assets to a growing residential community," said Aaron Wiegand, community development director for West Chester Township.
The new Kroger Marketplace is expected to be built at the corner of State Route 747 and Tylersville Road. Once complete, it will replace a Kroger supermarket at the intersection of Smith Road and State Route 747.
"We are constantly evaluating our stores and listening to our customers," wrote Patty Leesemann, public affairs manager for Kroger's Cincinnati/Dayton division, in an email. "In our research and due diligence in analyzing this market, we found that customers wanted more products, features and amenities that the current store could not accommodate."
The company will also continue to operate a Kroger supermarket at the intersection of Tylersville and Cox roads.
The Kroger Co. corporate headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers.
The Kroger Co. got its start in 1883, when Barney Kroger opened his first grocery store in downtown Cincinnati.
The company now operates 2,796 grocery retail stores in 35 states under 18 banners including Kroger, Ralphs, Fry's, Smith's and Baker's. The company has four different types of grocery retail stores -- supermarkets, multi-department stores, price-impact warehouse stores and marketplace stores.
The chain's marketplace locations are multi-department stores generally between 100,000 and 130,000 square feet offering full-service grocery, pharmacy and expanded general merchandise. Expanded general merchandise offerings include outdoor-living products, electronics, home goods and toys.
Marketplace stores made up 153 of the company's grocery retail stores as of 2016.
The new West Chester store is expected to offer expanded fresh food departments, clothing, a fuel center, pharmacy drive-thru, Little Clinic and an in-store bank.
ClickList also will be available at the store. ClickList lets customers bypass the shopping experience by placing grocery orders online and allowing Kroger employees to gather the items for them.
West Chester Township officials granted the company a building permit Feb. 15 for the new Kroger Marketplace. Kroger has all approvals needed from the township to begin construction. The company is currently working with Butler County officials to secure approval at the county level.
Construction is expected to begin on the new store in mid-summer. Company representatives do not yet have an anticipated timeline for the store's completion.
