College Avenue Kroger reopens

The Kroger on South College Avenue celebrated its grand reopening Oct. 3 after a $7.6 million renovation.

The renovations began in early January and expanded the store to 52,000 square feet.

“We’ve changed everything but the pre-existing walls pretty much,” Kroger manager Todd Ladow said. “You name it, we’ve got it.”

The store added a new beverage center with a seating area, expanded and updated the produce department, implemented a full service floral department, integrated natural foods with grocery, renovated the pharmacy to include a walk-up window, upgraded the meat, seafood and bakery departments, upgraded the deli and bistro and added a new sushi island and specialty cheese island.

John Elliott, Kroger central division spokesman, said Kroger renovates its stores to keep up with the changing expectations of customers.

“An example of that, relevant to that store, would be people who are not going to restaurants as often as they used to, and to some extent, going to fast food less often, and instead, they’re buying home-cooked quality meals at supermarkets,” Elliott said.

Elliott said the renovated store has an eat-in café area where customers can buy breakfast, lunch or dinner, or take it home to their families.

“You can pick up that food at our store in the same amount of time it takes to get through a drive-thru so you don’t have to give up nutritious, healthy choices,” Elliott said.   

Elliot said the renovations should increase overall sales at the store and provide a significant number of additional full-time and part-time jobs.

Although the store has only been re-open for less than a week, Ladow said business has been phenomenal.

The store has put 40 new people on payroll and is continuing to hire, Ladow said.

Tony Pattin, a Kroger customer, said he thinks the store has improved a lot, but said it’s weird adjusting to the new layout.

“It looks a lot nicer, and it’s easier to move around and find your food,” Pattin said. “It makes you want to shop there.”

Follow reporter Alli Friedman on Twitter @afreedz.