October 18, 2006

Madison Kroger plans expansion

By ANDREW UJIFUSA
Assistant Managing Editor

MADISON - A $10 million expansion of the Kroger here will increase the size of the existing store by over 32,000 square feet and will create more room for everything from cheese and baby goods to office supplies and seafood.

The expansion will also relocate two businesses that rent portions of Kroger's current property, Mazzio's Italian Eatery and Terra Nova Wines & Spirits, to a new 6,000 square foot building adjacent to the Kroger.

Also included is a filling station owned and operated by Kroger, at the corner of U.S. 51 and Hoy Road.

Both of these new facilities are scheduled to be opened sometime in 2007, while the addition to the supermarket should be finished in 2008.

Nick Hodge, the Kroger marketing area real estate manager who presented the concept drawings to the city of Madison's Planning and Zoning Commission this week, said that the plan represents his company's best efforts to create a shopping experience that provides more than what people are used to.

"This is as upscale a store as we know how to build," said Hodge, who said that the corporate Kroger office had been working on plans to upgrade the Madison Kroger for roughly the past year. "It's perfect for [Madison's] type of growth."

Alan Hoops, Director of Community Development for Madison, said that the expansion plan was good news for the city. He said that the city had been talking about the plans with Kroger for the previous eight months.

"It's needed," he stated directly. "There's no other place to shop for groceries on this side of town."

The next step for the expansion process is for Kroger to develop a detailed site plan for the revamped store and new structures, instead of the simpler drawings that were presented to the commission on Monday. Architectural drawings for the expansion must also show that the appearance is consistent with Madison's guidelines.

Hodge said that the decision to increase the size of the Kroger by approximately 60 percent (the current Kroger store is 54,100 square feet) was the result of input over several months from local and national sources. Kroger customers and corporate experts at the company were the two forces that drove the expansion and what the additional space will contain.

He said that consumers who responded to surveys said that they were looking for more selection and quantity in a wide variety of shopping areas, including perishable food items, health and beauty projects, and furniture. Larger amenities will also be part of the new plan.

When the expansion is finished, there will literally be thousands of additional individual items in the Madison Kroger than could previously be stored, Hodge pointed out.

"Customers are telling us that they want this," said Hodge.

Kroger facilities similar in design to the Madison expansion scheme are being built in Collierville, Tenn., and directly north of Germantown, Tenn.

The new facility that will house Mazzio's and Terra Nova is directly north of the current Kroger, and will face Hoy Road. An existing ingress and egress will be modified on the southern side of Hoy Road that will feed into this facility and the existing Kroger. A new ingress and egress will also be built onto the backside of the property onto Old Canton Road, and this will allow trucks to move more easily behind the Kroger and make deliveries, in addition to providing a new route for shoppers.

The two stores, which currently lease space from Kroger, have yet to be contacted by Kroger, said Hodge. But he added that the stores had been excellent tenants, and Kroger hopes that they will cooperate.

"They've been there for a long time, and they've been great for our customers," said Hodge.

The new filling station, which will be built on property leased by Kroger from a private citizen, was what originally spurred the idea of the expansion in the first place, said Hodge. It will in the northwest corner of the current Kroger parking lot.

Because the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) has exercised its right-of-way option on land which could otherwise be used for new parking spaces in the expansion plan, the Planning and Zoning Commission said that Kroger will be allowed to work out a variance or shared parking plan in order for the site plan to move forward.

Under the current concept drawings, the expansion would leave Kroger with 10 percent fewer parking spaces than required under city ordinances.

Despite these new plans for its store on the east side of Madison, Hodge noted that the priority for Kroger in Madison remains the opening of its new supermarket at Colony Crossing. Groundbreaking for this facility is supposed to take place in December of this year