Kroger plans three new southern fulfillment centers
Kroger is continuing to build out its network of fulfillment centers with help from the Ocado Group. The retailer announced at its 2022 Business Update in Orlando, FL. the addition of three new facilities in the southern U.S., two in Texas and one in Alabama.
The facilities, located in Austin, San Antonio and Birmingham, will expand Kroger’s delivery capabilities of its own brand products. The announcement comes days after the grocery chain announced plans for a fulfillment center in the greater Cleveland area, adding to future delivery hubs in Indianapolis, North Carolina, Atlanta, and Oklahoma City.
"We're excited to continue extending the Kroger fulfillment network, with dedicated facilities of various sizes providing added scale, reliability of experience, and benefit of automation and wide customer reach, in both current operating regions as well as in new parts of the U.S.," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. "This network is enabling Kroger to create thousands of technology, operations, logistics, and customer care jobs and improve access to fresh food in cities eager for the variety and value offered by Kroger that once could only be accessed through our stores."
The 70,000-square-foot spoke facility in northeast Austin, pending finalization of lease negotiation, will collaborate with the hub in Dallas, TX, serving as a last-mile cross-dock location that efficiently expands Kroger's grocery delivery services. The 67,000-square-foot spoke facility in northeast San Antonio, pending finalization of lease negotiation, will also collaborate with the hub in Dallas, TX.
The 50,000-square-foot spoke facility, located at 30 West Oxmoor Road in Birmingham, AL, will also collaborate with the hub in Forest Park, GA (Atlanta), serving as a last-mile cross-dock location that efficiently expands Kroger's grocery delivery services.
All three facilities are expected to be operational later this year, and each is expected to create 161 job opportunities.
"I'm incredibly excited for the future of Kroger, and both thriving physical stores and digital solutions are part of it,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and CEO. “We continue to feel great about the momentum we're experiencing with Kroger Delivery and our partnership with Ocado, supporting Kroger in strategically leveraging our unique assets to expand in existing regions.”
After placing an order via Kroger.com or the Kroger app, customers in regions where a CFC is located have groceries delivered by a Kroger Delivery associate in a temperature-controlled van. Kroger Delivery is a vertically integrated network, enabling coverage of up to 90 miles from each hub location. As customers' orders near their delivery times, automated bots inside the facility retrieve products from “The Hive” which are presented at stations for items to be sorted for delivery. Once completed, orders are loaded into a temperature-controlled Kroger Delivery van, which can store up to 20 orders.