FLORIDA - Could Kroger be planning a “Florida invasion?” Industry insiders have been wondering just that ever since CFO Michael Schlotman's admission that Kroger would soon be entering a “new market.” 

“We’re going into a new market,” Schlotman explained in October. “We have a really good feel of exactly where that’s going to be. But we want to make sure the time’s right for the organization, because we have 2,650 stores that we don’t want to get distracted from every day just to say we’ve gone into a new market organically.”

Currently, Kroger only operates a single store in the Florida region - a Harris Teeter Supermarket in Fernandina Beach. Gimme Credit Director of Research Carol Levenson, however, believes that "all signs point to management's willingness to make a major acquisition." Others have wondered if talks are in the works with Bi-Lo Holdings to acquire some of the locations the retailer operates in the Sunshine State. 

It was these types of comments that led ABC's Cincinnati affiliate, WCPO-9, to declare that Kroger could be “plotting a Florida invasion.” 

According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, Kroger is also looking to expand its operations in Chicago, the Northeast, the upper Midwest and Oklahoma. With Florida emerging as the 3rd most populous state in the United States, its market cannot afford to be ignored by any retailer with growth aspirations.

Whether Kroger will be able to successfully carve out a space for itself in a state mostly dominated by Publix and Wal-Mart is of course another question. Regardless of what happens, this is sure to be a key topic of discussion for retail executives for months to come.

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