CINCINNATI, OH & ORLANDO, FL - New horizons are always within reach, especially if you are a big-name grocer like Kroger. The retailer is embarking on yet another expansion of its fulfillment network, announcing the addition of three new spoke facilities in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Birmingham, Alabama. The new facilities also mark a continuation of Kroger's partnership with Ocado Group.

"Kroger today looks very different than it did in 1883 when we opened our first store. But the core principles that made that store successful—service, selection, value, and our commitment to our customers—remain the bedrock of our business," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The news follows Kroger's successful entry into Florida in 2021 without physical stores. These facilities will serve as new geographies, bringing innovation and modern e-commerce to the cities and extending Kroger's reach.

"I'm incredibly excited for the future of Kroger, and both thriving physical stores and digital solutions are part of it. 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, including Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Dallas, as well as enter into new geographies like Austin, Birmingham, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Orlando, San Antonio, South Florida, and the Northeast through a flexible network of differently sized, high-tech facilities operated by friendly and knowledgeable associates," continued McMullen.

In Austin, the facility will stand at 70,000 square feet, pending finalization of lease negotiation. The facility will collaborate with the hub in Dallas, TX, serving as a last-mile cross-dock location. The 67,000-square-foot spoke facility in San Antonio is also pending finalization of lease negotiation, and will collaborate with the hub in Dallas, TX, as well.

In Alabama, Kroger will open a 50,000-square-foot facility that will collaborate with the hub in Forest Park, Georgia. All of the facilities are expected to become operational later this year and will create up to 161 job opportunities each.

"Kroger's digital investments are focused on driving expanded capacity, improving the customer experience, and developing new, innovative propositions via our strategic partnerships, including our Kroger Delivery fulfillment network powered by Ocado technologies," said Yael Cosset, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer. "Kroger's growing seamless ecosystem continues to scale and allow us to reach customers who are not in the proximity of a store with delivery services, and we're committed to doubling both our digital sales and profitability pass-through rate by the end of 2023 and our continued network expansion will help us reach this target."

Gabriel Arreaga, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, also commented.

"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 Arreaga. "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."

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