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| Typical Kroger Marketplace exterior, courtesy oakridgetoday.com |
Now note that the title to this post refers to the Mid-South in general instead of a specific Kroger Marketplace location because the Marketplace concept is infiltrating the region as a whole. While Jonesboro, AR, got a Kroger Marketplace back in 2014, the rest of the area has been without one... and now it's getting not one, or two, but three!
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| Hernando Kroger Marketplace progress - taken February 18, 2016 |
You may recall my breaking news report that Hernando, MS, is getting a Kroger Marketplace, the first of its kind within the Memphis metro area and the entire state of Mississippi. I've been keeping track of that construction project, as has l_dawg2000 - you can view our albums here and here, respectively. Above is a recent look at the store. You can see it's taking shape to look like what has more or less been the cookie-cutter Kroger Marketplace design, posted at the top of this post, which has been around for about a decade.
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| Courtesy townofarlington.org |
Well, it won't be around for much longer, if Arlington, TN, has anything to say about it! They also were announced last year to be getting a Kroger Marketplace, construction on which will begin soon. The above rendering of the store shows a completely new, modern design, which will be complemented by a fuel station and online pick-up area.
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| Courtesy townofarlington.org |
That store rendering and this site plan were released to the public following a presentation to the mayor and board of alderman of Arlington. You can check out other developments in the town on their city webpage. On Twitter, the Mayor said the new store will be the largest in the region (although at 123,000 square feet, it should equal the size of the Hernando Kroger Marketplace).
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| Courtesy Construction Solutions |
The current Arlington Kroger (pictured above - I found a cool website for a firm that was involved with building several Kroger stores in the Mid-South, and this link will take you directly to it for additional pics!) is across town from where the new store is to be built, whereas Hernando's Marketplace shares the same lot with the existing store. As a town, Arlington pretty much mimics Hernando: small yet apparently a great host site for a gargantuan Kroger Marketplace store (!).
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| Screengrab courtesy oxfordms.net |
Perhaps a more logical host site for a Marketplace is college town Oxford, MS, home to the University of Mississippi. No word on what design this particular store will take, but what is certain is that unlike the Hernando and Arlington stores, this Marketplace will be an expansion of the existing Kroger location. As you can see from the site plan above (from 1999, and even then labeled "pre-expansion"!), the existing 58,666 square foot store is flanked on the right by a string of shops. While I can't find any information definitively saying anything, my guess is that those shops will be kicked out to make room for the Kroger expansion. Construction work is reportedly set to start in early 2016, which could mean any day now.
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| Courtesy Linkous Construction on Twitter |
Last but not least, an update from a non-Marketplace but still unique Kroger: the new store being built to replace the ancient former Seessel's structure on Union Avenue in Midtown Memphis. That store closed at the start of this year, and its replacement is expected to be completed this fall. The above and below photos were pulled from Linkous Construction's Twitter page: if you're interested, I'd suggest checking that out for future updates. There's more fun stuff to be found there as well, such as this time-lapse video of the Conn's construction in Southaven, MS.
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| Courtesy Linkous Construction on Twitter |
With that, I leave you for the evening. As much as I enjoy writing for the blog, I hope this is the last time you'll hear from me until I do my next post in March, haha! Until then, you know the drill... have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are ;)
Retail Retell
