CINCINNATI-- The Kroger Co. is developing a Kroger-branded fuel center in Texas that will not be located in one of its supermarket parking lots, a first for the grocery chain, reported The Houston Business Journal.
The gas station in northwestern Houston will not be far away from its customer base, however. A Kroger store is located less than a block away, said the report.
Rebecca King, a Kroger spokesperson, told the newspaper that a fuel center would not fit in the store's parking lot, so the company opted for a nearby property.
Kroger broke ground [image-nocss] this week on the station in the Shops at Oak Forest retail development. The unmanned station is expected to open in mid-November, the report said.
Kroger bought the fuel site from Eastbourne Oak Forest LP, owner of the Shops at Oak Forest. Eastbourne Partners Chris Hotze and Rocky Stevens are redeveloping the four-acre retail center that was originally built in the 1950s. Tony Armstrong and Josh Jacobs of Page Partners represented Eastbourne in selling the land to Kroger.
Cincinnati-based Kroger is the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, with 2,470 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two-dozen local banners, including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's. The company also operates 779 convenience stores, 375 fine jewelry stores, 909 supermarket fuel centers and 40 food processing plants in the United States.
The company's c-stores, all non-Kroger-branded, are in 16 states: Loaf 'N Jug in Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming; Turkey Hill Minit Markets in Pennsylvania; Tom Thumb Food Stores in Florida and Alabama; Kwik Shop in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska; and Quik Stop Markets in California and Nevada.
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