Kroger is investing $125 million to remodel, expand and build stores in Arkansas. The work is already starting, the company broke ground on a new marketplace store on Chenal Parkway. Officials with Kroger say the project will provide jobs and give customers what they've been asking for.
"In tough economic times Kroger Company is prospering," Prestidge said.
The company is doing so well it's investing $125 million right here in Arkansas to remodel and build new stores. And the company is going to a new marketplace store concept in many areas.
Work started on one planned for Chenal Parkway on Tuesday. It will be 125,000 square feet offering a larger variety of merchandise, along with home furnishings and décor, jewelry, a sushi bar, bistro and an on site chef.
"I was just out over on Highway 10 going to get gas and thought 'I wonder if they're ever going to put a gas pump over here,'" Kroger customer Lisa Blevins said.
That's in the plan as well. All of this is exciting to Lisa Blevins. She shops here at least once a week and says the new concept will work well for her schedule. "It helps me a ton working part time, got kids going in different directions, and one stop makes it so much simpler," Blevins said.
Customer convenience is exactly why Kroger is making these changes. Mark Prestidge president of Kroger’s Delta Division says customers have been asking for this so they're confident in it's success and so is the governor.
"It's on my resume I actually worked for Kroger starting the summer before my senior year in high school," Governor Mike Beebe said.
And now many others can follow in Governor Beebe's footsteps because the project will offer hundreds of new jobs. Right now Kroger has 33 stores in Arkansas with 3,800 employees. Over the next three to five years Kroger hopes to build at least three more marketplace stores in the state. The Chenal store is expected to be completed by next summer.
