Kroger

[Midtowner]

The refrigerated delivery trucks, although a great idea, will cause the customer's bill to be inflated. Most everybody is price sensitive due to inflation. I would hope that an option for an on-site pick-up / drive-thru could be explored.

Kroger has a partnership with a company called Nuro. They're developing autonomous delivery trucks which are already being tested in Scottsdale.

https://www.krogerstories.com/nuro/

This might be a ways off for the OKC market, but I'm guessing this is the direction they're going.

[LocoAko]

In Florida where Kroger just started a delivery-only service that will be very similar to what we will see in the OKC area, they charge $6.95 per delivery or you can pay a $79 annual charge for unlimited delivery.

This isn't much different than Amazon Prime and there is a big difference: Kroger deliveries are by an employee who interacts with customers and can answer questions and fix problems on the spot, like unsatisfactory produce.

Interesting. We've been doing free curbside pickup at Whole Foods through Amazon Prime and have loved it, but Whole Foods is a bit expensive especially for certain things. However, the convenience of a straight-to-trunk pickup has more than justified the slighter higher prices for us (And being able to take my time and comparison shop online, see $/oz, etc). We'll probably still use Prime for other things like free Amazon shipping, but depending on the price of the groceries $79 annually for unlimited delivery may not be bad at all...

[TheTravellers]

Kroger has a partnership with a company called Nuro. They're developing autonomous delivery trucks which are already being tested in Scottsdale.

https://www.krogerstories.com/nuro/

This might be a ways off for the OKC market, but I'm guessing this is the direction they're going.

OKC would have to restripe hundreds of miles of streets for autonomous vehicles to work, wouldn't they?

[Midtowner]

OKC would have to restripe hundreds of miles of streets for autonomous vehicles to work, wouldn't they?

I've seen testing of Tesla's self-driving feature on a busy NYC street with the sort of striping you'd expect on a busy Brooklyn street. I'm no expert on the subject, and all of the articles I've found discussing how important striping was were written by striping companies and were at least three years old. I'm guessing it's not as big a deal as you'd think.

[TheTravellers]

I've seen testing of Tesla's self-driving feature on a busy NYC street with the sort of striping you'd expect on a busy Brooklyn street. I'm no expert on the subject, and all of the articles I've found discussing how important striping was were written by striping companies and were at least three years old. I'm guessing it's not as big a deal as you'd think.

Hmm, thx, guess I'll have to read up on it, always thought that was one of the main ways they guided themselves (along with GPS, radar, and video cameras), but maybe I'm not as up-to-date as I should be on them.

[Plutonic Panda]

https://okcfox.com/news/local/kroger...lment-delivery

[Pete]

Press release:

************

Kroger Fulfillment Network Expands to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (February 17, 2022) – The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), America's largest grocery retailer, today announced it will offer more Americans delivery through the addition of a spoke facility in Oklahoma City powered by the Ocado Group (LSE: OCDO). As a continuation of Kroger’s successful entry into Florida in 2021, Oklahoma will serve as another new geography for the company, bringing innovation and modern e-commerce to the area, extending the grocer's reach and ability to provide its customers anything, anytime, anywhere.

“We’re excited to extend the Kroger fulfillment network to Oklahoma City, a new geography for our operation and an integral part of our strategy to achieve the doubling of our digital sales and profitability rate by the end of 2023,” said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. “This grocery delivery service is an innovative addition to the expanding digital shopping experience available to our customers. The spoke facility will provide unmatched, impeccable customer service and improve direct access to fresh food in areas eager for the variety and value offered by Kroger.”

"We are excited to welcome the country's largest supermarket to Oklahoma that will further showcase our state's impressive distribution infrastructure," said Governor Kevin Stitt. "Kroger's new e-commerce model is innovative, creates new fresh grocery opportunities for the Greater Oklahoma City region and paves the way for improving health and quality of life for Oklahomans."

The 50,000-square-foot spoke facility located on 8801 North I-35 Service Rd. in Oklahoma City will collaborate with the hub in Dallas, Texas, serving as a last-mile cross-dock location that efficiently expands Kroger’s grocery delivery services and extends its reach to customers up to 200 miles from the hub. The facility is expected to become operational later this year and will employ up to 191 full-time associates.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kroger to the Oklahoma City market,” said Mayor of Oklahoma City David Holt. “This is a true win-win that will provide more grocery options for our citizens and good jobs for our community. We look forward to working with Kroger to ensure their success in Oklahoma City.”

Kroger Delivery Explained
The expansion in Oklahoma City represents an extension of a partnership between Kroger and Ocado, a world leader in technology for grocery e-commerce. In 2018, the companies announced a collaboration to establish a delivery network that combines artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, and automation in a bold new way, bringing first-of-its-kind technology to America. Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said Kroger Delivery “underpins the permanent shift in grocery consumer behavior and elevates our position as one of America’s leading e-commerce companies.” Through the delivery network, the company now serves customers in Florida, as an example, without traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

“We continue to be pleased with the rollout of our customer fulfillment centers in Groveland, FL and Monroe, OH, which are both exceeding internal expectations, and our most recent facility opening in Forest Park, GA,” continued Arreaga. “We’ve experienced incredible Net Promoter Scores™, and our customers tell us they love our friendly, professionally trained drivers and their refrigerated delivery vans that bring the freshest food directly to their doorsteps. We’re eager to continue expanding our fulfillment network and entering into both existing and new geographies through hub and spoke facilities.”

The delivery network relies on highly automated fulfillment centers. At the hub sites, more than 1,000 bots whizz around giant 3D grids, orchestrated by proprietary air-traffic control systems in the unlicensed spectrum. The grid, known as The Hive, contains totes with products and ready-to-deliver customer orders.
As customers' orders near their delivery times, the bots retrieve products from The Hive and are presented at pick stations for items to be sorted for delivery, a process governed by algorithms that ensures items are intelligently packed. For example, fragile items are placed on top, bags are evenly weighted, and each order is optimized to fit into the lowest number of bags, reducing plastic use.
After being packed, groceries are loaded into a temperature-controlled delivery van, which can store up to 20 orders. Powerful machine learning algorithms optimize delivery routes, considering factors such as road conditions and optimal fuel efficiency. Vans may travel up to 90 miles with orders from the hub and spoke facilities respectively to make deliveries. Associates at the spoke facility will deliver orders within their service area, adding ZIP codes as demand grows.
Kroger unveiled its Monroe, Ohio customer fulfillment center in April 2021, its first, followed by centers in Groveland, FL and Forest Park, GA (Atlanta). The Dallas fulfillment center is slated to open this spring with additional customer fulfillment centers slated for California, Frederick, MD, Phoenix, AZ, Pleasant Prairie, WI, Romulus, MI (Detroit), as well as South Florida and the Northeast and West.


About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

About Ocado Group
Ocado Group is a UK based technology company admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: OCDO). It provides end-to-end online grocery fulfilment solutions to some of the world's largest grocery retailers and holds a 50% share of Ocado Retail Ltd in the UK in a Joint Venture with Marks & Spencer. Ocado has spent two decades innovating for grocery online, investing in a wide technology estate that includes robotics, AI & machine learning, simulation, forecasting, and edge intelligence.

[Ward]

I've been in some Krogers as well as several Ralphs. I have a Ralphs customer mini card on my keychain right now. They were ok, I like Ralphs.

I was in Sahuarita Arizona recently and went into a Fry's for groceries. Loved It!!!!! Fry's is awesome. Fry's is a division of Krogers.

[mugofbeer]

I use Kroger's King Supers stores in Denver and am very pleased with them for the most part. I know it's not their fault but my particular store is getting low on some food items, especially the ones on sale or coupon, so it's hard to actually use the coupons at times.

[Bowser214]

Anyone know what else is going out there? I drove by the other day and so much more land cultivation still on going.

[BoulderSooner]

Anyone know what else is going out there? I drove by the other day and so much more land cultivation still on going.

more spec industrial

[Bowser214]

Saw this today over by Classen curve.

[Pete]

They still have not started to finish out the inside of the warehouse space they have leased on I-35.

I'm sure they are busy trying to get off the ground in a host of markets with this relatively new delivery model.

[GaryOKC6]

Talked to them this week. They are planning to open on May 18th.

[Pete]

Talked to them this week. They are planning to open on May 18th.

I'll have to go by there again.

I was out there a few weeks ago and they hadn't even started work and I haven't seen any permits apart from the shell.

[Pete]

I looked inside their warehouse and there is nothing except some shell office space.

But in the back, they've already started to assemble their delivery fleet.

[progressiveboy]

Since I no longer live in OKC, is their a market for another major grocer having "brick and mortar" stores in OKC? Anyone care to give an opinion? Obviously, Kroger is testing the OKC market. It looks like a wait and see in how the market will respond.

[Pete]

Since I no longer live in OKC, is their a market for another major grocer having "brick and mortar" stores in OKC? Anyone care to give an opinion? Obviously, Kroger is testing the OKC market. It looks like a wait and see in how the market will respond.

They are rolling out delivery-only service all over the U.S. and in many markets where they do not have physical stores.

They have constructed huge warehouses just for delivery, then spoke locations like the one in OKC.

Kroger has said this is their long-term growth strategy vs. a bunch of new brick-and-mortar stores.


The middle-tier grocery stores are getting squeezed hard by the deep discounters (Walmart, Costco, Winco) and specialty retailers (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts). The strong trend has been away from places like Kroger and Homeland.

[therhett17]

I couldn't get a pic because I was driving, but saw this morning that they have their sign up on the building now

[Pete]

I couldn't get a pic because I was driving, but saw this morning that they have their sign up on the building now

Yes, a small one.

I suppose they don't want people to think they can actually shop at that warehouse.

[brianinok]

Gosh I wish we could get a decent grocery. Uptown was almost that. But it's gone downhill since the sale. We just don't have a mid-to-high tier full service grocery in OKC. We have a bunch of discounters. And a few specialties. You can't go anywhere nice and get everything you need.

[Bowser214]

I think the newer Homeland and Crest come close. But still not Kroger, Publix or HEB.

[Plutonic Panda]

Gosh I wish we could get a decent grocery. Uptown was almost that. But it's gone downhill since the sale. We just don't have a mid-to-high tier full service grocery in OKC. We have a bunch of discounters. And a few specialties. You can't go anywhere nice and get everything you need.

I agree. I really wish Kroger, Central Market, or HEB would expand here with brick and mortar stores.

[soonerguru]

Gosh I wish we could get a decent grocery. Uptown was almost that. But it's gone downhill since the sale. We just don't have a mid-to-high tier full service grocery in OKC. We have a bunch of discounters. And a few specialties. You can't go anywhere nice and get everything you need.

Correct. And it seems unique to this state. Just about every other state has better grocers. I don't know whom to blame but I will point to Wal-Mart and Homeland. Homeland could be our Tom Thumb, or HEB, or Kroger, but it's Homeland. Pretty disappointing overall.

[scottk]

Homeland is trying, at least in OKC. The new store on the NE side, another new store going in on the NW side. The new logo and refresh of other metro stores and increasing unique offerings. The perception that they are "just more expensive" has really hurt them against the perceived value and different type of store that Winco, Crest, and Walmart are, Homeland is in the middle tier grocer that is squeezed the hardest between the higher end stores (Whole Foods) and the value stores mentioned previously.

I think in the smaller markets that Homeland serves, the stores will probably remain the same. There isn't much competition and no reason to really invest a lot in the store when the percentage of shoppers statistically isn't going to increase. In most cases they are the only game left in town other than a WalMart SuperCenter on the edge of city limits.