The storefront of the Kroger Marketplace, which is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The new store is expected to open June 29.
The Kroger Marketplace is expected to open June 29.
The new, larger Kroger store is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. Among other things, it will include a pharmacy, Little Clinic, Starbucks Coffee, Fred Meyer Jewelry, Sun Trust Bank, and fuel center.
The older, smaller Kroger store a few miles away on South Illinois Avenue will shut down after the Kroger Marketplace opens. The new 123,000-square-foot store is in a $33 million shopping center that is still under construction. The 25-acre site has been named the Westcott Center in honor of Ed Westcott, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II.
The Westcott Center will include a Kroger Fuel Center. Construction crews work on the parking lot on Saturday.
It will be Kroger’s fifth store in Oak Ridge, and it could add more than 165 jobs, providing a “tipping point” for economic development, officials said during a groundbreaking ceremony in August. Kroger said then that employment at the store could grow from 135 associates to 300.
The new store is expected to also include a bistro, fresh sushi, home center, baby section, an expanded natural and organic section, and apparel and shoes.
It’s the largest in a series of retail construction projects recently under way, including on Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. It could be joined later by the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.
Construction crews at work at the Kroger Fuel Center on Saturday.
Officials and executives characterized the Kroger development as the product of persistence, hard work, and many hours of overtime. It included the acquisition of 57 properties, including dozens of homes in small neighborhoods on the former Robin Lane and Iris Circle, and the purchase of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which has been used for many community events. Some of the homes were demolished, and others were moved. The UU church is building a new home near the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, which houses the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. The current church has not been torn down yet.
The Westcott Center could include some small shop space as well, and the site will allow four to five outparcels with unidentified tenants.
Meanwhile, Food Lion announced this week that it could close its store in Oak Ridge by June 20 because the company decided not to renew its lease at its Emory Valley Road location.
Angi Agle says
W00T! Looking forward to the new Kroger — cuts my time to the grocery store in half. And, it will provide the kind of amenities that we’ve envied for several years..
Philip W Nipper says
Jeff, I remember what I think was the original Oak Ridge Kroger’s, the one before where Staples is now. The original location was in the Downtown shopping center proper in what I think was the north west corner right next to Williams Drug store. When they left, businesses like Clarke-Jones Music, Economy Auto, etc moved in. It must have been circa 1961 or ’62. I was very young but those are my memories.
Ray Evans says
That is my recollection as well. That store was about 8000 SF. Each time they have moved they have doubled their size. This will be the first time that Kroger has owned its own building.
The A&P was on the opposite end just above the Downtown Hardware.
Jeff Ryman says
Thanks to Philip, Ray, and John for answering my question. I came to Oak Ridge in December 1978 and stayed until December 2000 but have been back a couple of times since then. Kroger had obviously moved to what is now Staples by the time I arrived. I almost said I remembered the A&P, but Sears was above Downtown Hardware when we moved there.
Ray Evans says
A&P had moved to the then new building next to Taco Bell across from Regions Bank by then. That building is now owned by UT.
johnhuotari says
Here’s an excerpt from the story I did after the August groundbreaking:
The previous Kroger stores were built in 1954 on the current Oak Ridge Mall site; in 1963, where Staples is now; in 1980, where the Oak Ridge Bowling Center is; and in 1993 at the current location on South Illinois Avenue. The stores were increasingly sophisticated, adding meat, deli, and bakery sections, and then registers with scanners. The current store set a sales record for a grand opening week when it opened.
The August story is here: http://bjq.6af.mytemp.website/2013/08/22/kroger-marketplace-will-be-fifth-oak-ridge-store-could-add-165-jobs/