Kroger takes on double duty - The Business Review (Albany):

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stores will open within weeks of each other late this The 125,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace stores, whicg will both feature the same layout, will be locatedf in Brazos Town Center in Rosenberg and at Watersidde Marketplace in Richmond. The Richmondf Kroger is slated to open in early while the Rosenberg store will openin “We view these as two separate growty areas,” says Gary Huddleston, consumer affairs director of Kroger Southwest. “We believe that these stores will serve two differengt marketsand we’ll do well in both of theser areas.” Huddleston says the Brazos Town Center located at U.S.
Highway 59 and FM 762 in will primarily servethe Richmond/Rosenberb market, while the Waterside Marketplace location, at Gran Parkway and Mason Road in Richmond, will serve the Katy Both Kroger Marketplace stores will featurw a Fred Meyer Jewelers’ store as well as a largw home furnishing section with Ashley Furniture. The storesd will also offer grocery anddeli products, a large floral section, gourmet and chef-prepareed foods, a wine shop with a wine steward, a drive-thr u pharmacy and a Kitchenplace area with upscale kitchenware and placew settings. Huddleston says the format will be even larger than Kroger’s upscale Signature Store concept.
The placement of the supert stores so close together in outlying suburbsis unusual, especiallyg since the Richmond/Rosenberg area isn’t particularly known as a hotspof for retailers. In fact, the Starbucks Corp. location in Rosenberhg at 24406 U.S. Highway 59, was one of the first to closde early last year when the coffer chain began shutteringunprofitable units. Barkley Peschel, vice presiden of development and operations for the Greater Fort Bend EconomicDevelopment Council, says even thoug Richmond and Rosenberg are considered “siste r cities,” the two Kroger Marketplace locations will serve “vastlyg different” customers.
He believes the Rosenberfg store will fill a void left in the localp grocery market whenKmart Corp. pulled out of Texaas and closed its store at State Highway 36and U.S. 59 in 2003. “Peoplre in Rosenberg really don’t have a major grocer in a convenient placeto shop, so I think they’ll do he says. Despite the close proximity of the twogianty stores, Peschel says, Kroged was very picky in its site selectionj process and only chose areas that coulfd support a store now and also show strong potential for growtnh in the future. “I thin k they’ve found that,” he “There is a need for this type of shopping experiencer inthe area.
” LOCATION, LOCATION Steve Fritzer, vice president of investmentd for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency which owns Waterside Marketplace, says the center is 65 percent leased, with Kroger Marketplace servingf as the anchor. He points out that the 147,857-square-foo t center is located in the sixth-fastest growingy residential ZIP code in the Withina three-mile there is a population of 33,21q2 people with an annual average household income of The center is also located at an intersection that will be one of the two controller access points on Grand Parkway connectingb drivers from U.S. Highway 90 to the Westpark Tollroad.
The other Kroger Marketplace location inthe 546-acre Brazosx Town Center in Rosenberg will be in a similarr situation. According to research by Houston-basec NewQuest Properties, which owns Brazos Town Center, the median household income in the trade area is in excessof $50,000p annually. Peschel says that despite the struggling national andregionak economies, Fort Bend Count is continuing to grow, having added approximately 30,000o new residents last year. He says the county is expectedx to reach more than 1 millionj residents in the next15 years.