National grocery chain Kroger Co. announced today that it will create a 50,000-square-foot e-commerce hub in Birmingham, expected to be operational this year and to create 161 jobs.
Kroger has been expanding its operations with delivery-only hubs. In addition to the Birmingham site, it also announced new hubs in San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
The new hubs are a continuation of a program that began operations in Florida in 2021 without any physical stores.
“Kroger today looks very different than it did in 1883 when we opened our first store. But the core principles that made that store successful — service, selection, value and our commitment to our customers — remain the bedrock of our business,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and CEO.
“I’m incredibly excited for the future of Kroger, and both thriving physical stores and digital solutions are part of it. We continue to feel great about the momentum we’re experiencing with Kroger Delivery and our partnership with Ocado, supporting Kroger in strategically leveraging our unique assets to expand in existing regions, including Atlanta, Cincinnati and Dallas, as well as enter into new geographies like Austin, Birmingham, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Orlando, San Antonio, South Florida, and the Northeast through a flexible network of differently sized, high-tech facilities operated by friendly and knowledgeable associates,” said McMullen.
“Kroger’s digital investments are focused on driving expanded capacity, improving the customer experience, and developing new, innovative propositions via our strategic partnerships, including our Kroger Delivery fulfillment network powered by Ocado technologies,” said Yael Cosset, Kroger’s chief information officer and chief digital officer. “Kroger’s growing seamless ecosystem continues to scale and allow us to reach customers who are not in the proximity of a store with delivery services, and we’re committed to doubling both our digital sales and profitability passthrough rate by the end of 2023 and our continued network expansion will help us reach this target.”
