Cincinnati-based Kroger plans to add about 110 stores by 2029 and introduce three new store formats, the company announced during its Oct. 20 investor update, according to reporting by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The new formats will range from 50,000 to 99,000 square feet.
Kroger has not yet released floor plans for the formats, the Enquirer reported. The company says the formats will put food at the center of the store and offer more meal solutions, reflecting a broader focus on fresh foods and prepared meals.
The announcement is a notable expansion signal from the nation’s largest supermarket chain, which is headquartered in downtown Cincinnati. Kroger operates 2,731 stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under its own name and banners including Smith’s, Ralphs, King Soopers and Fred Meyer, according to company figures cited in earlier reporting.
Ohio remains one of Kroger’s deepest markets. The chain has 198 grocery stores across 114 cities in the state, per its online store directory as cited by the Enquirer, including 26 stores in Cincinnati, 16 in Columbus and six in Dayton. It also operates stores throughout Kentucky, including Covington and Newport in Greater Cincinnati, and more than 100 stores in Indiana.
Kroger did not indicate in the investor update where the first stores using the new formats will be built or when they will begin opening, the Enquirer reported. That means no specific Cincinnati-area site has been promised yet, even though the company’s hometown is the natural first place local shoppers will watch.
The move follows a period in which Kroger also announced plans to close about 60 stores nationwide over 18 months while opening at least 30 this year, according to earlier Associated Press reporting cited in regional coverage. The new-format plan reframes that churn as a rebuild: fewer, older footprints out, and food-centered formats in.
What happens next will be in the details Kroger has not yet released — floor plans, first locations and opening dates. For southwest Ohio, where Kroger is both a grocer and a major hometown employer, each of those announcements will land as local news, not just business news.