Kroger facing Wal-Mart challenge

By Douglas Sams
doug.sams@gwinnettdailypost.com

STONE MOUNTAIN— Kroger appears to be answering the challenge from retail giant Wal-Mart.
After recently deciding to launch a king-sized store just down the road from a new Duluth Wal-Mart Supercenter, Kroger is doing the same thing this time in Stone Mountain.
In a ceremony Wednesday led by Gwinnett Commissioner John Dunn, plans were announced for a new 70,000-square-foot Kroger at Rockbridge Road and Five Forks-Trickum Road. The site is about a mile from where Wal-Mart is converting one of its aging stores into a new Supercenter.
As part of its decision, Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. will close its store on Stone Mountain Highway. Kroger Co. could not be reached Wednesday, but the store it wants to replace is at least 20 years old.
Earlier this year, Kroger made a similar move when it told property management firm Wheeler-Kolb it was vacating its store by Gwinnett Place mall and moving around the corner to a new shopping center at Steve Reynolds Boulevard and Old Norcross Road. That site is also less than half a mile from a new Supercenter under construction.
 In its latest industry report, Trade Dimensions International said Kroger is No. 1 in metro Atlanta market share, followed by Publix and Wal-Mart, but the Bentonville, Ark.-retail giant is replacing all its older stores with new Supercenters.
Kevin Coupe, founder and editor of food-industry observer MorningNewsBeat.com, said Kroger apparently feels the status quo won’t cut it in a market where Wal-Mart is taking a bigger slice of the grocery pie.
“Kroger knows if it’s going to compete with the Supercenters, it’s got to bring its A-game,” Coupe said. “If it can’t renovate and expand its current store, it’s going to build a new one with all the bells and whistles.”
The grocery brawl means the Mountain Park area will have a new 9.5-acre shopping center at Rockbridge and Five Forks.
Developer Maxwell Properties will tear down the outdated buildings that once housed Big Star and Eckerd in Rockbridge Square Shopping Center, replacing them with the super Kroger and an additional 34,388-square feet of retail space. Loop Pizza Grill plans to be one of the new tenants, said Lois Chesin, Maxwell’s marketing manager. It would be Loop Pizza Grill’s fourth metro Atlanta location.
As part of the deal to build the new shopping center, Maxwell Properties purchased new sites for Mountain Park First Baptist Church’s youth building and Garmon’s Automotive Repair. Both businesses will move to make room for the Kroger and other new retail tenants.
County planners have targeted the Stone Mountain area, specifically Highway 78, for revitalization. A revamped Rockbridge Square is one of several nearby projects, along with an improved Killian Hill Marketplace, where Publix has launched a new store. Recently, Mountain Park Aquatics Center also opened.
Commissioner Dunn said he realizes the ongoing retail shuffle means even as new stores are opened, more will also become vacant. Still, Dunn said many retailers are showing interest in several of the area’s abandoned stores. <-->