In Images: Kroger Marketplace Stakes Claim in Texas

Texans are supposed to like things bigger, and Kroger delivered last week, opening its first Lone Star State marketplace store in the form of a 125,000 square foot grocery and general merchandise combination outlet on the Grand Parkway in the Houston's Richmond suburb.

The Houston area has been a hotbed of activity for Kroger's Texas division, and the city itself just saw the launch of the retailer's first hybrid supermarket/gourmet store on Buffalo Speedway.

Marketplace is something different, though. The store pairs food and a major presentation of general merchandise that highlights home goods but casts the conspicuous sparkle of jewelry as well. Kroger has worked with Ashley Furniture in its marketplace operations. By so doing, it has been able to provide a well-known furniture name and consistent level of quality for customers who will be reminded every time they shop for groceries just what the retailer offers when it comes to dining -- and other -- room needs. In fact, the 2,400 square foot furniture section can bedeck dining rooms, living rooms and bedrooms. Consumers can go quite a way toward redecorating entire homes at Kroger marketplace. They can select from a wide range of bed and bath linens, pillows, shower curtains, bath towels and accessories, as well as an expanded kitchen assortment that ranges from dinnerware to small appliances like mixers, blenders and toaster ovens from brands such as Kitchen Aid. Marketplace is patterned after a store format that Fred Meyer developed before it was acquired by Kroger a decade ago. When it expanded to Arizona, the upscale supercenter operator developed a smaller format that the new parent company recast as part of its Fry's supermarket chain and eventually expanded, most recently to Texas. The legacy of Fred Meyer remains conspicuous in a 1,300 square-foot jewelry boutique within the new marketplace. Among its offerings are engagement and wedding rings and brand name watches presented under the Fred Meyer Jewelers name. Food isn't forgotten, however, and Kroger offers products and services meant to broadly entice shoppers, including the kind that might become regular customers of the Fred Meyer jewelry operation. Artisan bread, for example, provides a gourmet element in the store. And, as beverages have been a point of emphasis at Kroger -- and differentiation from Walmart -- wine also is a major element of the new Texas marketplace store, which offers 1,675 varieties. The Richmond store is the first of three marketplace locations Kroger has planned for the Lone Star State in the initial roll out of the format.