Kroger expands grocery delivery to more of Florida; stores remain ‘under consideration’

Delivery reach is from Jacksonville to Tampa

Kroger is delivering groceries directly to Florida customers from Jacksonville to Tampa out of a Groveland center, but the company has yet to reveal plans for a Florida brick-and-mortar store.

The delivery service softlaunched for friends and family in April from Groveland before adding Orlando-area online shoppers within a 90-minute radius and then Tampa and Jacksonville consumers.

Orlando orders are delivered directly in temperature-controlled vans. Tampa and Jacksonville ones travel to those cities on tractor-trailers from Groveland to what the company calls “spokes” before heading to customers in delivery vans.

“We are growing exponentially at a higher pace than we projected in all three markets,” said Brandon McBurney, general manager of Kroger’s fulfillment network in Florida. “I don’t think we have a shortage of demand and want and need from our customers.”

Kroger has more than 400 employees at its Groveland fulfillment center. If sales continue at this pace, 200 to 300 more workers could be added there before the end of the year, McBurney said. Tampa has 100 employees and Jacksonville about 75, which could double if sales continue in their current fashion.

Customers order online at Kroger.com or the retailer’s app. Delivery fees vary based on factors such as route optimization, lead time on an order, customer loyalty, and the popularity of the delivery window.

While shoppers might be asking for a Florida brick-andmortar store from the Cincinnati-based grocer, McBurney said the company is focused right now on building the online business model in the state.

“We’re always looking at that, and it will always be under consideration,” McBurney said of opening stores.

Having the direct-to-consumer center is better for managing inventory, compared with other grocers that use delivery services like Instacart to pick products from store shelves, and it’s better for product freshness, according to Amanda Lai, consulting senior manager at the Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle.

“It is a strategic way for Kroger to start developing a presence in the Florida market,” Lai said.

Lai said she thinks Kroger will compare its customer data with demographics to find out where a store could be supported.

“With that, they can get a sense of the Florida consumer in various geographic pockets,” Lai said.

The challenge for Kroger, Lai said, will be to stand out from other supermarkets already well-established in the state.

“I would say that Publix is probably the biggest competition for Kroger in the Florida market at this point,” Lai said.

Lakeland-based Publix has more than 1,275 stores throughout the Southeast. There are 820 stores in Florida, with about 125 in Orange, Seminole, Lake, Osceola and Volusia counties.

Kroger is also not the only grocer growing in Florida. Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market has opened three Orlando-area stores since 2018, with at least two more on the way.

The produce-focused Sprouts also opened a 135,000-squarefoot warehouse near Orlando International Airport earlier this year, and company executives told the Orlando Sentinel that Sprouts could open another 40 to 50 stores in Florida in coming years.

Kroger has 2,750 grocery stores under a variety of names. It operated stores in Florida in the 1980s that were called Florida Choice supermarkets. It also owned part of Lucky’s Market but divested from that chain before Lucky’s closed all of its Florida stores early last year.