Kroger shuttering distribution spoke in Miami

[cathandler]

According to a memo posted on the Kroger Reddit the two-year-old Miami spoke facility will close by May 26. This is one of four (the others being in Groveland (Orlando), Jacksonville and Tampa) covering major population centers in the Sunshine State.

[storewanderer]

This and Austin seem like pretty high profile retreats.

Obviously they didn't understand the Miami market and probably didn't have the right merchandise mix.

[mbz321]

This and Austin seem like pretty high profile retreats.

Obviously they didn't understand the Miami market and probably didn't have the right merchandise mix.

Or you know, actual locations
I wonder how much market share Kroger has with their delivery-only business...I can't imagine it being much at all.

[buckguy]

This and Austin seem like pretty high profile retreats.

Obviously they didn't understand the Miami market and probably didn't have the right merchandise mix.

Or you know, actual locations
I wonder how much market share Kroger has with their delivery-only business...I can't imagine it being much at all.

In general, I rarely see grocery delivery. Even my 95 year old neighbor goes to the store. Depending on the range that it serves, Miami probably would be their weakest market in Florida. The expats from their traditional market area are more likely to be in the Tampa-St. Pete or Orlando areas.

[storewanderer]

This and Austin seem like pretty high profile retreats.

Obviously they didn't understand the Miami market and probably didn't have the right merchandise mix.

Or you know, actual locations
I wonder how much market share Kroger has with their delivery-only business...I can't imagine it being much at all.

I liked the idea of them doing territory expansion... I have to think to close these sales must have been almost nothing. The warehouses were only 60k square feet...

They also closed the center in San Antonio, TX...

So two HEB strongholds and one Publix stronghold...

I wonder if it would have been better to build one Marketplace Store in each market and then in addition to the usual customers coming into the store also run a delivery service out of it. I guess the cost to do a 60k square foot warehouse is lower...

[wnetmacman]

There is another aspect we've overlooked here.

Austin *and* San Antonio once had Kroger locations throughout. So they were trying to reclaim what they once had lost there. Spoiler alert - HEB isn't one to be messed with in their home territory.

Florida has never fully had a true Kroger store, so they have no real comparison to what they have missed. But they have Publix, which is really the Florida equivalent of HEB - a juggernaut monopoly that shouldn't be tampered with - you poke the bear and get scratched.

[arizonaguy]

I actually saw a Kroger delivery vehicle delivering to a beachfront condominium complex in Ana Maria Island, FL today.

[ClownLoach]

This and Austin seem like pretty high profile retreats.

Obviously they didn't understand the Miami market and probably didn't have the right merchandise mix.

Or you know, actual locations
I wonder how much market share Kroger has with their delivery-only business...I can't imagine it being much at all.

This is the hilarious thing about their merger arguments.

Go into an Amazon Fresh and ask about their constant, chronic out of stocks. They'll tell you that they do so little business as a start up chain that it is hard to get vendor support for enough product to fill their meager 50 something stores.

Talk to Kroger and they claim in their merger arguments that Amazon is pretty much larger than they are in foods.

Obviously the grocery delivery business is inconsequential at best. Furthermore the labor cost is so high that unless you can get the customer to pay much higher prices then all delivery does is move existing sales from low cost to high cost. Moving more sales to delivery channels thus would only erode profits further.

This is why Amazon still can't afford to just open all those Fresh stores at once. They're losing too much money as more profitable in store business fails to offset more expensive delivery business.