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Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 1st, 2020, 9:30 pm
by storewanderer
https://covingtonleader.com/news/the-na ... the-store/

What.. is going on at Kroger?

This looks like a fairly legitimate store with pharmacy, fuel, etc., and not that far from Memphis...

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 1st, 2020, 11:50 pm
by retailfanmitchell019
There are still plenty of 80's "greenhouse" stores operating.
I wonder why they are still in rural eastern Missouri? I suspect those remaining Krogers are waiting for the leases to expire there...

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 2nd, 2020, 9:16 am
by TW-Upstate NY
The article mentioned it was last remodeled in 2007 and was due for another. Kroger simply didn't want to spend the money. Hope the new owners at least keep the greenhouse look when they do their planned makeover. It's not exactly as iconic as an A+P "Centennial" but still quite distinctive. Was glad to see a hometown operator get a location like this too instead of just another cookie cutter chain.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 2nd, 2020, 5:28 pm
by klkla
TW-Upstate NY wrote: September 2nd, 2020, 9:16 am Hope the new owners at least keep the greenhouse look when they do their planned makeover. It's not exactly as iconic as an A+P "Centennial" but still quite distinctive. Was glad to see a hometown operator get a location like this too instead of just another cookie cutter chain.
From the article, "“It won’t look anything like it does now,” Dana said. “You won’t even recognize the building in a few months.”

Sounds like they are planning a full interior and exterior remodel but he might be exaggerating.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 2nd, 2020, 6:15 pm
by storewanderer
klkla wrote: September 2nd, 2020, 5:28 pm
TW-Upstate NY wrote: September 2nd, 2020, 9:16 am Hope the new owners at least keep the greenhouse look when they do their planned makeover. It's not exactly as iconic as an A+P "Centennial" but still quite distinctive. Was glad to see a hometown operator get a location like this too instead of just another cookie cutter chain.
From the article, "“It won’t look anything like it does now,” Dana said. “You won’t even recognize the building in a few months.”

Sounds like they are planning a full interior and exterior remodel but he might be exaggerating.
Did you see the photos of his current store (can find by searching) from earlier this year?

He did have self checkout in his current store...

Maybe Kroger is requiring him to do some renovations so it doesn't look like Kroger inside anymore.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 2nd, 2020, 7:34 pm
by klkla
storewanderer wrote: September 2nd, 2020, 6:15 pm
Did you see the photos of his current store (can find by searching) from earlier this year?

He did have self checkout in his current store...

Maybe Kroger is requiring him to do some renovations so it doesn't look like Kroger inside anymore.
Yes I did. At 44,000 sq. ft. the Kroger is definitely is step up for this operator. His plans seem very ambitious.

If Kroger is leaving the market completely I don't think they would care about renovations. If anything they can paint over anything Kroger-like before turning the property over to the new owner.

My personal advice would be to do a simple remodel and maximize ROI.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 2nd, 2020, 11:08 pm
by storewanderer
klkla wrote: September 2nd, 2020, 7:34 pm
Yes I did. At 44,000 sq. ft. the Kroger is definitely is step up for this operator. His plans seem very ambitious.

If Kroger is leaving the market completely I don't think they would care about renovations. If anything they can paint over anything Kroger-like before turning the property over to the new owner.

My personal advice would be to do a simple remodel and maximize ROI.
Cash Saver is some kind of license/franchise thing through AWG of Kansas City and they do have a decor package that seems to be somewhat consistently applied to these stores. It just involves a low cost wall repaint and a lot of cheap looking hanging signs. Whatever old flooring/shelving was in the store before typically stays.

Also read Kroger is demolishing the gas station but this operator doesn't rule out doing a gas station in the future. I wonder why Kroger doesn't just let him take over the gas station. When Kroger left Springfield, MO they had one store with a gas station and the operator who took the store over also took the gas station over.

It appears the independent has a pharmacy in his current store so assuming he will just move that into the Kroger, not clear if he runs it or leases it to some other independent.

This was quite an opportunity for this independent.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 3rd, 2020, 4:29 am
by pseudo3d
Is there a larger store nearby that Kroger continues to operate? It reminds me a bit of a Kroger in Houston that closed in the mid-1990s and quickly reopened as an independent within a year, with Kroger still maintaining stores (acquired from AppleTree a few years earlier) that were larger and/or nicer than the Greenhouse store closed (one two miles north and another two exits down to the east).

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 4th, 2020, 12:49 pm
by wnetmacman
pseudo3d wrote: September 3rd, 2020, 4:29 am Is there a larger store nearby that Kroger continues to operate? It reminds me a bit of a Kroger in Houston that closed in the mid-1990s and quickly reopened as an independent within a year, with Kroger still maintaining stores (acquired from AppleTree a few years earlier) that were larger and/or nicer than the Greenhouse store closed (one two miles north and another two exits down to the east).
The next closest stores to this one are down in Millington and north to Dyersburg. Kroger is notorious for closing stores that are either not #1 or isolated. They have also been just as notorious for keeping the same type of stores open. I'd bet the store's sales are down. Covington's main retail area used to be around that store, but when Walmart moved south of town, it took a lot of the traffic with it; I'd bet that's what happened here.

Re: Kroger Covington, TN "sold" to Cash Saver operator

Posted: September 6th, 2020, 7:19 am
by Knight
Kroger's Delta Division should be preparing for Publix's western expansion into western Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. Where Kroger exits, Publix enters.