Kroger set to invest $110M, hire 2,000 in Michigan

Michigan’s largest traditional grocer is getting even bigger.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger Co. will hire 2,000 workers for its 128 Michigan stores over the next 15 to 18 months, and will invest  about $110 million in the Great Lakes State this year, the company said. As part of that investment, Kroger will open stores in Commerce and Shelby townships.

The grocer announced the Michigan investment at its annual shareholder  meeting last week. Kroger has about 17,000 workers in the state.

“It is a strong statement that they are in Michigan to win,” said Phil Lempert, a grocery analyst and editor of supermarketguru.com.

Lempert said Kroger is succeeding in an increasingly tough grocery market in Michigan, with competition from Grand Rapids-based Meijer Inc., which is opening two new stores in the state this year; Wal-Mart, which recently opened another store in Novi; and Target, which is adding groceries to nine Metro Detroit locations. Kroger is also facing increased competition from drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens, which are adding more food to their offerings.

The Michigan investment  comes as the grocer continues to grow. In 2012, Kroger posted a 7.1 percent sales increase, according to Chairman and CEO David B. Dillon, marking 38 consecutive quarters of positive sales growth.

Lempert expects that growth to continue, and said Kroger is poised to succeed because of a strong retail strategy and ability to cater to what customers want in their local store. Its Novi store, for example, carries a large selection of Japanese food products, catering to the area’s expanding Japanese population.

Last year in Michigan, Kroger upgraded and remodeled 21 of its 128 existing locations, said Dale Hollandsworth, a company spokesman. Kroger has made a point to partner with the state's tourism ad agency, Pure Michigan, to offer Michigan-made goods. In the past five years, Kroger has invested $380 million in Michigan in capital improvements.

Kroger will open an 88,000-square-foot store at the corner of Commerce Road and Union Lake in November, and a 114,000-square-foot store at the corner of 23 Mile and Hayes Road will open in January, the grocer said. Both new stores are near existing Kroger stores.

Nationally, Kroger plans to build, expand or relocate 45 to 50 supermarkets in 2013, compared to 44 in 2012.

Employment opportunities with the Kroger Co. of Michigan are posted on www.kroger.com .