Cincinnati-based Kroger recently opened a 60,000-square-foot, Ocado-automated “spoke” e-commerce fulfillment facility in Miami to support Kroger Delivery in the Miami-Dade County area, reports Supermarket News.
The facility serves as a last-mile location to expand the reach of a 375,000-square-foot, Ocado-powered customer fulfillment center in Groveland, Fla., that began operations a year ago. The new facility will employ 200 for roles in logistics, human resources and transportation.
“We’re thrilled to introduce customers to Kroger Delivery in South Florida,” Andrea Colby, e-commerce corporate affairs and communications manager for Kroger, said in a statement. “We offer customers a more convenient option to access fresh food and grocery items. Kroger Delivery is an easy, seamless way to order groceries, have them arrive in refrigerated vans, delivered to your door by professional, uniformed associates all based on your demanding schedule.”
Kroger had announced plans to launch e-grocery delivery service in South Florida in April. The Groveland CFC is supported by spoke facilities in Tampa and Jacksonville in providing online grocery delivery to the greater Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville areas, reports Supermarket News.
Last October, Kroger said it plans to build two small CFCs in South Florida that will join its live e-grocery operations in Central Florida. The new sites are slated to include a “Zoom” micro-fulfillment center that will enable Kroger Delivery in as soon as 30 minutes from a selection of 10,000 fresh food items and essentials, plus a larger facility offering same-day and next-day service from an assortment of 35,000 items, according to Kroger.
Including the Miami site, Kroger so far has announced 10 Ocado spoke facilities. Five spokes are now live — in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla.; Lockbourne, Ohio; and in Indianapolis — and another five are planned for Louisville, Ky.; Oklahoma City; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Birmingham, Ala.