It was revealed Thursday that Kroger plans to later this year close its longstanding store in Brookhaven. The roughly 41,000 square foot store which anchors Cambridge Square at 2036 Johnson Ferry near its intersection with Ashford Dunwoody Road, opened in 2001. Prior to becoming a Kroger the store previously operated as a Harris Teeter and reportedly before that, a Winn-Dixie. The store is due to close permanently at the close of business on Saturday August 1, shortly ahead of the culmination of the grocer's current lease which reportedly ends September 30.
Brookhaven District 1 Council member Linley Jones announced the planned closure on the local Nextdoor community page. ToNeTo Atlanta was able to independently confirm the closure via two separate sources with knowledge of the center and grocer's plans. According to Jones, Kroger blamed the closure on "declining sales for many years," an oft cited reason by the Cincinnati-based grocer when closing stores.
The Cambridge Square Kroger is less than a half mile from the Publix anchored Oglethorpe Crossing shopping center at 3435 Ashford Dunwoody Road.
The Cambridge Square Kroger is less than a half mile from the Publix anchored Oglethorpe Crossing shopping center at 3435 Ashford Dunwoody Road.
Kroger has closed several stores in metro Atlanta over the years including those at 965 N. Hairston Road at Hairston Village in Stone Mountain and 8331 Roswell Road at Northridge shopping center in Sandy Springs in October 2017. The company also closed its small format store at 1745 Peachtree Street in Brookwood Place in south Buckhead in July 2011.
Kroger continues to operate a number of stores it purchased when Harris Teeter left the Atlanta market including those in Sandy Plains Centre in East Cobb, Rivermont Station in Johns Creek and Sage Hill in Atlanta. Kroger previously operated from a converted Harris Teeter at 3954 Peachtree Road in Brookhaven, but years after closing the store (to consolidate operations to nearby Cherokee Plaza), the former anchor space was finally redeveloped in late 2015 into Stein Mart and Total Wine & More.
Both Kroger and arch-rival Publix operate nearly 200 locations throughout Georgia, but while Publix is pushing forward with several new store openings (East Cobb& Dunwoody among others), Kroger has indefinitely tabled new stores planned for Marketplace Terrell Mill in East Cobb and West Midtown Center in West Midtown. A replacement/ enlarged Kroger, however, is finally under construction along Chamblee Tucker Road in Embry Village.
Cambridge Square owner Regency Centers owns several grocery-anchored centers around metro Atlanta and in recent years has backfilled/redeveloped spaces in two of its centers with new grocers.
At Paces Ferry Plaza in Buckhead, Regency redeveloped both a portion of its center and an adjacent freestanding Taco Bell into a new approximately 30,000 square foot 365 by Whole Foods Market. (The store today operates as a Whole Foods Market following the abandonment of the 365 banner.) At Brighten Park (fka Loehmann's Plaza), Regency replaced the former Loehmann's with The Fresh Market. The Fresh Market closed in 2018, but the space has been re-leased again, this time to growing German discount grocer Lidl.
Sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Lidl, Aldi and Amazon could have have interest in some or all of the Cambridge Square anchor space. At this time, there is reportedly no deal in place or pending with anyone to take over the space upon Kroger's closure.
Are you surprised to see Kroger closing at Cambridge Square? What would you like to see replace Kroger at Cambridge Square? Where do you do the majority of your grocery shopping?
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