CO: Kroger Plans Ocado-Automated Warehouse for Denver Market, with 400 Jobs

The Kroger Co. plans to open an automated customer fulfillment center in the Denver metropolitan area that will bring nearly 400 new jobs to the area. The new, 300,000-square-foot facility, to be located in Aurora, Colo., is a result of the 4-year-old partnership Cincinnati-based Kroger has with Ocado. It will fill online orders.

“We are thrilled to expand and introduce our innovative Kroger Fulfillment Network to one of the fastest-growing areas in the country and have the opportunity to grow our workforce,” Gabriel Arreaga, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer at Kroger, said in a statement. “Through the incredible partnership and support from the city of Aurora and Adams County, Kroger Delivery can accelerate its commitment to provide exceptional customer service through our state-of-the-art facility and end-to-end cold solutions, including custom-built refrigerated vans, to ensure our delivery customers receive the freshest products directly to their doorstep throughout the Denver region.”

Kroger also reported that its Ocado-automated CFC in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., is now operational, reports Supermarket News. The supermarket giant had announced plans for the 350,000-square-foot facility — serving online grocery customers in Wisconsin, northern Illinois and northwest Indiana — in November 2019.

So far, Kroger has announced 17 Ocado-driven CFCs, with four now operational. They include a  CFC in Monroe, Ohio — Kroger's first Ocado facility — that went live in April 2021; 375,000-square-foot CFCs that opened in Groveland, Fla., last June and in Forest Park, Ga., this past February; and a 350,000-square-foot CFC that launched in Dallas this spring. 

Other Ocado CFCs reported by Kroger run from 135,000 to 375,000 square feet and include locations in Frederick, Md.; Phoenix; and Romulus, Mich., as well as Charlotte, N.C., the Pacific Northwest; and the Northeast, the latter representing another location where Kroger lacks stores, along with Pennsylvania and Florida (save for a Harris Teeter store in the Jacksonville area). The retailer also has announced plans for two CFCs in Southern California and two more in Florida.

Kroger and Ocado also have announced 10 supporting “spoke” facilities, which serve as last-mile, cross-dock sites to enlarge the service radius of CFCs, reports Supermarket News.  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.