Former Kmart being demolished; mayor excited Kroger will break ground Friday

Crews this week started tearing down the structure that occupied about 118,500 square feet on nearly 11 acres. The new Kroger — among a number of Dayton-area projects by the company in recent years — is targeted for completion in early 2023, a company official said.

Riverside Mayor Pete Williams said Thursday that Kroger’s investment addresses a key concern for the city.

“It’s not hard to determine what happens to dated retail sites that sit vacant in Ohio for more than a few winters,” he said.

“So it certainly was something that was a point of concern for us as a city on how long this large site on a major thoroughfare was going to sit,” Williams added. “But we’re very happy that there was interest and that we’re going to have a great corporate partner like Kroger be the one that makes it their home. And they get a real centerpiece for our city.”

The new site will not be a Kroger Marketplace, but will include 465 parking spaces, 15 online pickup spaces, a pharmacy drive through and a five-pump gas station, said Jenifer Moore, Kroger corporate affairs manager.

Aside from Starbucks, it will feature a floral shop, sushi, bakery and meat/seafood departments, she said.

When the new store on Woodman opens, Kroger stores on Spinning Road in Riverside and Smithville Road in Dayton will close, company officials have said.

The Cincinnati-based national chain opened a new Marketplace in Moraine in 2020. The Alex Bell Plaza site off Ohio 741 replaced a 57,000-square-foot location in the same shopping center.

The company in recent months opened a new 90,298 square-foot Marketplace in Springboro at a former Kmart. It replaced a smaller store in the same plaza on Ohio 73.

Kroger this fall is expected to open a new Marketplace in Miamisburg. The estimated $20 million project will encompass 123,722 square feet, replacing a smaller, 27-year-old store at the same site on North Heincke Road.