SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kroger has announced it will open the Kroger Marketplace at Park Place in South Charleston in early June.
At 122,000 square feet, the Marketplace will be the largest Kroger in West Virginia.
“The first Kroger store in West Virginia opened in 1926, and there is no better way to celebrate 100 years of service in the state than opening a brand-new Kroger Marketplace,” said Kate Mora, Kroger Mid-Atlantic Division President in a Wednesday news release. “This new Marketplace will be our flagship West Virginia store and we hope our associates and customers enjoy its many enhancements and expanded options as we continue to build on our rich history in the state.”
The $40 million Marketplace will include full-service grocery offerings, pharmacy, home goods, clothes and toys.
South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens said a lot of work has happened since last summer.
“They’ve worked evenings, weekends, holidays, they’ve been on top of it. We are really pleased,” Mullens told 580 WCHS.
Kroger also announced Wednesday it will close the Riverwalk Plaza store in South Charleston, across from Park Place, and the Kroger in the Dunbar Village Plaza as part of the opening of the new store. Those employees there will be offered jobs at the new store.
Dunbar Mayor Scott Elliott got the call from Kroger Wednesday morning. It said it was difficult news to hear.
“We expected a year or two down the road not six months down the road,” Elliott told 580 WCHS. “To have news brought to us today–it’s heartbreaking. They are one of our biggest contributors to the B&O (tax revenues) in the city of Dunbar. It’s going to be a big hit.”
Elliott predicted the city would lose about $160,000 in annual tax revenue from the closure. He said the timing isn’t great.
“It comes right at the end of the budget year for next year and that’s going to take a lot of money out of the city’s budget,” he said.
Elliott said he’s also concerned about some of his residents who have transportation challenges.
Elliott is hopeful the space at the Dunbar Village Plaza can used for something else that will benefit Dunbar and its residents.
“I don’t know what the future holds. It’s all up to the Kroger Corporation and the Zamies Corporation, the company that owns that building, on what we can and cannot do with that building,” Elliott said.
Mullens said the Kroger Marketplace will be the magnet store that will further develop the Park Place shopping area.
“That what all of the other dominoes were waiting on for that anchor to get started,” Mullens said.
Mullens said 2026 is going to be a big year for Park Place with several businesses opening.
Mullens also said there’s an overlooked aspect to the opening of Kroger Marketplace.
“It guarantees a major grocer in the city of limits of South Charleston for years to come and that’s important for your community,” Mullens said.
Kroger Mid-Atlantic has 36 stores in West Virginia.