Thursday, April 23, 2020

[EXCLUSIVE] Kroger Closing Cambridge Square Store in Brookhaven

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 before that, a Winn-Dixie for more than thirty years.  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 Kroger Co. has operated at the location for 19 years. The store has experienced declining sales and negative profit over an extended period and its closure is necessary to make Kroger more competitive in the market," according to a representative for the grocer.  

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.

April 24: This post has been updated include a quote from a Kroger representative.  


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?

Please share your thoughts below.  

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a perfect spot for Wegman's to take over and make their first Atlanta location (a girl can dream, right?). If not I'd love for it to get redone as a Target (I know, I know, there are several in the area already). And since we know Trader Joe's is out, my more realistic dream is Sprouts.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised. The nail in the coffin was when they didnt get the Kroger fuel station approved next door. Kroger ran it down from there.
This is "old people" Kroger, the closest other ones are "Ghetto" Kroger at Georgetown or "Brokehaven" Kroger next to the Marta.
Pre-COVID I would say this would be a prime spot but the RE landscape has changed this could stay idle. If Jersey Mikes stays closed and another place like Starbucks leaves then this will become a ghost strip mall.
Maybe bulldoze the whole thing and put up some more 900K townhomes?

Katlguy119 said...

At one time we lived near that Kroger, and the "ghetto" Kroger, and were really surprised when they remodeled the ghetto Kroger I stead of the Cambridge Square store. We thought the nicer store should be in the nicer neighborhood...

Anonymous said...

Let's compare. Currently Kroger is running ads telling us how hard the employees are working. Also, Kroger's management and union are asking for extra pay for employees, presumably from the government.

Publix advertising message is more geared towards asking customers to be safe and sharing of limited stock, but it also mentions "things aren't perfect' and their employees are doing the best they can. Also Publix is buying surplus dairy and food, donating to non-profits.

It's a top-down difference. Kroger is owned by stockholders and is unionized. Publix is owned by the employees.

If someone chooses their grocer based only on price, Walmart is nearby and it has a pharmacy.

Anonymous said...

A little surprised at least. They just (probably within the last 12-18 months) redid that store with all new refrigerated/freezer cases and reset the store.

In thinking about it though, I've never seen it super busy in there except for a handful of times. I duck in to get a few things while waiting for my Los Bravos order....

And yep, it was a Winn-Dixie in the 90's, a very dumpy Winn Dixie.....

Anonymous said...

I am curious about the comment that Jersey Mike's closed. As far as I can tell they are doing order online/take-out similar to many others.

Anonymous said...

Kind of surprised its closing. I found it to be busy when I went there. But the main thing I didn't like out it we was taking a left turn out of there. Never knew the other Kroger was referred to as ghetto Kroger. That Kroger is nice and definitely busy.

Anonymous said...

Trader Joe’s please????

Anonymous said...

Trader Joe's would be interesting. One problem though. There's ample parking at that shopping center -- which would seem to disqualify Trader Joe's from being interested....

Anonymous said...

Never have been a fan of Kroger's...but from a commercial RE perspective, this location is prime for a more "upscale" tiered supermarket brand, preferably a Wegmans, which could cater to the burgeoning mid-30s young professionals that are drawn to that area due to close proximity to more dense city life.

Anonymous said...

Ha ha lol that parking joke cracked me up because its so true

Anonymous said...

I would love to see a trader Joes in it's place or possibly Sprout

Cody Cargle said...

Anonymous said on May 11, 2020 at 4:00 Pm Trader Joe’s is no longer interested in Metro Atlanta for new stores, Aldi it’s parent company seems to be its better half growing, so that Kroger will probably be replaced with a Publix or get converted into other uses, and Sprouts seems to be more interested in building stores from the ground up, doubtful, if you want to know the truth, Kroger screwed over Lucky’s Market in Panama City Florida along with other locations across the Us including Savannah, Georgia as well, and same with Tom Thumb convenience store as well, so either way wishful thinking. 🤔

Anonymous said...

NOBODY CARES

Cody Cargle said...

Anonymous said on May 12, 2020 at 11:50 Pm Nobody cares what you think either asshole? 😂

Unknown said...

Trader Joe’s would be amazing!!!!!!!!!

Cody Cargle said...

Unknown said on May 22, 2020 at 11:20 Am FYI Trader Joe’s is not expanding in Metro Atlanta anymore, and secondly Sprouts and Whole Foods are like the king of organics when it comes to supermarkets, so you might as well keep on dreaming. 😅

KinkyChic said...

They are definitely open. There are tables set up outside for social distancing.

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