Dive Brief:
- Kroger has opened three Turkey Hill Market stores in Columbus, Ohio, as a test of a new "in between" concept for the grocer.
- Turkey Hill Markets are 7,500 square feet -- much smaller than Kroger's typical supermarket (67,000 square feet), but larger than the grocer's Turkey Hill Minit Markets convenience stores (4,000 square feet.)
- The new stores are a hybrid of standard supermarket -- offering milk, groceries, etc. at reasonable prices -- and convenience store -- open 24 hours and selling hot dogs, candy and pizza slices.
Dive Insight:
We'll wait for Kroger to release the numbers on its Columbus experiment, but we'll be surprised if the test is anything other than successful. It seems that Americans, at least those who live outside of the urban cores, like shopping in these new-style convenience operations. And the giants of the grocery business are responding. Kroger's Turkey Hill Markets are roughly similar to the Walmart Express stores. And Walmart is opening new convenience stores that are similar to Turkey Hill Minit Markets.