Kroger opens in Prosper, Celina Record

Kroger Marketplace opening highly anticipated by Celina residents Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Mar 23, 2016 0 The day that many local shoppers have been anxiously awaiting has nearly arrived. The Kroger Marketplace store at 1250 N. Preston Rd. in Prosper opened at 8 a.m. Friday, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Following the grand-opening festivities, the town’s first full-service grocery store in will be open from 6 a.m.-1 a.m. daily. It is the twelfth Kroger Marketplace location in North Texas. “I think it’s going to be a full parking lot for months,” said Prosper Mayor Ray Smith about the store’s opening. “I think the community has been wanting a grocery store for many, many years and finally that day has arrived. "We’re excited about it.” At 120,000 square feet, Kroger Marketplace stores are about double the size of traditional Kroger supermarkets according to Kristal Howard, a public relations manager with The Kroger Co. Most large supermarkets feature a sizeable selection of groceries, fresh meat, seafood, produce and dairy items as well as a deli counter, bakery department and a pharmacy. The Prosper Marketplace store will have those as well as a multitude of other products more typically found in big-box stores including small household appliances, cookware, office and computer supplies, tech gadgets including smartphones and tablets, home furnishings and an extensive apparel selection. “Think of the Marketplace store as a Kroger on steroids,” Howard said last week as she and store manager Brian Miller led local civic leaders and members of the media on a tour of the location, where some of its 300 employees were putting the finishing touches on several of its departments. The Prosper location will feature goods and services not found in regular-sized Kroger locations or at most other Marketplace stores. A much-anticipated Starbucks Coffee location at the store will be open from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. The coffee shops are only included “on a store-by-store basis,” Howard said, adding that Prosper “is a market where accessibility to coffee as you’re commuting into town or as you’re working remotely” is important. At an outlet of New York’s lauded Murray’s specialty cheese shop, red-coated “cheesemasters” will slice up more than 100 types of specialty cheeses and help customers pair them with cured meats, crackers, dried fruits and nuts. The store will also carry 600 brands of beer and 1,800 labels of wine. A wine consultant will be on standby at a contemporary-styled bar area where food and beverage demonstrations and tastings will take place. A restaurant-like area features ample table seating, a TV and a fireplace. “This is a great meeting space,” Howard said. “You have access to coffee and you certainly have access to snacks.” At a large kiosk, 20 varieties of sushi will be prepared and served daily by trained chefs, along with an extensive selection of hot Pan-Asian-style entrees. Customers will be able to grab ready-to-eat food items and check out quickly at nearby registers, avoiding lines of shoppers at the front of the store. Food and beverage choices aside, Howard said customers will likely be most impressed by the store’s extensive apparel selection that will include active wear, seasonal clothing, shoes and accessories for children and adults. “The clothing aspect of this store will really blow you away. It’s a department that really stands on its own,” she said. “By the time you make it to that side of the store, you will absolutely forget that you’re in a Kroger store in the best possible way.” With all of the goods and services that will be offered at the Marketplace store, some Celina residents said they are excited to begin shopping there despite the fact that their city has been home to a 45,000-square-foot Brookshire’s supermarket since 2006. Bay Henderson said she was a loyal Kroger customer before relocating to Celina from North Dallas in 2011. She switched to Brookshire’s, at 675 E. Sunset Blvd., for the sake of convenience. “I do like Brookshire’s. Their prices aren’t too bad when they have specials,” Henderson said, but added that she will likely do the bulk of her shopping at the Marketplace store. “I can’t wait.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Celina resident Jeff Hershberger, whose family has been shopping at Brookshire’s since 2007 “on an as-needed basis if Costco, Sprouts, Wal-Mart or the Kroger on Custer (Road in McKinney) just weren’t convenient.” He said he prefers Kroger’s prices and product selection. “While I appreciate the small-town charm of Brookshire’s, there just isn’t enough to set it apart from the other stores other than its proximity to our house. That will all change when the new Kroger opens,” Hershberger said. Resident Sandy Inman, on the other hand, said she will likely remain a Brookshire’s customer. “I’ll keep going there for the most part,” she said. “Their produce is by far better than any other grocery store.”