Newport’s new Kroger store with a pharmacy and gas station is officially open.
The new Kroger is a $14 million investment in the city. The store held its grand opening on Jan. 30. It is located at 20 West 6th St., across from Wooden Cask Brewing Company.
A full-service wine and spirits shop is expected to open across the street from the store later this year.
Saturday, Jan. 31, is customer appreciation day at the new location, offering various deals throughout the store, food samples and experiences. In addition, as part of the grand opening, every customer who gets gas at the location until Feb. 28 will get 20 cents off every gallon. Customers do not need to be loyalty members to take advantage of the offer. Folks with gas awards already can stack the 20 cents on top of those promotions.
Senior Executive at The Kroger Co., Jake Cannon, said Kroger has been part of the Newport community since 1897. Kroger was founded by Bernard “Barney” Kroger and was originally called “The Great Western Tea Co.” Kroger even lived in Newport, down the street from the new store, for a period of time.
“This new location will hopefully be a one-stop shop for all of the local residents here in Newport, where you can come in, chat with a local official, and run into your neighbors,” Cannon said. “We take a lot of pride at Kroger in making sure that our stores are the hubs of the communities that we serve.”
Newport City Manager John Hayden said back in the day, when Kroger was a smaller company, there were 16 Kroger store locations in the city of Newport.
“As Kroger has expanded and gotten bigger, we are so proud to have a second [location] bringing hundreds of union jobs here to the city of Newport,” Hayden said.
The new location is in addition to the Kroger in the Newport Pavilion.