Expanding on the pilot program that began in early October, Kroger will add Kroger Express, a curated assortment of 2,300 products, at 13 Walgreens stores in northern Kentucky. The items will be selected using customer data and insights provided by Kroger subsidiary 84.51°. The first concept store already is operational in Florence, Ky., and the remaining 12 pilot stores are scheduled to go live in early 2019.
The Kroger Express selection will include Home Chef meal kits, national products and Kroger’s Our Brands private label items, along with dairy, meat, produce, frozen and meal SKUs. The Walgreens stores also serve as pickup points for online grocery orders placed on Kroger.com.
“We are excited to enter the next phase of the pilot,” said Robert Clark, SVP of Merchandising at Kroger in a statement. “The Kroger Express concept creates easy access to our most popular Our Brands products through a fill-in grocery shopping experience for Walgreens customers, and our Home Chef Express meal kits provide customers with an on-demand solution for tonight’s dinner.”
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Kroger and Walgreens also are integrating their product offerings in a larger market, making Home Chef Express meal kits available in 65 Chicago-area Walgreens stores. The kits already are available at certain Kroger banners in the area, including select Mariano’s stores.
During this pilot program, Walgreens will offer three unique Express meal kit options, with recipes rotating bi-weekly. Other recipes are available for delivery through homechef.com.
“We’re pleased to continue working together to explore new concepts that expand product selection to provide a better shopping experience and greater value for our customers,” said Richard Ashworth, Walgreens President of Operations in a statement.
