So Lexington’s Disco Kroger isn’t getting a facelift as originally suspected. And it isn’t going to become one of the store’s flagship Fresh Fare Krogers, as originally rumored (a rumor we started). A FreshFare opened in Dallas, TX shortly before Christmas. Lexington’s Disco Kroger is getting a teardown and rebuild.
It has been aging and deteriorating for some time, and has sustained a few sporadic bursts of renovation over the past few years — none of which have positioned it to compete with the opening of the earnest and affordable Trader Joe’s on Nicholasville Road, or the gloriously snooty Fresh Market up the road on Tates Creek.
Its location adjacent to the University of Kentucky campus dictates that a certain amount of space be dedicated to beer, and its location in the heart of Chevy Chase legislates that a certain amount of precociously overpriced miniature vegetables and organic fromage be available 24/7. It is a delicate balance, and whether or not a “new concept” can meet those needs is up for furiously heated debate.
The teardown is scheduled for 2014 and the new store will flip its bearings, turning to face PNC Bank instead of Euclid Avenue. It will add wifi, a fireplace, big TVs, and subterranean caverns for deli and produce prep, but subtract a pharmacy, which will relocate offsite.
Columbia neighborhood resident Janet Cowen asked, “like we all go to Kroger to lounge and watch TV. Wonder who will be sitting in those chairs?”
With dubious new “innovations” like rooftop parking and elevators for your buggy, and a giant brick posterior dominating Marquis Avenue, the Cincinnati-based chain will have to tread carefully lest it be re-named Krap Kroger by the neighbors.
Click here to subscribe to the Ace digital e-dition, emailed to your inbox every Thursday morning.
