The Kroger Co., one of the country's largest grocery chains, has been quietly expanding its footprint in and around Richmond in a move to capture a larger chunk of the area's $3 billion in grocery spending.
The grocer, which came into the Richmond market about a decade ago, will have invested $81.8 million in capital spending in the area by the end of next year.
The three-year expansion plan began before Martin's Food Markets' $140 million purchase this year of 25 stores from Ukrop's Super Markets, the locally owned chain that dominated the Richmond market until two years ago and has now vanished.
Martin's, a division of Dutch supermarket conglomerate Royal Ahold NV, spent millions of dollars remodeling and rebranding the stores. The final ones opened under the Martin's banner this month.
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