Kroger Details Future of Former Marsh Stores
(Image courtesy of The Kroger Co.)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA subsidiary of the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. (NYSE: KRO) has closed on its deal for 11 former Marsh Supermarkets locations in Indiana. The $16 million deal by Topvalco Inc. involves stores in Indianapolis, Muncie, Bloomington, Zionsville, Brownsburg, Fishers and Greenwood. Kroger says it will initially focus on deferred maintenance issues at seven of the buildings, and will figure out the future of the remaining locations once "the use that best fits our needs and those of the surrounding community" is determined.
The Topvalco acquisition was approved in federal bankruptcy court last month along with an $8 million transaction with Ohio-based Generative Growth II LLC for 15 stores former Marsh locations.
The stores Topvalco will initially get to work on include:
- 227 West Michigan Street in Indianapolis
- 10679 N. Michigan Road in Zionsville
- 5 Boone Village in Zionsville
- 1500 West McGalliard in Muncie
- 715 South Tillotson in Muncie
- 1825 Kinser Pike in Bloomington
- 843 E. Main Street in Brownsburg
The two locations in Muncie, the city where the Marsh chain started, will be under Kroger’s Pay Less brand like stores in Anderson, Lafayette and West Lafayette. The other five will bear the Kroger banner. The company says it is putting $20 million toward renovations, which traditionally take six-to-eight months. Kroger says it will bring on "several hundred" former Marsh employees, many of which are already in training.
The company will continue to evaluate the future of the following locations:
- 2904 South State Road 135 in Greenwood
- 123 S. Kingston Drive in Bloomington
- 1435 West 86th Street in Indianapolis
- 12520 East 116th Street in Fishers
Marsh’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was announced in May following months of public speculation on the Indiana-born grocer’s future and the closing of several stores.