Kroger is one of the biggest grocery stores in the Midwest, operating nearly 1240 stores throughout 16 states. For the most part, the 120 locations in Michigan have mainly stayed on the east side of the state, with a few locations in West Michigan, like Grand Rapids, for example.
But for the longest time, Southwest Michigan has not seen a Kroger in a long time. But it looks like Southwest Michigan is about to get its first Kroger location, after the company recently purchased the former Big Lots location on Southwest Avenue in Portage.
There were a lot of rumors as to what the former Big Lots location would eventually become, but now it seems that Kroger will be opening in Southwest Michigan, finally.
There Was Once A Kroger Department Store in Kalamazoo
At one point in the early 1940s, there was actually a Kroger location in downtown Kalamazoo, as the university libraries’ Luna Insight collections hold an archived photo of the storefront exterior of the Kroger department store that was originally taken for Peck and the Kalamazoo Gazette…