Fry’s parent company purchases 57 acres for Phoenix AI warehouse
Kroger Co., the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets and parent company of Fry’s Food Stores, has purchased a large property in west Phoenix where it plans to build a 222,850-square-foot high-tech warehouse to fulfill online grocery orders.
Article originally posted here.
Kroger on Jan. 26 acquired a 57.3-acre property on the southwest corner of 91st Ave and Buckeye Road in Phoenix for $13.7 million, according to real estate database Vizzda. Kroger purchased the West Valley parcel from Phoenix Logistics Center LLC, which is connected to McShane Development Company.
Kroger announced last month plans to build an $89 million Customer Fulfillment Center in Phoenix, which will change how it does online grocery delivery orders by using a network robots and artificial intelligence. Until now, the location of the warehouse was not publicly known.
Fry’s Cincinnati-based parent company partnered with British technology company Ocado in 2018, purchasing a share of the company and agreeing to build 20 of these high-tech warehouses across the country.
Construction on the $89 million center will take about 24 months, according to Kroger. The Phoenix City Council approved a measure that would provide Kroger with $1,000 for every employee hired with an annual wage exceeding $44,000 in their second year of employment. Kroger said it plans to hired 692 employees making at least $44,000 a year.