PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. — A new automated grocery delivery warehouse recently opened in Pleasant Prairie. It is owned by The Kroger Co.
According to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal, Kroger works with software and robotics firm Ocado Group PLC on the warehouses around the country. Kroger now has five automated fulfillment centers.
The new warehouse allows Kroger to deliver merchandise directly to customers' households. Kroger is the parent company of Pick 'n Save and Metro Market. The company expects the Pleasant Prairie warehouse to serve customers in Wisconsin, northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.
The warehouse is also expected to create about 250 jobs. According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. supported the project with up to $1.5 million in state tax credits for the Kroger Fulfillment Network and up to $500,000 in tax credits for Ocado Solutions.
At its warehouses, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports a system of robots move around a three-dimensional grid, called The Hive, which has totes filled with products. Near delivery time, the robots collect items from The Hive and present them at stations for sorting and packing. The groceries are then loaded onto refrigerated vans for delivery.
Plans for the Pleasant Prairie facility were announced in 2019. Kroger paid $7.4 million for 58 acres between 88th Avenue and a Canadian Pacific railroad line, south of Bain Station Road, for the warehouse.
