Oxford Aldermen Grant Kroger Contractor Permission for Sunday Work

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

A rendering of the proposed Kroger expansion. File photo. 

The Oxford Board of Aldermen gave its permission Tuesday to allow the contractor for the Kroger expansion to work on Sundays for the next few months.

RW Smith Co. requested permission to work extended hours on Sundays within the interior of the Kroger expansion from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Jan. 26 through April 26.

The request is only to allow interior work on the expanded portion of the Kroger building in an effort to complete the renovations as quickly as possible.

Oxford city ordinances ban construction work inside the city limits on Sundays; however, exceptions can be granted by the Board of Aldermen by request on a case-by-case basis.

Alderman John Morgan jokingly said Oxford citizens would be upset at the Board if they didn’t approve the request and made the motion to approve.

The aldermen voted to approve the request with the condition that it will be revoked should there be complaints from the nearby residents regarding noise.

“The applicant is not requesting any permissions related to the future remodeling of the existing store side at this time,” said City Engineer Reanna Mayoral.

Work on the expansion began this past summer. The strip mall section was demolished and rebuilt and that side is expected to be completed this spring. The entire renovation project is expected to be finished in the fall of 2020.

Once the expansion is complete, the store on University Avenue will grow from 57,857 square feet to 109,448 square feet.

The newly modeled store will have a Starbucks and a sushi station. Grocery pick-up will be included as well as a double drive-thru for the pharmacy.

Each department will be expanded and significant changes will be made to the store’s floral department and the deli/bakery areas.

The fueling center, located at the southwest corner of the site, will be expanded to include four new pumps (eight new fueling positions). In addition, the easternmost driveway is proposed to be relocated approximately 130 feet to the east to coincide with existing Booker Road.

A new traffic signal is planned for the intersection of Booker Road and the relocated driveway.