Dillons Returns to Kansas City With $40M Marketplace Store

After a 17-year absence, Kroger-owned grocery chain Dillons is returning to the Kansas City metropolitan area, kicking off a regional expansion with a new large-format Marketplace store in Olathe, Kansas, as first reported by The Kansas City Star.

• A confident comeback: Citing "strong community interest," the chain is backing the project with a more than $40 million investment. Dillons Division President Steve Dreher called the move the "beginning of our journey in the KC market."

• Location, location, location: The first new store will be situated near the Kansas State University Olathe campus, though a timeline for the opening has not yet been announced. The grocer is re-entering a crowded field, facing established players like Hy-Vee, Walmart, and Price Chopper.

The expansion is part of a larger Kroger strategy that includes investing in new, large-format stores in high-growth areas while simultaneously shuttering dozens of underperforming locations nationwide.

As Dillons plans its return, one of its former locations in Shawnee is being revitalized by Hispanic grocer El Mercado Fresco. The move is also part of a wider trend that has seen other regional players, like Vallarta Supermarkets, expand outside their home states for the first time.