Kroger representatives confirmed Wednesday that Montgomery's Kroger Marketplace will not open in March, as previously anticipated. Joy Partain, public affairs manager for Kroger, said the store is now slated for a summer opening but could not confirm an exact date.

The news will challenge the city of Montgomery, which accounted for a March opening of the store and the additional sales tax revenue the new location on the Hwy. 105 and FM 2854 intersection would bring to the city.

"We're disappointed that it's going to be the summer rather than the spring but not necessarily from a budget standpoint," City Administrator Jack Yates said. "We handled our budget last year fine without Kroger, and we'll handle this year without Kroger."

Yates said the delay causes the city to re-evaluate its budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The budget estimated receiving an additional $20,000 in sales tax each month from January through September as a result of Kroger sales, Yates said.

"That's $180,000 of a $3 million budget," he said. "I will need to review the budget and recommend to the council where to cut the budget. But if [Kroger] were to open during the summer, it would not be the entirety of the $180,000."

 

City Engineer Glynn Fleming said the city has nearly completed installation of new water and sewer lines and construction of a street to the west side of the Kroger development, adding that the projects are on time and did not cause the delay.

"Any delays that they are experiencing are internal and due solely to the Kroger Corporation," Fleming said during a meeting. "[The city is] approaching completion of public utilities."