Kroger debuts kiosk concept at area college campus

http://www.toledoblade.com/Retail/2012/02/15/Kroger-debuts-concept-at-area-college-campus.html

ADA, Ohio -- Imagine a grocery store without checkout lanes, cashiers, or shopping carts.

Kroger Co. already has.

Last month Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation's largest traditional supermarket chain, opened a robotic grocery kiosk in Ada, Ohio, that could be part of the company's future.

"We're kind of testing it to see how it goes," company spokesman Jackie Siekmann said of the new Kroger Shop24 Kiosk on the campus of Ohio Northern University. "We've had a lot of positive feedback.

"There are a lot of kids who are in the dorms and who don't have cars or access to a car, so this is close by and they can do sort of their basic shopping," she said.

About the size of an enclosed bus stop, the robotic kiosk is a self-contained, refrigerated vending machine that can carry up to 200 items. It is restocked daily with such staples as toiletries, cleaning supplies, and perishables that include fresh milk, bread, fruit, and ground beef. It accepts cash, debit cards, credit cards, and federal supplemental nutrition-assistance program cards.

Kroger, which partnered with Ohio Northern on the robotic store venture, purchased the 10-by-13-foot kiosk from Shop24 Global, a Columbus firm that makes grocery vending machines used widely in Europe. Since Kroger's Shop24 debuted Jan. 19, officials from five other universities have come to observe it, company officials said.