Grocery store coming to Lexington suburbs, first in new development

A Crossroads IGA is coming to Citation Village, a new shopping center at the corner of Citation Boulevard and Leestown Road.

Bowling Green-based Houchens Industries is building the grocery store, which is expected to open after the first of the year, said Jeff Grinstead, division manager for Houchens. It's the first Houchens store in the Lexington area but Houchens is looking at other locations for more stores, he said.

The approximately 11,000-square-foot store also will have a Which Wich sandwich shop inside and gas pumps out front, Grinstead said. Which Wich is a new Texas-based sub franchise that specializes in sandwiches, he said.

Grinstead said the store will have groceries, dairy, fresh produce, fresh meat and lunchmeat as well as deli "grab and go" section with items such as chicken and ribs, sandwiches made in house and salads.

According to Houchens website, Crossroads IGA stores "hybridize conventional grocery shopping with convenience, resulting in fuel, grocery items, fresh meats and produce, and take-home meal options for customers on the go."

The concept is to offer groceries, convenience store items, fuel and a quick-service restaurant all in one, Grinstead said.

"This is for fill-in orders," he said. "Instead of driving all the way back into town to Kroger or Walmart for a loaf of bread, this saves you time."

The Citation Village development also is planned to have retail and a restaurant, according to Scott Davidson of Langley Properties, which owns the shopping center.

The construction comes as another grocery, Lucky's Market, announced this week it is closing its Lexington store after less than two years. Lucky's on South Broadway is scheduled to close by the end of May, or as soon as everything is sold. Another grocery, Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market, closed last year after less than a year in Lexington.

But other chains are looking at the small-store format: Target is putting a small-scale store near the University of Kentucky campus off of Limestone, and Laurel Grocery is developing another IGA store for the Romany Road area.

Through the UK business college, Laurel recently surveyed people in the neighborhood about what they want in a Romany Road store. No designs have been released for the site, which was partially demolished last year before Cox Foods pulled out of plans to open a store there this spring.

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Grocery store coming to Lexington suburbs, first in new development."