Kansas Grocery Giant Dillons Eyes Empty Independence JCPenney for Comeback Store

A vacant former department store in Independence could soon become a full-service grocery store, as the Independence Planning Commission voted on Tuesday to approve rezoning the former JCPenney site at Bolger Square from residential back to commercial to make way for a proposed Dillons. The Kansas-based supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Kroger, has been steadily working its way back into the Kansas City metro after leaving the market nearly two decades ago, and this would mark its fifth franchise location in the region.

The 120,000-square-foot building at 17610 E. Bolger Road is vacant, and JCPenney closed the location during its 2020 bankruptcy proceedings, which eliminated roughly 30 percent of the chain's stores nationwide, according to CBS News. Phillips Edison & Company is seeking to buy the roughly 10-acre former JCPenney parcel and convert it into a Dillons grocery store. Bill Moore, who represents the potential developers, told commissioners the parking lot would be refurbished as part of the construction project, per reporting from the Kansas City Star.

This isn't the first plan floated for the site. Bolger Square was rezoned as a residential area in 2023 after the Independence City Council voted 4-3, with Mayor Rory Rowland casting the tie-breaking vote, to approve a $75 million, roughly 300-unit apartment complex known as The Alton, according to a report cited from The Examiner. That housing project never broke ground, and the former department store remains vacant. The planning commission's move this week would zone the site back to commercial use.

What the New Store Would Include

The proposed Dillons would include a drive-through pharmacy and seven vehicle fueling stations, and the planning commission also approved special signage for the store during Tuesday's session, per the Kansas City Star's reporting. Phillips Edison plans to conduct a structural integrity evaluation, apply a new paint job, and redesign the loading dock once the purchase is finalized. The Independence City Council is expected to vote on site plans for the project in the coming weeks, and construction could begin after that vote.

Bolger Square already includes a Target and an American Way Smokehouse, and residents who live nearby have mixed feelings about what a Dillons would mean for the corridor. Angie Lotz, who lives near the proposed site, said having a Dillons there would be better than an empty building and could uplift the community, though she also raised concerns about the store's potential impact on traffic flow, per the same Kansas City Star account.

A Chain Rebuilding Its Kansas City Footprint

Dillons was founded in Sterling, Kansas, in 1890 and was acquired by Kroger in 1983; it now operates more than 60 supermarkets across Kansas, holding the largest supermarket store count in the state, according to Supermarket News. The chain exited the Kansas City metro entirely in 2008, when it transferred its area locations to Associated Wholesale Grocers, which later resold them to independent grocers. Dillons signaled its return to the region in October 2025 by announcing a $40 million flagship Dillons Marketplace at College Boulevard and Sunnybrook Boulevard in Olathe, Kansas — its first announced comeback store in the metro.

The Bolger Square proposal is part of a broader expansion push. Kansas City's Plan Commission also recommended approval this month for another new Dillons store and fuel station near Tiffany Springs Road in the Northland, a proposal that drew pushback from rival gas station owners worried about fuel pump competition. Dillons historically operated on the Kansas side of the metro, while Walmart, Price Chopper, and Hy-Vee are common grocery banners in the broader Kansas City market. The Bolger Square proposal would extend Dillons' presence into Jackson County.

Independence's Shifting Retail Landscape

Independence's retail landscape is shifting. The Bolger Square proposal arrives amid other grocery shakeups in the city: plans presented during an April city session call for Price Chopper to relocate its store from I-70 and Noland Road to anchor Noland Fashion Square by 2027 or 2028, illustrating broader commercial turnover underway in Independence's retail corridors.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service, its Food Access Research Atlas includes two measures of retail food access that can be used to assess grocery availability.

According to The Kansas City Star, a furniture mall is set to replace about 150,000 square feet in a former Macy's store at the former Metro North Mall site, which closed in 2025. According to The Kansas City Star, the former Robandee mall remains vacant and has been labeled a nuisance by the city after multiple fires since last summer.

For now, the Bolger Square site remains an empty shell awaiting the City Council's vote on site plans before any construction can begin. If approved, the conversion would end the current vacancy and give Independence its own foothold in Dillons' expanding Kansas City-area footprint.