Kroger is planning to build a new Marketplace store in Crandall, a fast-growing city on the southeastern edge of Dallas-Fort Worth, with construction expected to begin in the coming months and the store slated to open in 2027. The grocery giant intends to invest between $35 million and $40 million into the roughly 100,000-square-foot store, which would rise near the intersection of FM 741 and FM 2757/Sunrise Boulevard.
Kroger company spokesperson John Votava confirmed the plans, telling The Dallas Morning News that the company is excited to build a Kroger Marketplace in Crandall. Crandall had fewer than 4,000 residents as of the 2020 Census, according to the same report, and sits east of Seagoville within Kaufman County.
State construction filings paint a more detailed picture of the timeline. Records with the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration, as cataloged by Zabalist, list the Crandall Kroger project with an estimated build cost of $14.39 million for 99,992 square feet, with site work scheduled to start November 2, 2026, and completion targeted for mid-June 2027. That figure reflects physical construction costs rather than Kroger's total capital outlay, which would also include land acquisition.
A Single Grocery Store No Longer Enough
The project traces back to a preliminary plat the Crandall Planning and Zoning Commission approved in December 2025 for the 15.386-acre site, according to City of Crandall records. The land sits in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction as part of the Eastland master-planned development, a major residential project expanding infrastructure along FM 741.
Right now, Crandall's grocery options are thin. The city's only full-service supermarket is the Brookshire Brothers store #87 at 102 West Gleason, per the retailer's own store listing. A nearly 100,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace would mark a dramatic shift for residents who currently often travel to neighboring towns for large-format grocery shopping.
Kaufman County's Explosive Growth
The timing lines up with extraordinary population growth in Kaufman County. U.S. Census Bureau data released in March ranked the county tied for the second-fastest-growing in the nation and first in Texas, expanding 5.7% from July 2024 to July 2025 to reach an estimated 209,235 residents, as reported by WFAA. Growth in the county has been driven largely by domestic migration and housing affordability relative to inner DFW submarkets.
Zoomed out further, the trend looks even more dramatic. Between the 2020 Census and 2025, Kaufman County's population surged 42.2%, growing from 147,165 to over 209,000 residents, according to an analysis from StatRanker. Schools are bracing for the influx too: demographer projections from Zonda Demographics cited by Crandall ISD indicate student enrollment is expected to nearly triple over 15 years, driven by rapid homebuilding in communities like Eastland and Wildcat Ranch, with a new elementary campus in Eastland scheduled to open in 2027.
Kroger's Bigger DFW Playbook
The Crandall project follows a pattern Kroger has already put into motion elsewhere in the region. The company opened a 123,000-square-foot, $40 million Marketplace store in Little Elm along the U.S. 380 corridor in July 2026, generating about 200 jobs, as Hoodline reported in its story on the 200-job Little Elm opening. That store opened alongside a new Target in a rapidly building suburban commercial corridor.
Kroger is also fighting to hold its ground in a crowded market. Walmart leads the Dallas-Fort Worth grocery market with roughly 29% market share, while Kroger sits in second place at approximately 19%, per data reported by Supermarket News. The Dallas Morning News report notes Kroger is competing against retailers including H-E-B and Costco, and rival H-E-B has been aggressive in Kaufman County specifically, opening a new store in neighboring Forney in February 2026 and acquiring 91 acres along Interstate 20 in Terrell, as Hoodline detailed in its coverage of the Terrell land grab.
More Big-Box Retail Eyeing FM 741
Kroger's plans aren't the only sign that the FM 741 corridor is becoming a commercial hub. The City of Crandall has also indicated that a Home Depot is planned along Highway 175 near FM 741, projected to open in 2028, suggesting national retailers increasingly view the corridor as a key node for future growth. As homebuilding continues to outpace existing infrastructure, commercial development in Kaufman County looks set to keep following the residential rooflines already going up around Crandall.
