Zionsville's long-awaited Kroger Marketplace has a move-in date. The 118,000-square-foot grocery store at 6441 Center Dr., south of Whitestown Parkway, is set to open Jan. 14, 2027, giving local shoppers their first real look at what's coming to the site.
According to Current Publishing, which received an exclusive tour of the store ahead of opening, the new location will include an expanded home and beauty department described as the first of its kind in Indiana. The store will also house a Murray's Cheese shop — Kroger acquired the New York cheesemonger in 2017 — complete with Parmesan Reggiano cheese-wheel cracking for customers.
A Store Built to Feel Like a Destination
Store leader Amanda Downin compared the new Zionsville location to Target, according to the same report, pointing to the scale and variety shoppers can expect to find under one roof. The Marketplace will also offer multiple grab-and-go meal options, with Downin saying Kroger hopes to expand further into that category.
Shoppers with a sweet tooth will find a Kroger Fresh popcorn stand called Popped!, a feature Downin said has the community already buzzing. The nearest existing Popped! stand is in Brownsburg, where the local Kroger has become the chain's top-selling popcorn store in Indiana, per the report.
More Departments, More Lanes, More Parking
The Zionsville store will also feature a larger meat department with kosher options and what the report describes as more product allocation throughout all departments. Shoppers will find wide aisles, restrooms on both sides of the store, eight regular checkout lanes and 18 self-checkout lanes, along with a drive-thru pharmacy and a Starbucks positioned near the entrance.
Jed Herrmann said the goal is for the store to serve as a one-stop shop for customers, according to Current Publishing. Kroger plans to hire between 280 and 300 people to operate the store, the outlet reported — though earlier estimates varied. A July 2025 Current Publishing report quoted a company representative anticipating 325 new associates, while the Indianapolis Business Journal had separately reported the project would employ 325 people with 530 parking spaces, a figure that differs from the 560 spaces cited in Current Publishing's earlier coverage.
A Separate Fuel Center, and Questions About an Older Store
The project includes a gas station that is technically located in Whitestown rather than Zionsville; the Indianapolis Business Journal described the $35 million figure as applying to the grocery store, with the fuel center a separate development on a separate site. Whitestown and Zionsville officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the project in December 2025 at the intersection of Center Drive and Perry Worth Road, per the earlier report.
Reports on the project's footprint have varied over time: Current Publishing's July 2025 coverage put the store at 118,300 square feet, while a March 2025 report from the same outlet cited 118,337 square feet on a 12.9-acre site. The Indianapolis Business Journal reported a 118,000-square-foot figure. When the development plan was approved, Kroger consultant Anne McBride said the company had no plans to close its existing Boone Village store, addressing concerns that the new Marketplace might replace it.
How It Compares to Kroger's Last Indiana Debut
Kroger's Zionsville opening would mark another chapter in the chain's recent Indiana expansion. When Kroger opened a new store in Brownsburg in 2021 — its first new Indiana store since 2017, according to IndyStar — it replaced a 40-year-old store in the same shopping center and brought similar upgrades, including more space, a Starbucks, fresh popcorn, a specialty cheese section and a pharmacy drive-thru. Zionsville shoppers now have just over two months to wait before the new Marketplace opens its doors.
