The Kroger store on Wrightsboro Road is scheduled to close Sept. 13. It has been in operation in the Richmond Plaza shopping center for 39 years. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] ▲

Kroger Co. on Friday said it will close its store at 3435 Wrightsboro Road on Sept. 13.



The 120-employee store – the anchor tenant of the Richmond Plaza shopping center – has been in operation for 39 years.



The grocer's Atlanta Division said in a statement the store "has experienced declining sales and negative profit over an extended period and its closure is necessary to make Kroger more competitive in the market." The company's employees are represented by the United Food & Com­mercial Workers union.



"All 120 associates will be considered for reassignment to other Kroger locations as outlined in the company's collective bargaining agreement," Felix Turner, Atlanta Division manager of corporate affairs, said in prepared remarks. "Kroger representatives will meet with associates to discuss reassignments and additional options in the coming weeks."



Kroger has six other stores in the metro Augusta area, with the three nearest locations at 4115 Columbia Road in Martinez, 4355 Washington Road in Evans and 2801 Washington Road in Augusta.



Kroger closed its 40-year-old south Augusta store at 3128 Deans Bridge Road in spring 2016. It closed its 35-year old store downtown Augusta on 15th Street in early 2017.



The company recently renovated its Evans store as well as its location in North Augusta at 1284 Knox Avenue. The Grovetown store, its newest and largest in the metro area, opened in summer 2016.



"Kroger remains committed to the Augusta area and recently remodeled our stores located (in Martinez) and (Evans), as well as our newest store," Turner said.



The Richmond Plaza shopping center's other tenants include Harbor Freight Tools, Chuck E. Cheese's and Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. The shopping center was developed in 1979 and has been owned since 2012 by a Cincinnati, Ohio-based Phillips Edison & Co.



According to a recent posting on a commercial real estate listing service, the shopping center sees an average traffic volume of more than 32,000 cars and has a customer base in a one-mile radius with an average household income of $65,000.



Kroger's Atlanta Division oversees 183 stores across Georgia, Eastern Alabama and South Carolina.



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