Photo by Walker Evans.

Officials from Kroger announced today that the company is launching an online ordering and pickup system at select stores in Central Ohio. The program will launch this Thursday, June 23rd at the stores located on Bethel Road in Northwest Columbus and on Hamilton Road in Gahanna.

“We look forward to providing our central Ohio customers with this convenience,” said Joe Grieshaber, President of Kroger’s Columbus Division. “Nearly all Kroger stores are conveniently located within two miles of our customers’ homes. We are leveraging that differentiator to make our customers’ lives a little easier.”

Additional locations will see the service added in the coming months, including stores in Westerville, Hilliard, Worthington, Lewis Center and Columbus.

Customers who want to use the service can log in online to place an order from the 40,000 items available for pickup — which includes fresh items like meat, produce and seafood — and schedule a pickup window. The service includes a free trial of three orders and then charges a flat rate of $4.95 per online order, regardless of order size.

For more information, visit www.kroger.com/clicklist.