King Soopers' parent isn't worried about Amazon in online grocery battle

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Jim Callaway

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen was among several Kroger executives who met with analysts and investors on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Steve Watkins

Staff Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

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Kroger Co. — parent of Colorado's King Soopers and City Market chains — is aggressively going after online supermarket sales and isn't worried about a battle looming with competitors like Amazon.com.

That's what the Cincinnati-based supermarket operator's executives told analysts and investors Wednesday during the company's annual investor conference held at the METS Center in Erlanger, Kentucky.

Amazon has started expanding its AmazonFresh online grocery order and delivery service. An analyst asked Kroger executives what they thought about Amazon's offering, especially since "they don't have to make money," as the analyst put it.

"We're not fixated by it," Kevin Dougherty, Kroger's group vice president of digital, said of Kroger's take on Amazon. "A decade ago, we decided we have to play our game and focus on our strengths. They may succeed, but what we do has worked for decades, and I'd want to bet on that being sustainable."

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Watkins covers banking and finance, insurance and sports business