Patriot Center at Cox Farm — Kroger Marketplace Opens July 9

Key Takeaways

• PATRIOT CENTER AT COX FARM is the official name of the new Kroger Marketplace at Ring Road and Patriot Parkway — confirmed by the sign that's now up. Opens July 9. Anchors: Wine & Spirits, Starbucks (inside, not a separate building), The Little Clinic, Pharmacy, Kroger Pickup, and a fuel center with diesel and unleaded. The Wine & Spirits on Towne Drive is closing so the new store can carry the liquor license.
• In-person hiring event Saturday May 30, 10 AM – 6 PM at the Dolphin Drive Kroger — hiring across all Hardin County Kroger locations.
• Publix is opening earlier than expected. Columbia Properties still lists November, but sources are pointing to Thursday September 17. Not officially announced.
• ANU Face · Mind · Body opens Tuesday May 26 on Buford Lane (next to Neil Atcher State Farm). Integrative medicine + aesthetics. Sweet Spot Donuts & Coffee is still in build-out next door — a few months out.
• Bluegrass Meats is moving downtown into the old Dairy Queen / ABC Food / Gulf Coast Connection space near St. John Corner and Firestone. Grease trap installed, sewer line replaced. Target opening: second week of June.
• Patriot Center outlot tenants rumored — Raising Cane's, Chipotle, Whataburger, Cookout are all in conversation. None confirmed; planning commission may post more next week.

Summary

The headline this week from Nate Bryan: the new Kroger Marketplace at Ring Road and Patriot Parkway finally has its name on a sign — Patriot Center at Cox Farm — and a confirmed July 9 opening date with a sign that's already showing the anchor tenants. Behind that lead, Nate ran through a packed Hardin County development update: Publix is moving up its target opening, ANU is opening on Buford Lane next Tuesday, Sweet Spot Donuts is still in build-out next door to ANU, and Bluegrass Meats is heading downtown in early June. Plus four chain restaurants are reportedly circling outlot spaces at the Patriot Center.

For anyone tracking the Ring Road / Patriot Parkway / BlueOval corridor — and that's a lot of people right now — this was the busiest single Business Buzz of the spring.

Per Hardin Local's editorial policy, the Publix opening date and the rumored outlot tenants are flagged as sourced, not officially confirmed. We'll update when announcements drop.

Watch this segment: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WKOoLkLjtYM Full episode: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bLUZL3xv0A8

Full Article

Nate Bryan was in Florida last week and part of this one, so this Business Buzz was a catch-up — and there was a lot to catch up on.

The lead: the Patriot Center sign is up at Ring Road and Patriot Parkway. Nate credited Best of Bites with one of the first photos, plus a couple of viewers — Trisha Stewart and Samantha Breitner — who flagged it. The full name on the sign: Patriot Center at Cox Farm. "I had not really seen that in too many announcements about the thing," Nate said, "but that's what it's going to be called." The pricing on the gas part of the sign reads zero right now ("we're not getting gas for free"), but the green pricing tells you the fuel center will carry diesel — confirmed both at the fuel-center sign and at the road sign. Anchors named on the sign: Wine & Spirits, Starbucks (inside, not a separate building), The Little Clinic, Pharmacy, and Kroger Pickup.

The Wine & Spirits piece has a quiet consequence: the existing Wine & Spirits on Towne Drive is closing so the new Kroger can carry the liquor license. The new Kroger Marketplace and the existing Wine & Spirits on Towne Drive could not both hold licenses — so one had to move. Nate's read: "I also was thinking that's going to help the other Kroger expand, so I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing."

And a hiring note: Saturday May 30, 10 AM – 6 PM, at the Dolphin Drive Kroger. In-person hiring event for all Hardin County Kroger locations — three locations plus the new Marketplace coming online July 9. Nate clarified the new opening date again to keep it locked in: "Reminder, Kroger is July 9th."

On Publix: Nate is hearing it'll open earlier than the developer's published timeline. Columbia Properties' site still says November. Nate is hearing Thursday September 17. "Again, this is coming from a source who explained why it was happening, and I definitely believe them for that," he said. "I think September looks plausible … November seems to be a little bit more likely. They've got an awfully long time away, but I think they could be open by September." Phil clarified the editorial framing on air — Hardin Local labels sourced reporting separately from confirmed announcements: "You're saying it because they're sources are saying it, no public confirmation." That's how it stays until Publix or the developer makes it official.

Buford Lane is becoming a corridor. If you don't know where Buford Lane is — turn at the TSC on Ring Road, behind there, or get to it from Woodland. The new building on the right has Neil Atcher State Farm in the middle, with two flanking tenants. On the right side: ANU Face · Mind · Body. Opens Tuesday May 26. The brand framing: "where integrative medicine meets aesthetics." They have a Facebook page if you want to preview.

On the left side of the same building — Sweet Spot Donuts & Coffee. Still in build-out. "Concrete is poured, but waiting on walls, kitchen installs," Nate said. "A few months out." Phil weighed in with restaurant-build experience: once the baseline is done, equipment goes in, inspections happen, then training. "If you can do that in two months' time, you're really cooking."

Bluegrass Meats is going downtown. They're moving from their current spot near St. John Corner / Firestone / Roses — the gray and blue building — into the old Dairy Queen space that became ABC Food / Gulf Coast Connection (which itself had taken over from a previous barbecue restaurant). So in a small bit of full-circle: a barbecue concept moves back into a former barbecue building. "It's basically a trade," Nate said. "It will be a lot bigger." Owner Tommy Barney told Nate the grease trap is now installed — "which is huge, as they would know downtown" — and the sewer line was replaced. "That should be completed in the next few days. And our target opening is the second week of June. So about, I'd say, three weeks, we're going to have barbecue downtown."

On the Patriot Center outlots: Rachel asked what an anchor like Kroger Marketplace does to surrounding lots, and whether a second wave of development is coming. Nate's answer: yes, definitely. The sign has open outlot slots. "There's a planning commission I think is supposed to be meeting next week, so Friday there may be a release there. But I have seen nothing." One of the outlots is already spoken for (Publix). The coffee outlot is the second confirmed. That leaves more space. Names circling in conversation: Raising Cane's, Chipotle, Whataburger, Cookout. Nate softened it: "I'm not saying this is happening, but I would say that would be like a logical decision." He also noted that the Ring Road side of town doesn't have a KFC or an Arby's, so an existing chain could expand into the area without needing to be a new-to-market name. None of this is confirmed.

What this all means together: the Ring Road / Patriot Parkway corridor is becoming the second major retail anchor in Elizabethtown. With BlueOval contractor activity still ramping in Glendale (which Rachel covers separately in the housing market segment), the rental and commercial real estate demand on this side of town is going to keep pulling tenants and announcements through the summer.

If you spot a new sign going up, a permit posted, or a new business preparing to open — send it to Nate through the Hardin Local messenger channel or HardinLocal.com. He's running this segment on tips from the community as much as anything.