Kroger Marketplace Opens as Three E-town Brands Expand in KY

Key Takeaways

• The new Kroger Marketplace in Elizabethtown is open, and opening week drew huge crowds — wide aisles, more brands, a Murray's Cheese Shop, and an AI cart tracking system informing future layout changes.
• ANU Face Mind Body (Amy Nunn, APRN) holds its grand opening Thursday at 230 Buford Lane, Suite 108 — a med spa and integrative medicine and aesthetics practice that soft-opened in May.
• That Cute Little Shop, the downtown boutique known for custom Derby hats, is adding a Louisville store at Oxmoor.
• Boundary Oak Distillery is opening a Bardstown branch in the heart of bourbon country.
• Crowne Pointe Theatre is expanding to Glasgow, rehabbing the former Marquee cinema.
• Mulberry Nutrition celebrates a grand reopening near E-town High School.

Summary

Nate Bryan came back from vacation to a loaded week, led by the story he has tracked for a year: the new Kroger Marketplace is open, and Hardin County showed up in force. But the bigger theme of the week is outward growth. Three established Hardin County businesses — That Cute Little Shop, Boundary Oak Distillery, and Crowne Pointe Theatre — announced expansions to Louisville, Bardstown, and Glasgow in the same short stretch.

For a county that has spent years welcoming outside chains testing Kentucky in E-town, the flow going the other direction is a story worth pausing on.

Full Article

The Kroger hype had been building for a year, and opening week did not disappoint. Crowds were heavy enough that overflow parking spilled toward the gas pumps, and Nate reports the early shopper reviews are largely positive: wide aisles you can actually pass someone in, more brands and options on the shelves, and the Murray's Cheese Shop picking up gourmet duties. The most future-facing detail: Kroger is using an AI cart tracking system to study how people actually move through the store. If aisle 57 turns out to belong at aisle 23, they will move it. The crew also gave the new roundabout a passing grade, which in week one of a store this size counts as a win.

Thursday brings a grand opening with a personal touch: ANU Face Mind Body, from Amy Nunn, APRN, at 230 Buford Lane, Suite 108. It is a med spa and integrative medicine and aesthetics practice under one roof, and it has been soft-open since May, so Thursday is the official welcome.

Then the block Nate framed as the feel-good story of the week: Hardin County businesses expanding their reach.

That Cute Little Shop spent years on the downtown square before moving to its current spot near the Brown-Pusey House, and it has built a reputation well beyond the county for its custom Derby hats and fascinators, high-ticket pieces that can run several hundred dollars. Now it is adding a Louisville store at Oxmoor, one of Louisville's higher-end retail addresses. As Nate noted, the rent at a center with an Apple Store and Topgolf tells you exactly what clientele they are stepping up to serve.

Boundary Oak Distillery, headquartered next to Red Hill Cutlery, is adding a Bardstown branch. For a distillery, that is planting a flag in bourbon country's front yard, and Nate says the photos of the new spot already have people talking.

And Crowne Pointe Theatre, E-town's hometown cinema, has purchased Glasgow's former Marquee cinema and will rehab it as Crowne Pointe Glasgow. One theater at a time, as Nate relayed with a laugh, in response to the towns already asking to be next.

Phil put the question to Nate directly: what does it say about Hardin County business right now when we are exporting brands instead of just importing chains? Nate's answer, in short: these are businesses that earned it. They built loyal customer bases at home, refined what they do, and now they are taking it on the road.

Rounding out the week, Mulberry Nutrition is celebrating a grand reopening at its location in the small shopping center near E-town High School. Nate was upfront that he did not know what changed — new owners, a remodel, or just a fresh start — and put out an open call: if you know, tell him.

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