Shoppers at Towne Center Kroger will start noticing a few changes in the next couple of months.

The Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission Aug. 26 voted unanimously to approve nearly 14,000 square feet of expansion on the store’s south side. Expected to be completed by next summer, the project will increase shopping space by 25 percent.

The project first surfaced in mid-August when Kroger representatives proposed to add 13,920 square feet to the 55,000-square-foot grocery that anchors Towne Center Shopping Center along Ga. Highway 85 on the city’s south side. Kroger project engineer Fred Taylor said the expansion is expected to begin in early November.

The expansion will add another 80 feet of store frontage. The two current store fronts will be demolished by the expansion. One of the stores, Towne Center Florist, has moved to its new location several doors to the south in the shopping center.

The expansion would provide all the latest bells and whistles, Taylor told commissioners. The expansion would provide more space for the current product line and accommodations for an upscale deli, company representatives said.

City Planning Director Eldridge Gunn said Kroger is planning to match the current architectural design elements already in place. Also included the revised development plans were two large canopied towers that match the remainder of the brick building, said Taylor. Customers will enter and exit the store through an enclosed area positioned between the towers. The expansion will also include a pharmacy drop-off window on the south side of the building.

Shopping center owner Retail Planning Corp. co-owner Jim Ezell said Kroger will be a long-term tenant and will be signing a 20-year lease on the property.

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