Looks like work is moving along for the new Bluffton Kroger. But when will it open?

As work continues at the location of a new Kroger planned for Bluffton, the company announced a tentative opening date.

The Kroger being built within Buckwalter Place is set to open in June of next year, according to Felix Turner, corporate affairs manager for the South Carolina branches.

“The store should be open by sometime in June 2019,” Turner said. “We don’t have a definite date on the store.”

Work on a gas station appears to be moving along at the location.

Turner said Kroger gas stations traditionally open before the grocery stores, but he does not have an opening date for the gas station.

Buckwalter Place is already home to Publix grocery store with smaller shops and restaurants surrounding it.

Representatives from the Kroger said last spring that it would open this summer. However, work was halted on the 113,000-square-foot building when Kroger requested a change in size and layout, said Mark Senn, president of Southeastern, the company developing the site.

Work started again in January.

An outdoor mall, including retail space, will be built around the store. Tenants in those spaces remain unknown.

Senn said in January that restaurants are in talks about the space and that the Technical College of the Lowcountry may open a culinary school at the site.

This story was originally published August 28, 2018 at 9:17 AM.