Grocery chain returning to Kansas City metro eyes Northland spot
Dillons — a Kansas-based grocery chain that’s been gone from the KC metro for several years — is eyeing a spot in the Northland.
The chain submitted plans to Kansas City to open a spot at 10807 N. Oak Trafficway, according to the documents filed in the city permitting system.
Before Dillons can open there, its plans must first be approved by the City Plan Commission.
Dillons did not officially confirm its plans for a Northland store, but a spokeswoman with the brand said the grocer was looking into multiple area locations.
“At Dillons we are actively exploring several potential locations and are energized by the interest and opportunities we are seeing,” she said in an email to The Star.
Dillons announced its return to the metro in October, starting with its Olathe location near College and Sunnybrook boulevards.
Construction has not yet begun on the Olathe location. Dillons could not confirm a timeline on the Johnson County location.
Dillons has been around for more than 100 years, beginning with J.S. Dillon’s first general store in Newton, Kansas, in 1921.
Mentions of Dillons grocery stores in The Star’s archives begin in the early ‘80s and end around 2008. Near that time, Associated Wholesale Grocers purchased several stores and converted some into Price Choppers. Others, meanwhile, closed.
Dillons locations included 588 E. Santa Fe St. in Olathe, 7405 Quivira Road in Shawnee and 16665 W. 151st St. in Olathe. There is currently a Dillons in Leavenworth at 720 Eisenhower Road.
Today, Dillons is owned by Kroger — a Cincinnati-based grocery chain.