Kroger grocery stores on the East Bluff of Peoria and in Limestone Township are to close permanently by the end of this month, it was announced Thursday.
The stores are located at 2321 N. Wisconsin Ave. in Peoria and at 3103 Harmon Highway, just west of the city limits. The Harmon Highway location is adjacent to South Peoria.
Ongoing poor financial performance is the reason for the closures, according to a news release issued by Kroger Central Division headquarters in Indianapolis.
"Kroger has long monitored operations, hoping the stores could return to profitability; however, recent evaluations suggest such improvement is no longer realistic," the news release stated.
The Kroger fuel center at the Harmon Highway location also is to close.
Other Kroger stores in Peoria are located at 801 W. Lake Ave., 9219 N. Lindbergh Drive and 3311 N. Sterling Ave.
The news release notes the Wisconsin Avenue store is about 3½ miles from the Sterling Avenue location, and the Harmon Highway store is the same distance from a Kroger at 1405 W. Garfield Ave. in Bartonville.
But the locations targeted for closure serve low-income areas that are at threat to become "food deserts" — sections with no comprehensive grocery stores. The Harmon Highway Kroger served as an alternative for South Peoria after a Sav-A-Lot grocery on Western Avenue closed last year.
The Kroger location on Lake Avenue is in the Evergreen Square shopping center. In late 2015, Kroger officials said the chain was planning to construct a Kroger Marketplace store at Evergreen Square, to replace its current facility.
The Marketplace store would be a larger-than-usual grocery that also would sell appliances, clothing and toys, among other things.
Despite subsequent assurances from Kroger that the new store still was in the company's plans, construction has yet to begin.
This story will be updated.