CARY – Startup Myxx has cooked up a new partnership to expand their shoppable recipe platform nationwide and on Tuesday served it up for their users to enjoy. But it’s with a Kroger-affiliated magazine and Kroger is taking a big hit in the Triangle. So will Mixx be hurt by the closings?

First, the new partnership: It’s with Live Naturally Magazine allows readers to click on a digital Live Naturally recipe and create an instant shopping cart, the company said in a statement. In addition, the magazine will also incorporate interactive elements into the print publication, which is exclusively offered at 1,437 Kroger stores nationwide.

The Myxx team

Of course, that 1,437 will soon be 1,423—all 14 Kroger stores in the Triangle will close by August 14. Though Kroger is under contract with Harris Teeter—an independently-operated subsidiary of Kroger with headquarters in Matthews, NC—and Food Lion to take over some of the grocery stores, more than 1,500 people in the Triangle will lose their jobs, and dozens of neighborhoods will lose their local grocery store and pharmacies.

“The Kroger closings in the Triangle do not impact Myxx,” said Dede Houston, COO of Myxx. “We do not have an official partnership with Kroger.” The company does not yet partner directly with any grocery store, said Houston, choosing to approach their solution from a consumer-first perspective.

In January, Myxx expanded their technology to make it possible for their application to be used on Kroger’s ClickList.com online portal, a method which was piloted through a prior partnership in 2017 with Harris Teeter in 240 stores in the Southeast.

“Our user growth in terms of new users and returning visitors has been tremendous,” said Houston. “The majority of our users are using Myxx to plan their list online, and shop for the items in store.” Those who elect to shop online rather than in-store do so with Myxx an average of five times every two months, said Houston.

The company continues to measure success by new user growth, repeat users, and what users add to their shopping cart.

“I really enjoy the recipes and how easy it is to just pick the recipe and then add it to cart and check out through online pickup,” said Christina, a resident in Kernersville, NC and a Myxx user who elected not to share her last name. The company is measuring how they have influenced which items end up in shopping carts and customer satisfaction, said Houston, gathering feedback from users in a variety of fashions.

Changing grocery landscape

The grocery store landscape in the Triangle is changing. When grocery stores close, they can leaveneighborhoods at risk of becoming food deserts, with lack of easy access to grocery stores that provide fresh produce and healthier options than fast food, takeout, delivery, or convenience stores.

According to the USDA’s 2015 Report on Food Insecurity, North Carolina is the 10th hungriest state in the U.S. One in four children in North Carolina battles hunger on a regular basis, and an estimated 604,000 households rank as having low or very low food security, meaning they often make tough choices about the amount or the quality of food they can provide to their families, or, that they miss meals.

The study found that 90 percent of these households reported anxiety about running out of food, 80 percent could not afford a well-balanced meal for everyone in their household based on their income, and 96 percent of individuals in very low food security homes reported they’ve skipped a meal in order to make food last longer.

Technology can help

Technology could and eventually will be able to solve the problem of food deserts, said Houston. “Myxx will work to identify ways in which we can build and partner with others to help solve this issue.” Helping connect people to local stores and leverage a delivery service is one method the company has envisioned.

“We believe our service helps people identify the closest store to them, and what is available to them today,” said Houston, “in the future we will find ways to connect with delivery services.”

Myxx already connects to additional Kroger brand stores including Ralph’s, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Kroger, and Harris Teeter. Grocers and leading brands such as Kraft, Barilla, Perdue and McCormick, are using Myxx to expand their online presence and impact, drive customer sales, engagement, and loyalty to compete with the ever-expanding consumer demand for online, personalized shopping experiences.

“Myxx will rapidly expand to other sites and applications,” said Monica Wood, founder and CEO of Myxx. “Bringing together content and commerce is the future of shopping.”

Kroger store closings

14 Kroger stores are expected to close by August 14. Eight will become Harris Teeters and one will become a Food Lion. The stores are:

3420 Southwest Durham Drive, Durham
3825 S. Roxboro St., Ste. 101, Durham
202 W. NC Hwy 54, Durham (will become a Harris Teeter)
3457 Hillsborough Rd., Durham (will become a Harris Teeter)
5116 N. Roxboro Rd., Durham (will become a Harris Teeter)
1802 North Point Dr., Durham (will become a Harris Teeter)
1273 N.W. Maynard Rd., Cary (will become a Harris Teeter)
940 US Hwy 64, Apex (will become a Harris Teeter)
1371 E. Broad St., Fuquay-Varina (will become a Harris Teeter)
8345 Creedmoor Rd., Raleigh (will become a Harris Teeter)
7905 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh (will become a Food Lion)
6300 Creedmoor Rd., Ste. 150, Raleigh (will become a Crunch Fitness)
350 Six Forks Road, Raleigh
2680 Timber Drive, Garner