"Kroger officials announce closing of Irvine grocery It is now official. The Kroger Company has announced that its Irvine store will close on July 12 (1986), and that there are no plans to build a new facility here. A Kroger spokesman read the statement to the Citizen Voice & Times Tuesday afternoon by telephone, "It is with regret that the Kroger Company has reached a decision to close the Irvine, Kentucky store on July 12, 1986."" - "Times Past," Citizen Voice & Times, Thursday, June 23, 2011, p.A5.