*By Amanda Weston*
Grocery chain Kroger launched a new delivery service Wednesday to compete with industry giants Amazon and Walmart.
[Kroger Ship](https://ship.kroger.com/) offers more than 50,000 products to online shoppers in Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, and Nashville. The chain aims to lure new customers with curated options, free shipping for orders over $35, and discounts.
Online shopping accounts for about 2 percent of the American food-and-beverage market, but it's rapidly expanding.
"When you look at all these new channels in the industry, they are growing extremely, extremely fast," Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief digital officer, said Thursday in an interview with Cheddar.
This isn't Kroger's first attempt at online delivery. The grocery chain has offered delivery service from almost half its 2,800 stories through Instacart.
The new service represents the chain's ambition to make shopping easier for its customers ー and help keep its brick and mortar businesses stable.
"The direct interaction with some of the fresh assortment ー produce, meat, seafood, cheese ー experiential engagement is still very important to them," he said. "They do, however, still want the convenience and simplicity that a digital engagement can offer."
Kroger is going up against Amazon, a formidable competitor, [which sold](https://www.wsj.com/articles/kroger-to-launch-grocery-delivery-service-1533117720) about $650 million worth of food items in the second quarter, up 40 percent from 2017.
As for Kroger Ship's future, Cosset said digital partnerships will also play a major role in growth.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/kroger-introduces-kroger-ship-delivery-service).
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, in partnership with the City Council, announced his commitment to closing off up to 100 miles of streets to make more space for city dwellers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Motion Picture Academy bends the rules for streaming movies this year to qualify for Oscars amid the coronavirus, but large theater changes push back against studios that want to release their films online breaking theater exclusivity even after the pandemic ends.
The scandal at he Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Brooklyn is illustrative of broader problems impacting New York City’s death care infrastructure amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
The spotlight is still on Quibi, which just launched on April 6 in the middle of the pandemic. Its Daily Essentials provides bite-sized chunks of news and lifestyle topics.
Sarah Cooper, the performer behind the viral video, talked to Cheddar Wednesday about why she chose to riff on the POTUS.
Some Amazon workers, members of a non-profit group focused on worker's rights called United For Respect, contend the $1.15 trillion company isn't doing enough to protect them from the coronavirus.
Damon Wayans Jr. and his business partner Kris Jones pivoted their Special Guest app, developed to book live entertainment, to
Julie Menin, director of New York City Census 2020, told Cheddar Wednesday that the pandemic is a stark reminder that the census is important.
Hightimes Holding Corp., the troubled company behind iconic High Times Magazine, has solidified its move into brick-and-mortar cannabis retail with the acquisition of 13 operational and planned California dispensaries from Harvest Health and Recreation.
Chingy told Cheddar Tuesday that it took only 45 minutes for him to produce the song with country duo Meg and Tyler.
