CINCINNATI — Building on an exploratory pilot that kicked off last October, Kroger Co. and Walgreens recently announced a new test area for the retailers, featuring the expansion of Kroger Express and Kroger Pickup at selected Walgreens stores as well as the launch of Walgreens’ owned-brand health and beauty products in 17 Kroger stores in Knoxville, Tenn.

Beginning this fall, 35 Walgreens stores in the area will feature a curated selection of Kroger’s popular Our Brands products, such as Simple Truth, America’s largest natural and organic brand, and national brand products.

The assortment will vary by store and can include fresh meat, produce and dairy, frozen food, shelf-stable products and Home Chef meal solutions to provide customers with a fill-in grocery shopping experience. Most locations will feature a full Kroger Express assortment, with up to 2,700 products, and other stores, on average, will offer 2,300 products.

“We continue to redefine the grocery customer experience and partner for customer value through our Restock Kroger transformation plan. Our growing relationship with Walgreens is just one more way Kroger is making life easier and better for even more customers — because everyone deserves to have affordable, easy-to-enjoy, fresh food,” said Jeff Talbot, Kroger’s vice president of new business development. “Expanding our pilot to Knoxville demonstrates the ongoing success and future potential of bringing together the best of Kroger’s food authority with Walgreens’ global expertise in health and beauty.”

Most of the Walgreens pilot stores will also provide customers with the convenience of Kroger Pickup.