CBD News

Mega-grocery chain Kroger adds CBD products to Dallas-Fort Worth shelves

Topical CBD products will be available at some Texas Kroger stores.

Photo courtesy of Shot Cellar

In a move that illustrates just how mainstream CBD — or cannabidiol — has become, mega grocer Kroger is now selling hemp-derived CBD topical products in its Texas stores, including 74 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The CBD offerings, which have been in stores since late July, include lotions, balms, oils, and creams.

Texas becomes one of 22 states in which the Kroger chain will sell the topical products, according to a release. The change comes after a bill authorizing the regulated production and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products was passed and signed in early June by Texas lawmakers.

Kroger operates a total of 110 retail food stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Along with Texas, Kroger stores in Georgia, Montana, Utah, and Virginia will be the latest to add the topical products to store shelves. Products containing the legal limit of 0.3 percent or less of THC will be clearly labeled, per the store.

It's no surprise that grocery chains are adding CBD to their carts, as the surge in the marketplace has been nothing short of smoking. Cannabis industry analysts the Brightfield Group estimates that the hemp-CBD market could hit $22 billion by 2022.

As the non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, CBD is said to help with issues ranging from anxiety to epilepsy. Once only available in specialty stores, CBD products are now common in beauty aisles and cafes. As CultureMap previously reported, country legend Willie Nelson even boasts his own line of CBD products.

“Like many retailers, we are now offering our customers a highly curated selection of topical products that are infused with hemp-derived CBD,” said Sparkle Anderson, Kroger Houston division’s corporate affairs manager, in a statement. “Our selection of CBD topical products are from suppliers that have been reviewed for quality and safety.”

marijuana health

University News

Univ of Texas at Arlington gets OK to proceed on west Fort Worth campus

Courtesy rendering

UTA West campus coming soon

A new university campus is in the works for west Fort Worth. According to a release, a proposal by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) to purchase 51 acres of property in west Fort Worth got the thumbs up from the University of Texas System Board of Regents, paving the way for UTA West, a new campus that would be built in the Walsh Ranch development.

Advantageously positioned at the intersection of I-30 and I-20 at the western gateway of Fort Worth, the new campus could begin welcoming students as early as fall 2028.

UTA West will be developed as part of a multiyear plan to serve more than 10,000 students.

“Anytime the UT System can expand greater educational opportunity, access, and affordability to Texans, we’re going to do it,” says UT System Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife in a satement. “We’ve recently done it in east Texas and south Texas and now we’re heading west. We’re looking forward to planting a UT Arlington flag in west Fort Worth, currently the nation’s fastest growing city.”

"The western part of the metroplex has an ever-growing population, a plethora of student talent, and a wide breadth of opportunity for explosive economic advancement. UTA has long been a top supplier of talent to companies across Fort Worth, and this expansion will allow UTA to broaden its impact across our region,” said UTA President Jennifer Cowley.

Walsh Ranch is the 7,200-acre development in west Fort Worth that calls itself "Fort Worth's next great neighborhood," being developed with neighborhoods, town centers, mixed-use areas, and commercial space.

And now a university campus.

UTA in Fort Worth
The new campus would be only the latest in a decades-long partnership between UTA and the city of Fort Worth. That includes the UTA Research Institute (UTARI), a facility established in east Fort Worth in 1986; and the UTA Fort Worth Center, a continuing education center for the downtown Fort Worth community established in 2007.

In 2023, the UTA Institute of Urban Studies, the principal research center for the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs, opened at UTA’s Fort Worth Center with a mission is to conduct research and provide technical assistance to city and county governments, governmental agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and to offer education and teaching opportunities to individuals either already in or contemplating public service careers.

The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution with an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, and is the second-largest institution in the UT System. In 2021, its combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributed to its reaffirmation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and in 2022 earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success.