Kroger’s decision to experiment by adding clothing, shoes and other apparel at its large Marketplace store in Mansfield reflects the grocery giant’s strategy to compete aggressively with discount supercenters that have entered its turf, a University of Dayton marketing specialist said Thursday.

“Kroger wants to show its teeth” to its competitors, said Serdar Durmusoglu, UD assistant professor of marketing. Kroger already has pharmacies and gas stations at many of its stores, and its potential expansion into apparel suggests that the Cincinnati-based grocery chain will fight to retain its market share against large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart, Meijer and Target, and against the growing dollar-store industry, which all have expanded their grocery selections in recent months, Durmusoglu said.

“The concept of one-stop shopping is definitely on the rise,” the UD professor said, and Kroger wants to be a major player in that retailing sector.

The test will be watched closely by hundreds of independent and national grocers, Nate Filler, president and CEO of the Ohio Grocers Association, told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“There is only about a 1 percent profit margin in the grocery business, so the best thing you can do is increase traffic in the store,” Filler said. “Other grocers will be taking note to see if this is a trend they will eventually need to pick up on.”

Kroger is scheduled to unveil the new offerings today as part of a grand reopening of the Mansfield store, which will stock clothing, shoes and jewelry, and will feature expanded automotive and hardware departments. The store scaled back its furniture offerings to make room for the apparel and hardware items, said Jackie Siekmann, spokeswoman for the Columbus division of Kroger that includes Mansfield.

Rachael Betzler, a spokeswoman for Kroger’s stores in the Cincinnati, Dayton and Springfield areas, said Kroger officials will evaluate the customer response to the Mansfield test market before deciding whether to bring apparel to its large Marketplace stores in this area.

Kroger’s competition has intensified in recent years as Target stores added grocery selections in all of its stores, some dollar stores started test-marketing pharmacy services and grocery items, and Wal-Mart expanded many of its grocery departments.

As industry players climb onto the one-stop shopping bandwagon, Michigan-based Meijer three months ago celebrated the 50th anniversary of its “supercenter” stores that offer groceries and general merchandise under one roof and which helped pioneer the one-stop shopping concept.