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Kroger plans to close 60 US stores in 18
months to improve profits
[June 26, 2025]
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
Kroger
plans to close around 60 U.S. grocery stores over the next 18 months to
improve efficiency.
The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company announced the plan during a corporate
earnings call last Friday. The company hasn’t said which stores it plans
to shutter, but said the closures will happen around the country. It
also said employees at impacted stores will be offered jobs at other
locations. |
A customer moves purchases at a Kroger grocery store in Flowood, Miss.,
June 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) |
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“We
see this as an opportunity to move these closed store sales to
other stores, and we think that should improve profitability,”
Kroger’s interim Chairman and CEO Ronald Sargent said during the
call.
Sargent also said Kroger plans to open at least 30 stores this
year and will accelerate its store openings in “high-growth
geographies” next year.
A message seeking details of the company's plans was left
Wednesday with Kroger.
Kroger is the nation’s largest supermarket chain, with 2,731
stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia. It operates
stores under multiple brand names, including Smith’s, Ralphs,
King Soopers and Fred Meyer.
Sargent said Kroger usually evaluates the performance of
individual stores on an annual basis but it deferred any store
closings during its two-year effort to merge with rival
Albertsons. The two companies announced the $24.6 billion merger
plan in 2022 but the deal fell apart late last year after two
judges blocked it due to concerns about competition.
Kroger's plan to close stores comes as the company is facing
labor unrest over issues including chronic understaffing at
stores, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers
union. Union members in Southern California began picketing at a
Los Angeles Ralphs last week. Workers at King Soopers stores in
Colorado also went on strike earlier this year.
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