Kroger announces closure of 60 stores nationwide in the next 18 months

Kroger, the supermarket giant, has announced its plans to close 60 stores across the U.S. over the next year and a half on Friday, June 20.

The reason? Kroger's first quarter 2025 sales report, as they expect a "modest financial benefit" from closing almost 60 locations. In their statement, Kroger announced that this measure was part of an ongoing strategy to optimize operations, and compete with changing consumer habits and inflation in the grocery sector.

However, the company has also announced its intention to improve customer experience as a reinvestment, from the savings of the closures.

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Why is Kroger closing almost 60 stores?

According to Interim CEO Ron Sargent, the stores closing are spread across the country, but they plan to spend between $3.6 billion and $3.8 billion in 2025 on new stores and expanding the existing ones.

These changes come after Rodney McMullen, the former CEO abruptly resigned on March, after an ethics investigation and Sargent took over the position. While it may seem unexpected, this decision comes after two rounds of layoffs of a non-disclosed number of employees, and sales dropping to $45.1 billion, compared to $45.3 billion for the same period in 2024. 

Kroger currently employs 409,000 workers nationwide.

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What will happen to the Kroger employees after the closure of 60 locations?

According to Kroger's spokesperson, Erin Rolfes, they will not be releasing a full list of the stores closing yet. However, as the company currently operates 2,731 stores, closing 60 stores, only represents about 2% of all of its locations.

Nonetheless, it still means a lot of their employees will have their routine disrupted. Kroger has stated that the employees of the closing locations will not be unemployed; as they will have new roles in the remaining stores.

Kroger to close 60 stores: North Texas store is the first one confirmed

We officially have the first Kroger store on the list of 60 locations set to close in the next year and a half. According to a Kroger spokesperson, the store at 1707 W. University Drive in McKinney, Texas, is one of those affected by the closures.

"This closure is part of a larger company-wide decision to run more efficiently and ensure the long-term health of our business," he stated.