Grocery Stores, Including Walmart and Kroger, Are Closing Locations, Starting Thursday
Sprouts, Amazon, and Stop & Shop all have closures planned this year.
While several grocery delivery services are available these days, many of us prefer to do our own shopping. Picking out produce is often tricky, and if the store is out of something you need, you can choose your own replacement rather than relying on someone else to go the extra mile. With that in mind, many devoted in-store shoppers will be dismayed to learn that Walmart, Kroger, and other grocery chains are closing certain locations soon, with closures beginning this Thursday. Read on to find out when and where these grocery giants are shuttering stores.
READ THIS NEXT: These Are All the Walmart Locations Closing Forever by the End of March.
Two Kroger stores are shutting down.
According to the Dayton Daily News, two Kroger stores in Ohio are closing on Thursday, March 9. The Krogers are located in Pinewood Plaza Shopping Center on S Smithville Road in Dayton, and Spinning Road Plaza in Riverside (a suburb outside of Dayton)—situated roughly two miles apart.
However, Kroger shoppers are in luck, as a larger store is opening to replace the two closing locations. The new Kroger is located between the closing stores, at the site of a former Kmart, per Dayton Daily News. A grand opening is scheduled for Friday, March 10, just a day after the Smithville Road and Spinning Road stores close.
Best Life reached out to Kroger for comment on the closures and the new opening, but has yet to hear back.
Several Walmarts are departing this month.
Since February, Walmart has announced a slew of impending store closures, including two in Illinois, one in New Mexico, and one in Florida, all of which are closing before the end of this week.
Two stores in Portland, Oregon, are on the chopping block as well, closing for good on March 24. Yet another closure, however, will affect shoppers in Washington, D.C.
In a statement to Best Life, the big-box retailer confirmed that the Walmart at 99 H St. NW is closing for good on March 31. The pharmacy will shut down ahead of time, on March 17.
"We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our H Street location," Felicia McCranie, director of global communications at Walmart, previously told Best Life. "We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com."
READ THIS NEXT: Best Buy Is Closing 17 Stores This Week, With Dozens More to Come.
Sprouts is closing 11 stores.
Sprouts Farmers Market is closing nearly a dozen locations this year as well, executives announced last week. Ten stores are slated to close by the second quarter of 2023, a spokesperson confirmed to Best Life, while one location has already shut down for good.
"As part of a recent real estate portfolio review, we expect to close 11 stores," Chip Molloy, chief financial officer for Sprouts, said in a March 2 press release. "The closing stores, on average, are approximately 30% larger than our current prototype and are underperforming financially."
According to Winsight Grocery News, Sprouts considered closing these stores back in 2020, but ended up going in a different direction. "We consciously decided not to close those stores as the pandemic struck, so our communities would have access to fresh, healthy groceries," Molloy said during a March 2 earnings call.
Closing stores are in parts of Texas, California, Georgia, Florida, and Washington, per the Sprouts spokesperson—and once they're gone from, they're gone for good. "You won't see direct replacements coming in those geographies going forward because they're probably in the wrong place," Jack Sinclair, CEO of Sprouts, said on the call, per Winsight Grocery News.
In a statement to Best Life, Dan Sanders, chief store operations officer for Sprouts, called the decision to close "difficult," noting that the grocery chain is now focused on opening "smaller format stores" and working to help team members stay employed at Sprouts. "We greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication these team members have put in over the years and hope they will continue to work for Sprouts," Sanders said.
For Sprouts fans, it's worth noting that the company also has plans to open 30 new stores in 2023. "We are optimistic about our ongoing cash generation and our ability to invest in our business for growth," Molloy said in the press release.
Stop & Shop is axing two locations as well.
Regional grocery chain Stop & Shop also has a couple closures on the docket. On March 23, the store in Highland Park, New Jersey, is permanently shutting down.
"Stop & Shop conducts reviews of its business performance on a regular basis, and this store was identified as underperforming relative to financial expectation," a spokesperson previously told Best Life, confirming that no other New Jersey Stop & Shop stores are slated to close.
But Massachusetts residents will say goodbye to a Stop & Shop store in Brockton, The Enterprise reported. A spokesperson confirmed the closure to Best Life, noting that the company plans to keep the store open "through late summer 2023."
"Stop & Shop has made the difficult decision not to renew the lease for our store located at 932 North Montello Street in Brockton, Massachusetts, as the store was not meeting financial expectations," the spokesperson said. "All associates will be given the opportunity to transfer to other Stop & Shop locations. Nearby Stop & Shop stores in Stoughton, Abington, and Whitman look forward to welcoming Brockton customers later this year."
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Amazon Go convenience stores are shuttering next month.
Even Amazon isn't safe from store closures, as the retail giant is closing eight Amazon Go locations, the company confirmed. Come April 1, Amazon is closing two convenience stores in Seattle, two in New York City, and four in San Francisco.
"Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way," an Amazon spokesperson told Best Life. "In this case, we've decided to close a small number of Amazon Go stores in Seattle, New York City, and San Francisco."
The spokesperson added, "We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores."
