Kroger Plans to Close 60 Stores in Wake of Union, Leadership Troubles

The parent company of Southern California staples, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, plans to close 60 stores within the next two years, despite the current strength of the retail sector and grocery-anchored shopping plazas in particular. 

Grocery giant Kroger announced the closures to roll out over the next 18 months in its recently released earnings report. The company, which owns other retail brands such as Fred Meyer and Harris Teeter, did not specify which locations or brands would close. The L.A. Times first reported the news.

The closures will cost Kroger some $100 million, though will ultimately result in a “modest financial benefit,” per its earnings report. The company said the closures would not affect its year-end guidance because it planned to reinvest those savings into the “customer experience.”

Kroger operates over 2,700 stores across the U.S., including 182 Ralphs and 90 Food 4 Less locations in California. It also employs more than 32,000 associates across the Golden State; the company said it would offer roles to all employees affected by the shutterings. 

A spokesperson for Kroger declined to comment.

Despite the current robust condition of retail real estate’s fundamentals, and the enduring attractiveness of grocery plazas to investors, Kroger has found itself in an uncomfortable spot midway through 2025.

The union representing Ralphs employees, United Food and Commercial Workers, voted earlier this month to authorize a strike in Southern California to protest unfair labor practices. Some 45,000 Ralphs, Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions are preparing for a possible walkout as bargaining negotiations resumed this week. 

“For months, we’ve pushed for real solutions to short staffing, unsafe conditions and unfair wages, and while we had some good discussions on staffing in this session, we still don’t have satisfactory results from Kroger and Albertsons,” the union said in a statement earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s former chairman and CEO, abruptly resigned in March amid a board investigation into his personal conduct, which was “inconsistent with Kroger’s policy on business ethics,” according to the company.

Kroger’s long-awaited $25 billion merger with fellow grocery empire Albertsons was also blocked by a federal judge in December. The merger, which would’ve been the largest supermarket merger in American history, was all but a done deal just a few years ago. Yet concerns from the Federal Trade Commission about anti-consumer effects ultimately derailed the deal. 

“This historic win protects millions of Americans across the country from higher prices for essential groceries — from milk, to bread, to eggs — ultimately allowing consumers to keep more money in their pockets,” the FTC said in December. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.