Major grocery chain confirms closure of five locations

While running a grocery business was never easy, lately it seems even harder. We all need groceries every day, but unfortunately, not everyone can afford them.

Over the last few years, grocery chains have been hit hard, starting with the Covid pandemic, which hugely impacted supply chains and overall purchases. Brick-and-mortar stores are also battling vast e-commerce competition.

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In addition, businesses are dealing with higher labor and operational expenses, rising food prices, inflation, and tariff challenges that directly impact consumers' wallets and direct their preferences.

Managing volatile customers’ appetite is more than challenging. Consumer preferences are often changing, even without the threat of rising prices due to tariffs.

In 2024, the highest number of grocery stores closed since 2020. Cresight Research CEO Deborah Weinswig says consumers not only want the best price, but also have less patience for disorganized stores with out-of-stock items and poor customer service, writes Business Wire.

Cresight Research projects there will be approximately 15,000 retail store closures this year, versus anticipated 6,000 openings.

We've already seen plenty of closures in the first half of the year. So who is surviving?

Earlier this year, Kroger, Harris Teeter's parent company, announced it plans to close 60 stores over the next 18 months.

Image source: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Walmart, Amazon Fresh, and more recent closures

According to University of Pennsylvania Marketing Professor Barbara Kahn, there is no single reason for the closures, since grocery is a business with slim profit margins.

However, she says it doesn’t necessarily mean the current situation will result in only small independent grocers closing.

On the contrary, she says smaller stores that actually listen to their customers might end up as winners, writes Patch.

Huge grocery chains often close several underperforming stores but also open new ones in better locations. When a large chain closes a few stores, it doesn’t necessarily mean the company is struggling; it signals that it is adjusting operations to maximize profits.

Walmart, Amazon Fresh, Piggly Wiggly, Safeway, Dollar General, Shaw’s, Winn-Dixie, and others are among the large grocery chains that closed some locations this year.

In April, Walmart confirmed the permanent closure of at least five stores in California, two locations in Georgia, and stores in Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Colorado. At the same time, the giant retailer announced plans to open 159 locations over the next few years.

More Retail:

Earlier this year, Amazon closed a Whole Foods Market store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill area seven years after opening it. It also closed an Amazon Fresh grocery store in Federal Way, Wash., less than three years after it opened.

Last month, one of the largest supermarket chains in the country, Kroger, announced plans to close 60 stores over the next 18 months.

Here are the latest locations under the Kroger umbrella to close.

Five Kroger’s Harris Teeter stores close, offer 50% discount sale

In 2014, Kroger (KR) acquired a popular Southern supermarket chain, Harris Teeter, in a $2.5 billion deal. The acquisition helped Harris Teeter keep many locations that would likely have been closed during or right after the pandemic.

As of January 2025, Harris Teeter had 262 stores across seven states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Delaware, and Maryland.

According to Blanquivioletas, This summer, Harris Teeter confirmed the closure of five locations across three states:

Maryland

11845 Old Georgetown Rd., Rockville, Maryland – closed by July 20

North Carolina

5563 Western Blvd., Raleigh, North Carolina – closed by July 20

Virginia

8200 Crestwood Heights Dr., McLean, Virginia – closed by July 20
950 S. George Mason Dr., Arlington, Virginia – closed by July 20
3600 S. Glebe Rd., Suite W100, Arlington, Virginia – closing by Aug. 4

At the end of June, Harris Teeter announced a 25% to 50% discount on a wide range of products such as frozen goods, cosmetics, hair care items and more across the stores set to close. This suggests the store at 3600 S. Glebe Rd W100 in Arlington is still offering discounts.

The company noted it doesn’t plan any layoffs, meaning employees will have a chance to relocate to other stores.

Harris Teeter stated that the above locations were carefully selected for closure as part of a strategic market review.