While concern continues to rise about the cost of groceries, another major issue is quietly cropping up in your neighborhood: local grocery stores closing.
During its June 2025 earnings call, Kroger announced that it would shutter 60 locations over the next 18 months, citing underperformance. The closures also affect other brands under the company umbrella, including Fred Meyer, Fry's Food and Drug, Harris Teeter, Foods Co, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Mariano's, Pick 'n Save, and QFC.
Many consumers struggling with higher food costs have turned to discount grocery stores for relief, but those are also winking out of sight in some areas. Aldi is another chain closing stores in 2026, with locations shuttering in Minnesota, Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin. While the chain has plans to expand up to 3,200 locations by 2028, it needs to cut underperforming stores to reach that goal.
Grocery Outlet also falls into the discount category — and it's also closing stores. The chain announced in March 2026 that it would shutter 36 locations. CEO Jason Potter said that the chain stretched itself too thin with a rapid expansion plan. 24 locations included in the closure are on the east coast, translating into less discount grocery options for many consumers in need of them.
Now, another grocery has announced new closures, some affecting locations that have been open for decades.
Safeway's most recent closure was Newport, Oregon, at 2220 N Coast Hwy, a location that served locals for 30 years. The store closed its doors in July. This closure follows the Hechinger Mall location in Washington, D.C., which was open for 40 years and shuttered on May 16. Before that, the Hayward Safeway on Jackson St. in California's Bay Area closed in February 2026.
"Like all retailers, we are constantly evaluating our store footprint and have to look at every angle of the business. This includes our real estate portfolio. We are coming to the end of our lease at this location, and have made the decision to reinvest our resources into other existing stores," Safeway said in a statement in response to the Washington store closure.
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The closures are part of a strategic shift for Safeway's parent company, Albertsons. 30 Albertsons locations closed in 2025, and another 12 are on the chopping block for 2026 so far.
"We're continually looking at our store base and making decisions on whether to keep the stores or can we turn them around, can we change the profitability or making the difficult decisions from time to time to exit those stores. And we've not seen a dramatic shift or increase in store profitability at this time. Again, it's a pretty small number of our fleet," CEO Susan Morris said during the company's first-quarter earnings call.
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Kroger attempted to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion in October 2022, but the merger was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission in February 2024. Albertsons responded by suing Kroger, saying it didn't do enough to secure regulatory approval, and Kroger countersued. The lawsuits are currently ongoing.
For these companies, closing underperforming locations helps them stay on budget and make key moves in other areas. But for the consumers who have relied on the stores for decades, it creates a much larger problem.
Each closure removes a full-service grocery option from that neighborhood, which matters most in areas without many alternatives nearby. Both the Washington, D.C. and the Oregon Safeway had operated for decades — long enough that residents built shopping habits, transportation routines, and in some cases, food-access dependence around them.