Kroger to Close Dozens of Stores Across the U.S.

Beloved grocery brand Kroger has announced several store closings. The news was shared through an official announcement in June 2025, sparking sadness and concern over the fate of the company.

A from the company went on to confirm a bit more detail about the decision to close multiple Kroger locations, citing a lack of profitability in the regions where stores are being shuttered.

But, in a time when grocery prices are at an all-time high, and concerns mount about growing food deserts in areas across the country, is this a sign that Kroger will be closing more locations? See what the experts have to say below.

Ron Sargent, Kroger's interim CEO, made the announcement during a conference call that was held on Jun. 20, 2025, according to USA Today. Citing the earnings report from the first quarter in 2025, Sargent shared that the company could expect to see a "modest financial benefit" from closing an estimated 60 locations.

While Sargent didn't immediately release the locations of the stores said to be on the chopping block, the United Food & Commercial Workers labor union shared some details.

USA Today has compiled a running list of the closures it has been able to confirm, both using intel from the union as well as other avenues, and so far the publication has been able to confirm that four stores in Georgia, one in Illinois, two in Indiana, one in Kentucky, one in Maryland, one in North Carolina, one in Tennessee, two in Texas, five in Virginia, one in West Virginia, and five in Wisconsin are set to close.

You can check out the complete running list of store closings by visiting USA Today's website.

While this is disappointing news for those who shop in these stores, we imagine that it's going to be even harder for the employees who rely on these locations for work.

Fortunately, it does look like Kroger will try to retain all the employees currently on its staff, and offer them jobs at other nearby locations.

Despite a spate of closings, Kroger doesn't appear to be planning to pack it in for good. According to MarketPulse, Kroger plans to spend a whopping $3.6-3.8 billion on capital expenditures in 2025, which includes investing in automation and inventory.

Not only that, but it seems like the company wants to dump the underperforming stores so that it can reallocate resources to the areas that are seeing improvement, which includes its own brand name products.

MarketPulse reports that the company's private label brands — like Simple Truth and Private Selection — accounted for 35 percent of the store's sales in 2025. That was up from just 30 percent in 2023. That's good news for Kroger's bottom line for a lot of reasons. Not only does it increase their profit margin, but it also offers the store a bit more stability when it comes to issues with the supply chains, since the company is manufacturing these products itself.

Only time will tell how Kroger's plan will pan out, but for now it looks like information on store closures will continue to trickle in until Kroger officially makes their plan's public.