En esta noticia
- Grocery outlet has now closed 40 stores
- Why is grocery outlet closing stores?
- Sales are still growing, but existing stores face pressure
- The discount chain is not abandoning expansion
- Grocery outlet is also investing in its remaining stores
- What the closures mean for shoppers
- The company expects a different approach going forward
A major discount grocery chain is scaling back its store network after acknowledging that its rapid expansion went further than the business could effectively support.
Grocery Outlet has closed 12 additional stores, including nine connected to a broader plan designed to eliminate underperforming locations and improve the company’s financial performance. The latest closures add to dozens of stores the retailer has already shut down in 2026.
The move represents a significant change for a supermarket chain that spent years aggressively expanding across the United States.
Grocery outlet has now closed 40 stores
The latest round of shutdowns took place during the 13 weeks ending July 4, 2026. Nine of the 12 stores were part of Grocery Outlet’s Optimization Plan, which was introduced earlier this year after a review of the company’s store portfolio.
The original plan called for 36 underperforming stores to close. By the end of the second quarter, however, Grocery Outlet had completed 40 store closures overall, including all 36 locations targeted by the optimization initiative.
Despite the reductions, the company remains a sizable player in the discount grocery market. Grocery Outlet ended the quarter with 547 stores across 16 states.
Why is grocery outlet closing stores?
The closures are part of an effort to improve the performance of the company’s existing locations.
Grocery Outlet’s leadership has acknowledged that the retailer expanded too quickly, leaving the company with stores that were not generating the level of sustainable profitability it expected.
Rather than continuing to support every location, the company is now concentrating resources on stores with stronger long-term potential.
The strategy is intended to improve profitability, cash flow and the productivity of the retailer’s overall store network.
Sales are still growing, but existing stores face pressure
The latest financial figures help explain why Grocery Outlet is changing its approach.
Comparable-store sales declined 0.3% year over year during the second quarter of fiscal 2026. The average transaction size also fell 2.1%, although the number of transactions increased by 1.8%.
At the same time, the company’s total net sales increased 1.1%, helped by revenue from newer stores.
That combination highlights the challenge facing the retailer: Grocery Outlet is still generating growth, but some of its established locations are not producing enough sales to justify keeping them open.
The discount chain is not abandoning expansion
The closures may look like a retreat, but Grocery Outlet is not planning to stop opening stores.
The retailer opened 10 new locations during the second quarter and continues to expect between 30 and 33 net new stores during fiscal 2026, excluding the closures associated with its optimization plan.
The difference is that future expansion will be more selective.
Grocery Outlet says it plans to tighten its approach to choosing new locations and focus on a more clustered store strategy. The idea is to place stores in markets where the company can achieve better supply-chain efficiency and build stronger local operations.
Grocery outlet is also investing in its remaining stores
While some locations are disappearing, the company is also trying to improve the stores that remain.
Grocery Outlet is expanding a store-refresh initiative that focuses on layout, product assortment, value messaging and the overall shopping experience.
The retailer plans to have the program reach 100 stores by the end of 2026, according to its latest update.
That means the strategy is not simply about closing stores and cutting costs. The company is also attempting to make its strongest locations more attractive to shoppers.
What the closures mean for shoppers
For customers, the impact will depend heavily on where they live.
Grocery Outlet is still operating hundreds of stores, so the closures do not signal the disappearance of the discount chain. Instead, the company is attempting to concentrate its resources on locations it believes have better prospects.
For shoppers who rely on one of the affected stores, however, the closure could mean longer trips or fewer options for buying discounted groceries.
The changes also reflect a broader shift in the grocery industry, where retailers are increasingly examining individual store performance rather than simply pursuing a larger physical footprint.
The company expects a different approach going forward
Grocery Outlet’s latest moves mark a clear shift from its previous expansion strategy.
The retailer is now prioritizing profitability, location quality and operational efficiency over simply adding more stores.
The company expects its Optimization Plan to generate approximately $12 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA benefits. It also estimates that the restructuring will result in between $15 million and $24 million in net charges across fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027.
The actions are expected to be substantially completed by the first quarter of fiscal 2027.
For Grocery Outlet shoppers, the message is therefore mixed: more stores are closing, but the company is still growing.
The retailer’s strategy has changed from rapid expansion to a more selective model designed to make each location work harder. Whether that approach succeeds will determine how quickly Grocery Outlet can return to sustainable growth while maintaining its reputation for discounted groceries.