Back in the 1980s, my mother went grocery shopping at the Stop & Shop closest to our house.
On rare occasions, we went to a butcher shop, and a nearby town had a fruit and produce store I remember visiting sometimes, but most shopping trips went to the store closest to where we lived.
Over the years, the geographic loyalty began to erode. BJ’s Wholesale entered that market, and eventually Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s moved in. Still, with no Amazon, Instacart, Uber Eats, or other delivery services, most of our grocery spend went to Stop & Shop.
That’s something that has radically changed, which has forced grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons to rethink their store footprints. Both chains have been closing stores in 2026, and both have entered into a significant review of their ongoing operations.
It’s a process that will lead to more shutdowns, which is partially being driven by changing consumer behaviors.
Consumers are skipping the grocery store
Americans have increasingly opted to buy their groceries online.
“Online food and beverage sales rose 15.5% during the four weeks that concluded Oct. 4 compared with the same stretch in 2025, according to data shared with Grocery Dive by Circana.
That’s taking sales away from grocery stores.
“Food and beverage sales through brick-and-mortar channels declined 2.8% year-over-year during the period, while overall sales for the sector moved down by under 1%,” the data showed.
Kroger has embraced this change and is trying to compete with digital rivals including Amazon and Walmart.
“When I look at the assets today, I believe our e-commerce business will grow to 30% of Kroger’s business in the long term. To do that, we need to be 3 things for our customers: fresh, fast, and personal,” Chief eCommerce Officer Nate Faust shared during the chain’s recent Investor Day.
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He does, however, see room for improvement.
“We will continue to get faster. Customer expectations on speed of delivery continue to increase every year, every month, every day. We already have the most important asset to deliver with speed, and that is our 2,700 stores. As we grow, we will add automation in our stores to fulfill orders faster, lower costs, and improve capital efficiency,” he added.
Both Kroger and Albertsons are reviewing their store portfolios
While stores are a key part of both companies’ delivery and digital plans, that does not mean all locations are safe.
Albertsons’ Executive Chairman shared fairly harsh remarks about the chain during its second-quarter earnings call.
“Market share trends have lagged, and despite many individual successes across the business, we’re not delivering results consistent with the quality of our assets. We must turn things around,” she said.
Doing that will require making some cuts, which will include stores closing.
“We must also take a close look at our portfolio of banners, markets, assets, and businesses as well as at potential strategic actions we can take to enhance shareholder value,” she added.
Consumers are opting to shop for groceries online more often.
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Kroger and Albertsons closures at a glance
- Kroger: At least 50 locations across 18 states had closed or were scheduled to close by October 22, 2026, according to a Fast Company review. Affected banners include Kroger, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, King Soopers, and Mariano’s.
- Albertsons: The company has not announced a specific nationwide closure target for 2026. It has continued evaluating underperforming locations following the failed merger. At least 12 locations across its banners had closed or were slated to close in 2026 as of May. This included Safeway, Vons, Acme, Randalls, and Albertsons stores, according to Fast Company.
- Safeway has already been selectively closing locations, according to TheStreet.
Can Kroger and Albertsons compete with Amazon and Walmart?
Morris understands the challenge Albertsons faces in competing with lower-cost rivals Amazon and Walmart.
The “biggest leakage” of lower-income customers was to “big pure-price players such as Walmart and Amazon,” she told Investing.com.
Mass marketers, which include Amazon and Walmart, have been gaining market share.
“Thirty-seven percent of shoppers consider mass retailers their primary destination for grocery purchases—up 6 percentage points YoY—compared with 36% who mainly visit supermarkets, according to FMI’s US Grocery Trends 2026 report.”
Albertsons, Kroger, and Ahold Delhaize USA each lost share in the 12 months ended June 30, according to a Numerator analysis of 15 food retailers. Amazon and Whole Foods posted the largest share gains, followed by Costco and Walmart, eMarketer reported.
“That gulf is widening as online competition ramps up. More grocery dollars are flowing to Amazon and Walmart thanks to their investments in fast delivery: We expect Amazon and Walmart, including Sam’s Club, to account for 75.7% of grocery ecommerce sales this year, up more than 3 percentage points from 2025,” the site shared.
Kroger and Albertsons do have advantages
As a consumer, I have often opted to order online, and that’s not always driven by price. Sometimes, I’ll choose Amazon for items I can wait for, but for same-day delivery of bulky items, I use Uber Eats to purchase from Target.
That can happen on days when my wife or I actually go to our local Publix. It’s just easier to have bottled water, cat food, and other heavy items delivered.
Grocery chains, however, do have some levers they can pull with consumers, according to RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino.
“Brand is a huge piece of this, but you have to understand what ‘brand’ actually means in grocery,” he told TheStreet. “Walmart’s brand is cheap. Costco’s brand is bulk trust. Kroger’s brand is convenience and reliability — it’s the store five minutes from your house where the produce is fresh, the aisles are familiar, and you’re in and out.”
Price, he noted, is not the only factor shoppers consider.
“Throw in house brands like Simple Truth and Private Selection that people actually like, and Kroger gives you a reason to shop there that goes way beyond fighting over who has the cheapest loaf of bread. You don’t need to be the flashiest giant on the block — you just need to be the easiest, most reliable choice in your own neighborhood,” he added.
