Stop & Shop to close underperforming stores

Grocery chain Stop & Shop is planning to shutter underperforming stores to ensure viability. 

“Stop & Shop will make some difficult decisions to close select underperforming store locations to help ensure the long-term health and future growth for our business,” a spokesperson for the company told FOX Business. 

The company didn’t disclose how many stores would be impacted, but said that it “continues to hold a strong market share position in the Northeast.”

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE BOUNCED BACK IN MAY AFTER MONTHS OF DECLINE

It has a portfolio of nearly 400 stores and completed more than 190 remodels to date, which the company said continues to perform well.

Ahold Delhaize, Stop & Shop’s parent, also operates Food Lion, Hannaford, Giant Food and The Giant Company in the U.S. 

The news comes shortly after Outfox Hospitality’s Foxtrot Market posted on X that all 33 Foxtrot and 2 Dom’s locations in Chicago, Texas and the D.C. area are abruptly closing after finding no viable option to continue operating. 

HIGH INFLATION IS HITTING PARENTS HARDEST

In a September 2023 report, McKinsey and Co. warned that grocery executives are facing “a host of new challenges,” namely flat growth and margin pressure.

On one hand, though, inflation has fallen from its peak of 9.1% in 2022, offering “executives a respite from having to choose between passing on cost increases to consumers or pushing them toward lower-cost options,” according to McKinsey. 

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Still, the consulting firm warned that while inflation has fallen and supply shortages have moderated, “the lingering effects of these trends and consistent pressure on margins have dampened the outlook.”