Why Grocery Outlet is closing some stores in California

In these pugnacious times, immoderate discount chains person been thriving, but California's Grocery Outlet has been closing stores arsenic it tries to remedy a hangover of overexpansion.

The Emeryville-based institution earlier this period announced plans to adjacent 36 underperforming stores nationwide due to the fact that of overexpansion by the extremity of the year. Nine of those volition beryllium successful California.

Grocery Outlet did not accidental which stores would close, but the advisory steadfast Gordon Brothers, the concatenation hired to grip its leases, listed 36 stores "available for sublease."

Six Southern California stores appeared connected the list: Azusa, Brawley, El Cajon, La Habra, Ontario and Poway.

In Central California, the Kerman, Patterson and Ridgecrest stores are expected to close. No stores successful Northern California appeared connected the list. Grocery Outlet did not respond to interrogation requests.

The institution has not said if determination volition beryllium layoffs associated with the closures.

Outside California, Grocery Outlet appears to beryllium closing 8 stores successful Maryland, six successful New Jersey and six successful Ohio, arsenic good arsenic a fewer successful Pennsylvania and Idaho. The institution does not program to afloat exit immoderate state.

Grocery Outlet inactive plans to unfastened much than 30 stores successful 2026. It has had a pugnacious year, reporting a nett nonaccomplishment of $225 cardinal for fiscal twelvemonth 2025, compared to a nett income of $39 cardinal successful 2024.

"Our outlook for 2026 reflects a concern that has much enactment to bash than we expected," Grocery Outlet Chief Executive Jason Potter said connected an net telephone earlier this month.

Grocery Outlet is hoping to crook things astir by closing struggling stores to absorption connected gathering clusters astir its high-performing ones, said Catherine Douglas Moran, an exertion astatine the commercialized work Grocery Dive.

The institution seemingly got up of request for its marque successful an effort to cater to investors' maturation mindsets, Moran said. The closures successful Cincinnati and Hazlet, N.J., bespeak locations that opened successful isolation struggled to perform.

The changes are meant to amended marque consciousness and deepen the company's cognition of user demographics and buying patterns, since managers of neighboring stores tin stock expertise, Moran said.

In December, Grocery Outlet told investors to expect weaker-than-usual income due to the fact that the authorities shutdown caused national nutrient assistance to lapse, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The institution said successful the filing that November 2025 comparable store income from EBT were down much than 8% compared to past year.

Grocery Outlet, founded successful 1946 successful San Francisco, is known for selling discounted overstock items, specified arsenic vacation foods and drinks nearing expiration. The institution and its subsidiaries person much than 560 stores crossed the U.S., astir of which are connected the West Coast.