Albertsons is closing stores: See a list of doomed locations for 2026 as the grocery giant evaluates its footprint

Shoppers in local communities across several states may discover that they have fewer supermarkets to choose from this year. Grocery giant Albertsons Companies has continued to close stores in recent months as reevaluates its store footprint in the wake of a failed merger with The Kroger Company. So far in 2026, at least a dozen locations have closed or have been marked for closure, according to an analysis of local media reports, online review platforms, and Albertsons’ own store locator tools. The closures have impacted stores across Albertsons’ portfolio of grocery and supermarket chains, including Acme, Balducci’s, Randalls, Safeway, and Vons, in addition to banner Albertsons stores. More than half of the closures were in California and Texas, with locations also shuttered in New Jersey, Connecticut, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. As reported in April, Albertsons ended its 2025 fiscal year with 2,244 physical stores, a net decline of 26 when compared to the previous year. Grocery store closures can have an especially corrosive impact on local communities. Researchers have long documented the rise of food deserts in low-income areas, which they attribute in part to industry consolidation. Despite this latest round of closures, Albertsons tells Fast Company that it expects to end its 2026 fiscal year with a net positive store count. Why is Albertsons closing stores? Albertsons spent two years planning to be acquired by its competitor Kroger in a $25 billion deal that would have created a 5,000-store grocery behemoth. But the companies abandoned the proposed merger in December 2024 after it was blocked by courts. During that two-year process, Albertsons had slowed down the potential optimization of its physical store footprint, a spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment, but that process has since resumed. “[Our network positioning] includes opening new stores in areas with strong demand and long-term opportunity, while also making the difficult