An online fulfillment site in Virginia linked to Harris Teeter will close early next year as Kroger pares back its delivery network that includes large fulfillment centers as well as smaller spoke facilities.
A WARN notice filed early last week disclosed that an Alexandria, Virginia, fulfillment facility, which Kroger confirmed in an email to Grocery Dive is a spoke facility, will permanently close by Feb. 1, resulting in the layoff of 91 non-union employees. This marks the second fulfillment center specifically for Harris Teeter stores that Kroger said it’s closing, the first being its Frederick, Maryland, customer fulfillment center.
Harris Teeter’s Frederick CFC powered the proprietary delivery service the Kroger banner launched in 2023 in Washington, D.C., as well as in Baltimore and throughout greater Maryland. Spoke facilities like the one in Alexandria serve as cross-docking sites where delivery orders ship out to consumers.
“After thorough evaluation and strategic review, the decision was made to close the facilities that supported HT Delivery. Harris Teeter customers can continue to enjoy delivery through our well-established third-party delivery providers, with the same access to their favorite products and the personalized offers and savings they expect from Harris Teeter,” the Kroger banner said in an emailed statement.
The Frederick facility is one of the three automated customer fulfillment centers that Kroger has decided to close in early 2026 following a “comprehensive review,” the grocer disclosed last week. The other two CFCs the company is shuttering are in Groveland, Florida, and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
While Kroger’s announcement last Tuesday only listed the shuttering of three fulfillment centers, WARN notices filed by the company indicate other facilities are on the chopping block, including spoke facilities in Jacksonville, Rockledge and Tampa, Florida, which receive orders picked at the Groveland center. Kroger has not disclosed if any other CFC or spoke sites are slated to close.
