Dive Brief:
- Natural Grocers aims to open between six and eight new stores during the grocer’s fiscal year, co-President Kemper Isely said during the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call on Thursday.
- The specialty chain announced on Friday plans to open its first Wisconsin store this spring.
- Isely told investors that Natural Grocers is targeting 4% to 5% annual new-store growth “for the foreseeable future.”
Dive Insight:
Natural Grocers, like fellow specialty chains, is looking to capitalize on the growing demand for health and wellness-focused grocery shopping.
In its last fiscal year, the specialty grocer debuted two new stores, relocated two locations and remodeled one store, according to the company’s annual report. Now, along with opening more new stores this year than last, the specialty grocer will also relocate or remodel two or three existing stores, Isely told investors Thursday. He added that most new store debuts will occur in the second half of fiscal 2026.
The soon-to-open Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, store will mark the 22nd state in which Natural Grocers operates.
Fueled by these store openings, Natural Grocers aims to achieve daily average comparable-store sales growth of between 1.5% and 4%. In fiscal 2025, that metric grew 7.3% from the prior year and 14.3% on a two-year basis, marking the specialty grocer’s 22nd consecutive year of positive daily average comparable-store sales, per Natural Grocer’s 2025 annual report.
Natural Grocers currently has 168 stores across 21 states.
