Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. plans to close four Maryland supermarkets under its Shoppers banner during the coming weeks, the grocery company said in an emailed statement.
- The stores, located in Essex, New Carrollton, Waldorf and Westminster, Maryland, are set to go out of business on or before Oct. 11.
- News of the impending closures comes as UNFI takes steps to rejuvenate its retail unit, which has recorded sluggish sales in recent quarters.
Dive Insight:
UNFI did not provide details about why it opted to close the Shoppers locations, which follows the company’s appointment last month of a new retail chief.
“We know the impact our stores have for the people who work in, shop in, and live in our communities,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Like any other retailer, we’re constantly working to optimize our footprint, which includes investing in stores as well as closing stores where necessary so we can operate as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
The spokesperson did not say how many associates will be impacted by the closures or if UNFI would offer them employment in other areas of the company, noting only that UNFI is “deeply grateful to our team members for their contributions and will support them through this transition.”
After the stores cease operations, UNFI will continue to run 17 Shoppers locations in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas. UNFI also operates about 50 grocery stores under its Cub Foods banner.
UNFI has been striving to strengthen the retail side of its business, in part through new leadership.
In early August, the grocer named David Best, former president and chief operating officer of Midwestern supermarket operator Coborn’s Inc., as president and CEO of retail. Best replaced Andre Persaud, who left UNFI in July after less than two years heading its retail group.
UNFI reported a sales increase of under 1% in its retail division during its most recent quarter — the first time that part of its operations saw sales rise on a quarterly basis since posting a 3.1% increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
UNFI derives the bulk of its sales from its wholesale operations, which have been on the rise. That segment of the company brought in about $7.7 billion during the third quarter of fiscal 2025, compared with retail sales of around $570 million. UNFI’s net sales during the period, which ended May 3, came to just over $8 billion.
Aside from retooling its retail operations, UNFI has been working to recover from a cyberattack in June that crimped its ability to serve wholesale customers. The company said in July that it expected the online attack to result in a sales hit of at least $350 million.
