Harris Teeter a well known southern super market chain owned by Kroger is closing down five of their stores this summer. The number, which has been confirmed, may actually increase soon although there have been no further announcements made by its parent company.
Harris Teeter, as of January 2025, 262 stores in seven states, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C. but being part of Kroger since 2013 means that it has been able to keep a lot more locations open that it likely would have during and right after the pandemic. Kroger acquired the chain for $2.4 billion and while it has been a solid investment until now, the new world in which we live has made it so that it is harder to keep these smaller chains operational.
Regardless of the closures, and Kroger is planning extensive ones this year, with around 60 stores slated to close over the next 18 months, Kroger continues to be the largest supermarket operator in the U.S. by revenue and the country’s fifth-largest general retailer, as well as one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States.
It is no surprise, considering that Kroger runs a total of 2,719 grocery stores across 35 states and Washington, D.C., with a strong presence in the South, Midwest, and Western U.S. Its store types range from 134 multi-department locations and 2,273 combination stores to 191 marketplace stores and 121 discount warehouse-style outlets. Beyond groceries, Kroger also manages a broad network of operations, including 33 manufacturing facilities, 1,642 fuel centers, 2,254 pharmacies, 225 in-store clinics under The Little Clinic brand, and 127 jewelry stores. (The company sold off its 782 convenience stores to EG Group in 2018.)
Which Harris Teeter locations are closing down
For now, we only know about 5 locations that have been selected to shut down their operations, but the number could increase at any point given the restructuring that many supermarket chains are making to improve their finances. The locations will close down across three states, with most of the closings happening in Virginia:
Maryland
- 11845 Old Georgetown Rd. Rockville, Maryland, 20852 – closing by July 20
North Carolina
- 5563 Western Blvd, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27606 – closing by July 20
Virginia
- 8200 Crestwood Heights Dr. McLean, Virginia, 22102 – closing by July 20
- 950 S. George Mason Dr. Arlington, Virginia, 22204 – closing by July 20
- 3600 S. Glebe Rd., Suite W100 Arlington, Virginia, 22202 – closing by Aug. 4
As per usual with these closings the affected individuals are not he shoppers, but the employees of the stores, although Harris Teeter has stated that they are not planning any layoffs, which means they will be looking to relocate to other stores in the area the more than 100 employees impacted by the closures. Should they not want to be relocated, they will receive a compensation package.
In a statement from the company, Harris Teeter said that locations had been chosen after “careful consideration and strategic market review” and that only underperforming sores in well served areas were closing down. The company itself does not seem to be in particular distress, and the workforce of 35,000 that depends on them will not be suffering any downsizing as of right now.