Fred Meyer, QFC owner Kroger to close 60 stores

Kroger, the parent company of regional grocery chains Fred Meyer and QFC, will close dozens of stores nationwide in the next year and a half.

The company shared Friday its plans to shutter approximately 60 stores over the next 18 months. The closure announcement was disclosed along with Kroger’s first-quarter financial disclosures.

Based in Cincinnati, Kroger operates more than 2,700 stores across 35 states – including 59 QFC locations in Oregon and Washington and 132 Fred Meyer stores across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

A Kroger spokesperson declined to release a list of specific locations slated to close or confirm whether it would include stores in Oregon or southwest Washington.

In its quarterly earnings call, the company said it identified an impairment charge – or reduced value of specific asset – of $100 million related to the 60 store closures. Kroger expects a “modest financial benefit” as a result of the closures and will offer roles at other stores to all affected employees, according to the release.

In 2022, Kroger mounted a failed bid to buy rival grocery chains Albertsons and Safeway. As part of the deal, the companies would have sold off redundant stores to preserve competition in overlapping markets, including nearly 200 Kroger locations across the Northwest. A judge blocked the sale last year.

Kroger reported $866 million in net profits for the first quarter, slightly less than the same period a year ago, but the results nonetheless pleased Wall Street. The report, published shortly before markets opened Friday, sent shares in the company soaring 9.8% to close at $71.97.