87-year-old retail grocery giant lays off 100s in store closings

Albertsons (ACI), a leading US food and drug retailer, is pulling back in the high-stakes North Texas market as part of a broader restructuring.

According to recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings listed by USA Today, the grocery giant will shutter two Tarrant County locations by late April, resulting in 138 layoffs.

This adds to a string of location closures by the grocery retailer, which spans California and Washington, D.C. These new locations add to its shrinking physical footprint, following the company's 2025 closure of 20 stores to survive as a standalone entity.

While the Euless and Fort Worth closures may seem like a local story, they underscore a rising trend of digital productivity amid cooling merger ambitions in an extremely competitive market.

Under the company banner are known names, including Safeway, Vons, Acme, Pavilions, Shaw's, and Tom Thumb, among others, with a combined strength of more than 2,200 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

The Kroger merger hangover

In 2024, the planned $24.6 billion merger between grocery giant Kroger and Albertsons collapsed due to antitrust concerns and concerns that it would reduce workers' bargaining power. 

This deal was a missed lifeline for a financially pressured Albertsons, as competition from Costco, Walmart, and Texas-based H-E-B continues to make staying relevant in this market extremely difficult. 

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Adding to the pressure is market manipulation by dominant grocery retail power buyers like Walmart, which is “contributing to higher food prices for American consumers,” according to the National Grocers Association.

As such, it is pushing local retailers such as Albertsons to brace for a brutal reality in which names like Walmart, with an over $1 trillion valuation, capture around 23% of the U.S. grocery market, followed by Kroger, which accounts for over 10% of the market, as reported by TheStreet.

Albertsons rebound strategy

During the company’s Q3 earnings call in January 2025, then-CEO Viveik Sankaran revealed that increasing digital sales was a pivotal part of its revival strategy.

“To engage customers, we have continued to invest in growth through four digital platforms. These platforms are designed to drive increased sales, more deeply engage our most loyal customers, increase customer lifetime value, and generate digital space and robust data for the Albertsons Media collective,” said former Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran.

One of these platforms is e-commerce, which is run out of the store and helped drive digital sales, accounting for 7% of total grocery revenue, Sankaran noted. Improvements in “quality, speed, and convenience of DriveUp & Go and in-home delivery” have also contributed.

In addition, Albertsons set a target to deliver $1.5 billion in savings to invest in growth initiatives and customer value propositions. These include automating the majority of the supply chain, rolling out AI technologies, and implementing a new warehouse management system.

Fast forwarding to its Q3 2025 earnings report released on Jan 7, 2026, the company noted a 21% increase in digital sales and a 12% increase in loyalty members, totaling 49.8 million. 

The report noted that Albertsons achieved improved results through smart investments in technology and AI, which have reshaped its customer interactions. These investments are also “driving smarter decisions, greater efficiency, and more personalized experiences,” said Albertsons CEO Susan Morris.

By closing underperforming locations and driving up digital performance, the grocery retailer aims to strengthen its foundation in a market that is comparatively under-penetrated compared to industry benchmarks.

Here are the Albertsons locations that have closed, resulting in layoffs, since January.

• Washington, D.C.:Safeway (Albertsons banner) is permanently closing its Maryland Ave, NE grocery location by May 16, and its pharmacy will close on April 1. It impacted 87 employees.
• California: In Escondido, a Vons location will close by May 1, affecting 65 employees; and in Redlands, a Vons location impacting 70 people will shutter starting March 19.
• Texas: The closure of the Euless location will impact 82 employees, and the Fort Worth location will result in 56 employees being laid off, both beginning in April 25, 2026.
  Total: 295 jobs cut

Related: Discount retail giant closes facility, lays off more than 300 people