Grocery Outlet to open 15 - 20 stores in 2024; 100 approved sites for 2025 and 2026

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. is expanding its reach.

The extreme discount grocer opened 13 new stores during its fourth quarter, including its first location in Ohio, for a total of 468 stores in nine states. It plans to open 15 to 20 new stores in 2024.

“Our real estate pipeline is healthy, with approved sites for 2025 in good position to deliver our 10% annual growth goal,” CEO RJ Sheedy said during the company’s earnings call, adding that the company currently has over 100 approved sites for 2025 and 2026 combined.   

In addition, Grocery Outlet is set to expand its footprint with the acquisition of closeout retailer United Grocery Outlet, which operates 40 stores in the Southeast. The acquisition, expected to close at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2024, will expand Grocery Outlet’s presence into several new states: Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and Virginia. 

The deal also includes a distribution center, which can support additional new store growth in the broader Southeast region, Sheedy noted. 

“This is an exciting addition as we pursue our white-space opportunity of over 4,000 stores across the U.S.,” Sheedy told analysts.  

In other initiatives, Grocery Outlet plans to launch its first private label collection during the second half of this year, with a total of 100 items by the end of the year.  The initial focus will be in commodity categories.

Grocery Outlet reported that its sales increased by 6.3% to $989.8 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Comparable store sales increased by 27%, driven by a 7.5% increase in the number of transactions, partially offset by a 4.5% decrease in average transaction size. For the full year, net sales rose 10.9% to $3.97 billion.

“The closeout market remains strong, and our growing size and scale provide increasing access to products with strong customer value and healthy margin,” Sheedy said.

Emeryville, Calif.-based Grocery Outlet is a high-growth, extreme value retailer of name-brand consumables and fresh products sold through a network of independently operated stores.