Note: These opinions/predictions are mine and do not represent the views Shoppers or UNFI. This article also does not possess, nor condone any libel against the two companies.
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| The former Woodbridge, VA Shoppers store. Taken January 10, 2016. |
Happy New Year, Shoppes of Battery Mill readers! Ten years ago today, I published an op-ed to my previous blog, the Shoppers Food Blog. My op-ed concerned the future of Washington, D.C./Baltimore-area grocer Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, with it contextualizing the chain's situation as of 2016 to discuss potential paths the chain might have taken. A part of the blog's initial rollout, the article served as an addendum to my initial batch of posts covering the past and then-present of Shoppers.
As fate turns out, ten years have now been added to the "past" column of the Shoppers Food Warehouse story. So much has happened at SFW from 2016 to 2026 that I could have checked in at any point before or after today. Yet, the paths of those Shoppers predictions have crossed with a revival of this blog at a rather clever time. I thought to myself: Why not revisit that old post of mine? So here I am, doing this.
This op-ed revolves around three questions: What did I get right in that post? What was I off the mark about? What do I see the trajectory of Shoppers' future being? These will be answered in the conclusion, but the details will be revealed in the next few paragraphs.
Shoppers today
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| The Dumfries, VA Shoppers closing sale: where Shoppers is going, and where they have been. |
I will begin this article by writing about where Shoppers stands today, including what predictions made on my 2016 post are relevant to their current state.
As of the time of writing, Shoppers has dwindled to just 17 locations (15 in Maryland, and a staggering 2 in Virginia). I can't speak on their foot traffic since I have not been in any of the remaining stores, but from my visits to Shoppers in recent years, most had average foot traffic - nothing on the level of say, Walmart, Wegmans or Costco. I will say that there might be squandered potential from some of the now-closed stores that likely carried lots of foot traffic.
The last 24 hour store, at the Potomac Yard shopping center in Alexandria, is already long gone. No information exists on any other Shoppers locations open around the clock. 24 hour supermarkets have fallen out of favor nationwide (and worldwide), so a change like this is proportional to Shoppers' trajectory.
Regarding market share, the data I have scraped shows something worse than what they were in 2016. Shoppers does not appear on Chain Store Age's chart of top D.C. grocers, for example, with Weis Markets (largely on the fringes of the Washington and Baltimore areas) and Target's grocery offerings accounting for larger pieces of the pie. The chain is not in company with rivals Giant and Safeway anymore in the listings, as well. According to industry analyst Jeremy Diamond in an interview with Progressive Grocer, there is evidence for Shoppers falling from its longtime 3rd place perch. Metro Market Studies ranked Shoppers as 5th in Baltimore and 6th in Washington (commanding 6% in the latter market) as of 2018. It is likely that the number has plunged further since with the sheer number of Shoppers closings.
From what I've seen, many people talk about Shoppers in past tense when discussing the D.C. grocery landscape. While they continue to operate in some pockets, their store tally has diminished enough that some locals believe SFW is history. Nevertheless, this does mean Colossal Donuts are still in the spotlight, albeit through nostalgia goggles!
Financially, UNFI, Shoppers' parent company has some well-perfoming customers, but the corporation also has their troubles, with some declining results listed in recent times despite steadfast customers. Jeremy Diamond also remarked that Shoppers has invested little into their stores recently.
This all begs the question: How did we get here? Let's rewind the past 10 years of the Shoppers story to find out.
Shoppers from 2016 to 2026
Picking up where I left off a decade ago, 2016 saw changes at Shoppers that would determine their fate for those next 10 years.
Three locations closed their doors that year, including Manassas-Liberia, Towson, and, as pictured above, Woodbridge. This had been the most closings for Shoppers in one year since 2011, when six locations were shuttered. SuperValu corporate saw some shakeups that year. In addition to the CEO change, one of several executive shuffles in these whirlwind years, one of my predictions became somewhat true.
This would be about the rumor that SuperValu was willing to divest their grocery retail operations, including Shoppers. Save A Lot was spun off in 2016, and has been going down its own... rather interesting path. Farm Fresh, Hornbacher's, and both Shop 'n Save chains followed suit in 2018, all to varying results. As for the rest of my predictions, well, Shoppers (and Cub, as well as affiliated independent grocers) still haven't been sold off as of 2026. I'll get back to why in a bit.
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| The now-closed Germantown, MD Shoppers store, remodeled in 2016. Credit: Coolcat4433 |
2016 was also a turning point in Shoppers' investment to their stores. Remodels to the Fresh & Healthy 3.0 decor package continued through the end of the year. After this point, the package was retired. This was likely for several reasons. One was that other SuperValu chains had moved on from the package, or were preparing to wind down - even those like ACME, whom had been spun off several years earlier. It was also likely that SuperValu renovated the Shoppers they wanted to keep, while the stores that hadn't been remodeled were marked for closure in following years. Since Shoppers would eventually spiral into waves of downsizing and then occasional investment, this would be the last major remodel wave as of 2016. On a more positivenote, lighting upgrades at all Shoppers stores were conducted around that year. Sure, they were spotty in some places (the front end, for example), but what do you know, some more work was done to these stores. Some have speculated that all such remodeling was to make the chain appealing to potential buyers. I can't substantiate if this is true, but Shoppers indeed would continue to trend towards a buyout in following years, especially as SuperValu had much leftover debt from the Albertsons era.
2017 was a rather stable year for the chain, yet one where changes were happening underneath the facades of the stores. In March, likely in preparation for a sale, the Farm Fresh and eastern Shop 'n Save corporate structures were merged into that of Shoppers.
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| The Shoppers Market concept in Alexandria, VA. Credit: Will/B-More Retail |
Remember how I remarked about Shoppers returning to their warehouse roots? This was the year where doubt was cast on that assertion. While the plain remodels of years prior serviced their traditional ethos, their new remodels signified they were going upscale, just as they had in the wake of the Metro takeover. During 2017, Shoppers piloted the "Shoppers Market" concept at a remodeled Potomac Yard store in Alexandria, VA. This concept downsized the floorplan somewhat, but introduced an enhanced modern look based on gourmet supermarkets. In-store restaurants like Caribou Coffee and pop!corn were introduced, a first for the chain. I don't have much more info at present about what these stores included - both, in expected Shoppers fashion, weren't enough to elevate the chain back to greatness.
2018 saw a whopping seven Shoppers close, the most in the banner's history. Several were sold to rival Giant Food, perhaps the first time said chain had taken over a Shoppers store. Widespread layoffs were also in effect at corporate, with several longtime executives leaving. Many speculated that the end was near, and the sales of sister SuperValu chains showed it, even as the parent company was bought out by UNFI.
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| The Manassas, VA Shoppers during its closing sale. |
2019 sought to prove their suspicions. In March, widespread rumors of Shoppers' demise were spreading, attributed mostly to new owner UNFI's explicit intentions of leaving retail behind. These rumors were not responded to by UNFI, adding more fuel to the rumor fire. Weeks later, all Shoppers Pharmacies closed, likely to clear these stores for non-pharmacy purposes in addition to setting the stage for the big sale. One or two standalone closings later, the biggest news came that December when 17 closings were announced. The spoils went to German deep discounter Lidl, local chain Compare Foods, or out into the wind as they closed outright. Two additional stores were added to the tally by years' end.
2020 was expected to be the year that Shoppers would go away. Except, the pandemic happened. All that panic buying made UNFI hold off on selling the rest of the stores. An initial stay of 18 months was enacted, followed by an indefinite freeze on plans to sell off Shoppers, Cub and the rest.
In this time, Shoppers continued to close stores here and there. They also made their first deals with Safeway (as told in this illuminating post about Shoppers' decline!), and those stores were turned around for the Albertsons-owned chain in only one weekend.
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| The short-lived revival of the California, MD Shoppers. Credit: Noah Pillor |
Suddenly, something exciting happened. UNFI tried investing in Shoppers again. In 2022 and 2023, Shoppers opened two entirely new locations, and reopened an additional five closed during the late 2019 round. This included new incursions into Southern Maryland, where they had previously operated only in its population hub of California. Remodels were also conducted to stores again, introducing a brand new decor package.
2024, however, saw a backslide at Shoppers right as things were looking up again. All Southern Maryland locations were shuttered (except for Waldorf). This was likely due to executive shakeups going on around the time that wanted to let Shoppers go again.2025 meant that even more trouble was brewing at Shoppers. Nine locations closed in the latter half of the year, most for unknown reasons. Despite protests against these closings, Shoppers/UNFI representatives were adamant about leaving those stores behind. All as executive shuffling continues at the parent company.
This is where Shoppers stands as of my writing.
Shoppers tomorrow
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| The still-open Shoppers in Stafford, VA. Credit: Holcombe of Hidalgo |
Finally, we have arrived in 2026. What will Shoppers do in the future?
Heading into 2026, things have been quiet at Shoppers. No further plans for openings, closings, nor remodels have been announced. The last time they were in the news was for layoffs being conducted as a result of their recent Maryland closing rounds. Now that a changing of the guard has taken place at UNFI, there will likely be a new, clear vision as to what will be done. Based on the above factors, my predictions for Shoppers this year are as follows.
I see more closing rounds this year, depending on what is going on around each store. For example, a closing may be dependent on what leases are ending this year. Dumfries was closed due to Shoppers opting not to renew their lease there. However, one of 2025's other closings, that being the Germantown location, was the opposite case: it received a lease extension in 2021. Unless it was a short-term deal, that case shows Shoppers isn't waiting for leases to expire. Who knows, though? Maybe other motions are at play or they simply want any excuse out.
Meanwhile, I don't believe any remodels or new store openings will be in order from here on out, with the former item applying to at least the near future. This means there could be a remodel attempt, perhaps to make the stores look more attractive to suitors (as SuperValu did before Shoppers was announced to indefinitely stay put).
As for what will remain open, I see Shoppers in a Kmart/Sears-type situation, where their store count curve extends without touching the X-axis. Perhaps UNFI may leave stores open where no competitors have offered to take over, or ones in cities that fit Shoppers well. Maybe Shoppers will transition into being an independent grocery store brand, as the people at McKay's showed us. Either way, I don't see Shoppers doing much unless it gets sold off; even then, I believe it won't be as significant of a player in grocery markets that have crowded them out. Such is the unfortunate truth, as someone who was there to experience Shoppers at their high watermark.
Conclusion
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| Looking towards the future at Dumfries. |
Whew! What a whirlwind 10 years it has been for Shoppers Food & (no more) Pharmacy. Looking over the post, I'd say I was right and wrong about half of the time. For starters, I was more than right about there being some closings by 2020. I was off about there being no new direction, other than continued attempts at upscaling Shoppers.
Most puzzling of all, the chain still hasn't been sold off yet. Guess it goes to show that changing regimes at UNFI have really led Shoppers down a strange path!
One more point I'd like to bring up is that the Albertsons brands have mostly remained intact, chugging along without fear of closure. There are other factors at play explaining this divide, but Shoppers and Cub have remained consistent under SVU and UNFI.
Now it is your turn. If you are familiar with this chain, what do you see the fate of Shoppers being? If you are reading this somewhere down the line, what did I get right and wrong about this post? I certainly can't wait to hear your response.
That being said, thank you all for reading, commenting and sharing, especially as I bring this blog into a new year. Next time on the blog, I will return to Publix for a very special feature. Check in everyday for the post!
