It’s an exciting time to be a grocery shopper. In all of American history there have never been so many supermarkets and specialty food stores, offering so many things to eat and ways to eat them, as there are right now. And the options just keep multiplying.
Many of the country’s biggest food sellers are currently embarking on significant expansion plans, with a slew of new stores opening soon and into the future. These include some of the country’s top-ranked food companies: Walmart, which owns Sam’s Club; Amazon, which owns Whole Foods; and Costco, which is a behemoth unto itself.
Here are 10 massive chains with big ribbon-cutting ceremonies in the works, coming soon to a town near you.
On June 28, Whole Foods opened its newest location at the historic site of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The 47,000-square-foot store includes many of the chain’s signature touches, including full-service meat and seafood counters and a massive selection of craft beer, according to a press release. It also stocks many local products that you can’t find at locations elsewhere, including Maryland crabmeat from M. Clayton Seafood Company and oysters from Rappahannock Oyster Co.
Earlier this year, the Amazon-owned organic grocer unveiled its most unique store yet in New York City’s Financial District, as well as additional locations in Bozeman, Mont., and Rochester, N.Y. Back in January, Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel said the company is planning at least 50 new openings, which he hopes to increase to 100, according to Supermarket News.
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After years of rumors, Trader Joe’s recently confirmed plans to open a new store at 69-65 Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills, N.Y. “Our Crew is working hard so we can open our doors in 2023,” according to a statement on the retailer’s website. TJ’s also has two additional stores now in the works. In May, the specialty grocer announced a forthcoming location at 8473 Cooper Creek Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., also expected to open later this year. The popular California-based chain has further proposed a new 13,000-square-foot location on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans, according to Nola.com.
Asian specialty chain H Mart has four new stores in the works, according to Winsight Grocery Business. The first opening at 1028 Beacon St. in Brookline, Mass., is coming soon, per the New Jersey-based retailer’s website. Winsight reports that additional locations are planned for Dallas, Las Vegas, and West Jordan, Utah. Already this year, H Mart has opened new locations in Irvine, Calif., and at the massive American Dream entertainment and retail center in East Rutherford, N.J. The chain currently operates more than 75 stores in 14 states.
Beloved Texas-based chain H-E-B opens its newest store in Dripping Springs on July 5. The 103,000-square-foot supermarket, located on the site of the former Nutty Brown music theater at Country Road 163 and Hwy 290, “will embrace the Hill Country aesthetic,” according to MySanAntonio.
H-E-B opened an even bigger, 121,000-square-foot store in Georgetown on June 7, as well as its first multi-level store in the Austin area back in February. The popular retailer also broke ground on a new 118,000-square-foot store in the Dallas-Ft. Worth suburb of Mansfield, which is slated to open in 2024. H-E-B is the reigning No. 1 U.S. grocery retailer and also one of America’s fastest-growing supermarket companies, adding 12 new stores last year, according to a report by real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle.
A popular launching pad for new food startups, Sprouts continues to flourish, with nine planned openings in the coming months—including six in Florida. According to its website, the healthy foods-focused chain opens its Fort Myers store at 8595 College Pkwy. on July 21, followed by a store at 9831 Glades Rd. in West Boca Raton on July 28. Additional locations in the Sunshine State are coming to Orlando, West Melbourne, Kenneth City, and Tampa in August. Other openings on the schedule include Colorado Springs, Colo., and Queen Creek, Ariz. in August, followed by Rialto, Calif. on Sept. 1.
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The California-based discount chain has big expansion plans. “We believe we have the potential for more than 10 times the number of stores we have today,” President RJ Sheedy said during a February call with investors. That translates to more than 4,410 locations!
Grocery Outlet opened 28 stores in 2022, per JLL. Sheedy said it plans to unveil another 25 to 28 this year. Zacks Equity Research reports that the company further plans another 47 openings in 2024. In June, the chain opened new locations in Edgewood, Md., and Wasco, Calif. According to New Castle News, a 18,409-square-foot Grocery Outlet store will open soon in Neshannock Township, Pa.
The German-owned discount chain is America’s fastest-growing grocer right now, with plans to open 120 new U.S. stores this year, according to Winsight Grocery Business. These include seven stores that just opened in June—most notably the retailer’s first location in Miami at 3750 S Dixie Hwy. Upcoming grand openings will include Orlando, Fla., on July 6; Thibodeaux, La., on July 13; and Renssleaer, N.Y., on July 20, per Aldi’s website.
Regional powerhouse Publix continues to dominate the southern United States, opening 25 new stores in 2022, per JLL. The chain is particularly looking to expand its presence outside its home state of Florida, with at least two new Virginia locations in the works.
The employee-owned chain just announced a forthcoming store in Chesapeake, Va. The 48,387-square-foot store at Cedar Road and Dominion Boulevard is expected to open in early 2025, according to Winsight Grocery Business. Another new store at 3189 Godwin Blvd. in Suffolk, Va., is coming soon, according to Publix’s website.
Another 47,000-square-foot store opened earlier this week in Daytona Beach, Fla., replacing an older Publix supermarket that was torn down last year, per Winsight. The company’s first Kentucky location is expected to open later this year in Louisville.
After years of stagnation, the Walmart-owned warehouse club is back on the road to growth, announcing plans in January to open some 30 new U.S. locations over the next five years, according to CNBC. The first new store is expected to open in Florida in 2024.
Sam’s Club hasn’t opened a new warehouse since launching its Hanover, Pa., club back in 2017. Since then, the company has actually decreased its footprint, closing at least 63 locations. CEO Kathryn McLay told CNBC “the time is really right” to start expanding again, citing strong sales and increasing member sign-ups across the company’s existing 600 locations.
America’s leading warehouse chain has opened 14 new locations so far this fiscal year, including eight in the U.S. Several more are still on the way. The retailer’s website lists upcoming July openings in Buckeye, Ariz.; Georgetown, Texas; and Denver, Colo. Additional warehouses in Canton, Ohio, and Marysville, Calif., are scheduled for August and September, respectively. International openings in Japan and China are also planned this summer.
Costco additionally has numerous buildings now in the works, with no announced opening date. These include at least three reported projects in Texas. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Costco also recently submitted plans to build a new store in Lowell, Ark., less than 12 miles from rival Sam’s Club’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville.
Earlier versions of this article were published in February and March. It is updated regularly with the latest information about new grocery store openings.
