Major grocery chain closes down key locations, lays off workers

It's probably a part of human nature to say that when things are good, we try to amass as many resources as possible to prepare for the potential bad times. 

Retail is kind of similar. 

Related: Popular supermarket suddenly closing down after 150 years

When times are good, profits are high. 

Customers are spending like there's no tomorrow, and competition is fierce. 

Naturally, this prompts many retailers to start collecting — or rather, expanding — to shore up profits and retain a competitive edge. 

For some retailers, this might mean expanding a brick and mortar presence. 

Both Walmart and Costco, for instance, have recently announced they'll be expanding their already-large footprints in Mexico and Latin America. 

For other retailers, it may mean beefing up online capabilities. 

Target has launched Target Circle 360, its own version of Walmart+ and Amazon Prime, to please its (increasingly large) cohort of online shoppers. 

Expansion is strange for grocery stores

But when times are good for supermarkets and grocery retailers, expansion can be a fickle beast. 

Many of the larger national brands already have a pretty robust brick-and-mortar presence across the country. 

Sure, there are always pockets to expand into, but that doesn't necessarily move the needle if you've already achieved something of a critical mass. 

More closings:

• Iconic ice cream chain unexpectedly closing locations
• Struggling auto parts chain closing down all stores but one
• Another discount retailer closing over 1,000 stores
• Iconic retail chain closing nearly 500 stores

And you can't necessarily shift entirely to e-commerce. 

Convincing Americans to shop for their groceries online has been a difficult sell. Even the popularity of drive-up or pick-up services at most grocery stores has fallen to the wayside, ebbing since the height of Covid. 

Which means grocery stores need to get creative if they want to expand. 

One way has been to build out prepared foods. Wegmans is expanding its popular sushi restaurant Next Door. Others, like Costco, have expanded highly successful food courts. 

Hy-Vee closing facilities

But not everyone is destined for the same success. 

Kroger, for instance, is closing down two of its Kitchen 1883 restaurants in the midwest. 

And now Hy-Vee, the Iowa-based grocery store popular throughout the Midwest and South in the U.S., is closing down two food preparation centers. 

Those centers are: 

• The Fresh Commissary in Ankeny, Iowa
• Short Cuts facility in Chariton, Iowa

Both facilities will close on June 24, 2025, with over 460 employees affected. 

These centers were largely an attempt to centralize food preparation. They made things like baked goods, pizzas, sandwiches, salads, pre-sliced produce, and other grab-and-go items for Hy-Vee customers. 

Related: Walmart's Sam's Club gets something new Costco doesn't have

Hy-Vee is planning to transition back to a decentralized approach, where most of the fresh food preparation is done in local grocery stores. 

Once that happens, it "will significantly improve product freshness, quality, availability, and customer service as more employees will be placed in retail stores," says a company press release.