Safeway is closing additional stores as its parent company, Albertsons Companies, reassesses its retail footprint following the collapse of its proposed $24.6 billion merger with Kroger.

Albertsons told USA Today that it had slowed potential "portfolio optimization" efforts while the Kroger transaction was pending, then resumed evaluating its store network once the deal fell apart. That review has included opening stores in areas where the company sees long-term demand, while also making what Albertsons described to the outlet as the difficult decision to close some locations. The retrenchment comes as traditional supermarket chains contend for grocery spending with Walmart, the country's largest grocer by sales, along with Costco, Amazon and the rapidly expanding discounter Aldi.

The pace of closures has accelerated sharply. According to Albertsons' latest annual filing, the company closed 35 stores during fiscal 2025 — more than triple the 10 it closed the previous year and up from eight in fiscal 2023. It opened nine stores during fiscal 2025 and ended the year with 2,244 locations across 35 states and Washington, D.C.

The closures had a measurable effect on the grocer's results. Store closures, net of new openings, reduced fiscal 2025 sales by $63.4 million, while costs tied to closed stores and surplus properties climbed to $45.1 million from $15.9 million a year earlier.

Even so, Albertsons continued investing in other parts of its store base. The company completed 94 remodels and opened nine new stores during fiscal 2025 as part of approximately $1.83 billion in capital expenditures, which also included investment in digital and technology platforms — areas where traditional grocers have been spending heavily to match the online shopping and delivery capabilities of their largest competitors.

Albertsons operates 22 grocery banners — including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw's and Tom Thumb — and employed approximately 280,000 workers as of Feb. 28, 2026.

The company did not provide USA Today with a full list of planned Safeway closures. The outlet reported that Safeway locations closed in 2026 include stores at 231 W. Jackson St. in Hayward, California; 2220 N. Coast Highway in Newport, Oregon; and 1601 Maryland Ave. in Washington, D.C. Albertsons said it is working to place as many affected employees as possible in jobs at other stores, according to USA Today.

The store review follows the breakdown of Albertsons' planned combination with Kroger. Announced in 2022, the deal would have created one of the country's largest grocery companies. The two chains had argued that combining was necessary to gain the scale to compete with those larger rivals, while the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion transaction, arguing that the combination would reduce competition and could lead to higher grocery prices and less competition for grocery workers. Many Kroger and Safeway employees are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which had opposed the merger.

On Dec. 10, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction blocking the merger. The FTC brought the challenge alongside nine state attorneys general.

The proposed deal subsequently collapsed, setting off litigation between Kroger and Albertsons. Albertsons sought a $600 million termination fee from Kroger, while Kroger later filed counterclaims in Delaware disputing that it owed the payment and accusing Albertsons of undermining the regulatory process. Albertsons has disputed Kroger's account.

Albertsons did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment on the closures.