Kroger announced in its first quarter earnings report Friday that it will close about 60 stores over the next 18 months.
The company operates more than 2,700 stores nationwide, including several in the Michiana area. Local stores that are set to close are the locations on Western Avenue in South Bend and the store on Johnson Street in Elkhart.
Kroger took a $100 million impairment charge tied to the planned closures and expects the move to bring modest financial benefits.
It plans to reinvest those savings to improve the customer experience and says this won’t affect its full-year financial outlook.
Kroger also assured employees at affected stores that it will offer them positions at other locations.
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Interestingly, those non-profitable stores are all in areas with large amounts of inventory shrinkage (theft).
There may be a food desert incoming, but the people responsible for it are the ones who live there and not the ones working for Kroger.