The top 20 grocery stores in United States list features the largest supermarket chains and retail food markets in the U.S., based on gross annual sales. The biggest supermarkets in the United States include Safeway Inc., Kroger, and Costco Wholesale Corp. Grocery stores are a type of retail business that specialize in selling food and household supplies. There are several types of grocery stores including supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores.
1. Walmart
Walmart is the largest grocery store in the world, with 11,539 stores worldwide and 2.3 million employees. It operates in 27 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and China. Walmart also owns Sam’s Club, a membership-only warehouse club that sells items at discounted prices. The first Walmart store opened in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Today there are more than 5,000 locations in the United States alone.
2. Kroger
Kroger is the second largest grocery store chain in the U.S., with more than 2,500 stores across 35 states and Washington D.C.. It was founded in 1883 by Bernard Kroger (also known as Barney). The company operates under the Kroger Co., Fred Meyer Stores Inc., Ralphs Grocery Co., King Soopers/City Market/Smith’s Food & Drug Centers Inc., Fry’s Food Stores Inc. and Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc.. The company also owns several other chains such as Krogers Marketplace Foods which includes Dillons Foods, Jay C Food Stores Inc., Pay Less Super Markets Inc., Scott’s Food & Pharmacy Inc., Cornhusker Markets Inc., City Market
3. Costco
Costco is a membership warehouse club, providing a wide variety of merchandise including food, electronics, apparel and appliances. It is often considered one of the best grocery stores in the US.
The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. Today, the company operates 736 warehouses in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.
4. Aldi
Aldi is a no frills grocery store that offers low prices on a limited selection of items. It was founded in Germany in 1913 by brothers Karl Albrecht and Theo Albrecht as a small grocery store called Aldi Nord (North) with only 20 products on its shelves.
Today, Aldi has over 10,000 stores across Europe with plans to expand into North America soon. The company also runs an e-commerce business called ALDI-Lidl which sells some of its products online for delivery or pickup at select stores.
5. ALDI-Lidl
ALDI is an American discount supermarket chain, owned and operated by Aldi Inc., a subsidiary of the privately held Aldi Nord, which operates one hundred and fifty stores in the United States. The company was founded in 1946 by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht as “Aldi” (a German acronym for Albrecht Discount) on a small plot of land near the city of Essen. The business expanded rapidly, and by 1955 had over 100 locations across Germany. Today, Aldi Nord operates over 10,000 stores in 18 countries worldwide, including more than 1,300 locations across the United States.
6. Target
Target is an American discount store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1902 by George Dayton and replaced the Dayton Company in 1902. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota on November 2, 1962. At the time of its expansion into the Midwest, there were many stores like Sears and Roebuck Company, W. T. Grant Company and JCPenney that were already established retail chains in the region. However, Target quickly became a success and did not face much competition until Walmart’s arrival in 1991.
7. Meijer (US)
Meijer is a chain of supermarkets with locations throughout the Midwestern United States; it is headquartered in Walker, Michigan with distribution centers located west of Lansing, Michigan and east of Monroe, Michigan; both of which are near Grand Rapids where Meijer was founded as “Meijer’s Thrifty Acres” by Hendrik Meijer; who later founded his own bank known as “Hendrik Meijer Bank” or “HMB”; which is now known as “ABC Resources” or “ABC Bank”.
8. Sam’s Club (US)
Sam’s Club is a chain of membership-only warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded by Sam Walton in 1983 and now based in Bentonville, Arkansas. As of December 2018, there are 595 locations in 47 U.S. states.[1] The company also provides a variety of business services to its members through the Sam’s Business Advantage program.
9. ShopRite (US)
ShopRite is an American supermarket chain owned by Wakefern Food Corporation, the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the world.[3][4][5] Based in Keasbey, New Jersey,[6] it has at least 100 stores[7] located primarily along the East Coast of the United States from Connecticut to Florida,[8][9][10] although it also operates stores as far west as Cleveland, Ohio.[11] ShopRite operates stores under two formats: traditional supermarkets (average size approximately 38,000 sq ft [3,600 m2])[12] and smaller ShopRite Express stores (average size approximately 10,000 sq ft [930 m2])
10. Safeway (US)
Safeway is a grocery chain in North America, owned by Albertsons Companies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., and headquartered in Pleasanton, California, United States.[1] Its predecessor company was founded in 1914 in Los Angeles; it became a regional chain across Northern California and the Pacific Northwest under the name of Safeway Inc.; and then grew into national presence under its current name after acquiring several other chains.[2][3] It also operates in British Columbia and Alberta.
11. Albertsons (US)
Albertsons is an American grocery store chain founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Cerberus Capital Management. The company operates more than 2,200 stores under 17 different banners in 34 states, including under the Albertsons and Safeway brands.
12. Whole Foods Market (US)
Whole Foods Market Inc., commonly known as Whole Foods Market or abbreviated as WFM, is an American supermarket chain that specializes in natural and organic foods. It was founded in 1978 by John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy in Austin, Texas, and has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since May 19, 2017.[2] As of September 24th 2018 there are 434 locations across the United States with another 16 stores slated to open by the end of 2018.[3][4][5] In January 2018 Whole Foods announced that it would be closing nine stores across the United States due to bankruptcy proceedings for their parent company.
13. HEB (US)
HEB is an American supermarket chain that operates in Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico. It was founded in 1905 by Charles Butt, who had previously operated stores in Iowa and Missouri. In recent years, HEB has expanded throughout the U.S., with locations in the Midwest and West Coast. HEB is based in San Antonio, Texas, with over 300 stores in Central Texas and surrounding areas. The company also operates Central Market specialty stores across the state of Texas. These stores offer organic options, local produce and meat products, home goods and more.
14 . Stop & Shop (US)
Stop & Shop is an American grocery store chain with locations throughout the Northeastern United States. It was founded as a cooperative supermarket in 1914 by Joseph Pynchon Sr., whose sons later merged the company with another local cooperative to form Stop & Shop Supermarket Company Incorporated (SSSCI). Today it is owned by Ahold Delhaize Group NV, which has its US headquarters located at Stop & Shop headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. Stop & Shop also operates two regional distribution centers located in Cumberland, Rhode Island and Enfield Connecticut.
15 . WinCo Foods
WinCo Foods is a Utah-based chain of grocery stores that has over 100 locations in seven states. It’s known for its low prices, high quality, and employee satisfaction.
16 . Price Chopper/Market Basket
Price Chopper is a New England chain of supermarkets with over 80 stores in the eastern U.S., while Market Basket is a New England chain of supermarkets with over 70 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Both chains are owned by the same company, which also operates Hannaford stores in Maine and some other locations in New England. In 2015, Market Basket was ranked No. 3 on Forbes’ list of America’s Largest Private Companies (by revenue), with $4 billion in annual sales.
17 . Food Lion/Bashas’ Family of Stores
Food Lion is an American supermarket chain operating more than 1,200 stores across seven southeastern states under the banner name “Food Lion.” Bashas’ Family of Stores is another Arizona-based grocery store chain owned by Bashas’. It operates approximately 100 stores throughout Arizona and Southern California called Bashas’ Fine Foods (BFF).
18 . H-E-B
H-E-B is a privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1905 and currently operates more than 350 stores including its Central Market specialty stores, which are upscale locations with a wide selection of organic items. It has over 100,000 employees across the state of Texas and has been ranked as one of America’s most beloved companies by Fortune magazine for the last four years. The company also ranks among Forbes’ list of America’s Most Admired Companies and is one of only three companies to make the list every year since its inception 28 years ago.
19 . Hy-Vee Supermarkets Inc.
Hy-Vee Supermarkets Inc. is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, with locations throughout the Midwest including Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska. It operates over 200 stores throughout 11 states with roughly 35,000 employees under three brands: Hy-Vee Food & Drug Centers; Market Grille restaurants; and PharmPlus pharmacies. Hy-Vee operates under two separate business units: Retail and Casual Dining & Healthcare Services (aka Retail Group).
20 . Harris Teeter Supermarkets
Harris Teeter Supermarkets is a chain of supermarkets located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is owned by Krogers, which purchased it in 2014. Harris Teeter has 262 stores, all located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The chain was founded in 1934 and named after George L. Harris and Walter E. Teeter, who ran the chain until they retired in 1985.
Conclusion
They provide things such as fruits, vegetables, meats and plenty of other good quality products at a relatively low cost. It is because of this that they have become an invaluable source of food for most people. However, not all grocery stores are the same. There are certain stores that offer better foods than others. Fortunately for everyone, 10Best has compiled a list of the best grocery stores in the US for 2014.
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