Kroger, the Cincinnati-based grocery company with 143 years of history, will lay off 3,000 employees.
This is the first time that one of the largest American retailers plans to eliminate so many corporate roles, according to Newsweek.
The news was spread yesterday through an internal memo seen by media outlets like Reuters and Bloomberg. The deadline for Kroger’s layoff plans? Three years.
“Simplifying means making faster decisions and deploying more resources where they matter most,” Foran said in the memo, as Bloomberg quoted and Newsweek shared.
The memo also outlined Foran’s desire to further integrate AI into Kroger’s operations.
Just back on September, Kroger outlined its artificial intelligence strategy at GroceryShop 2026, detailing how customer insights, operational data, retail expertise and a portfolio of proprietary models are already driving meaningful results.
Yael Cosset, executive vice president and Chief Digital Officer, then described a strategy that uses AI to improve the customer experience, make work easier for associates, and drive better business outcomes.
Kroger’s combination of proprietary and third-party frontier models, with shared infrastructure, including data, services, agentic capabilities, and governance guardrails, enables the company to move faster on proven capabilities, better orchestrate agents across workflows, and manage performance more disciplinedly and reliably.
Kroger in numbers
Kroger is one of America’s largest retailers and operates a variety of banner names. The company reports more than 400,000 associates across its family of companies, 2,688 supermarkets & multi-department stores, 42 distribution centers, and its grocery retail operations cover 35 states and the District of Columbia.
In its Q2 2026 results, Kroger reported a net total debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.91, up from 1.63 a year ago. The company’s target range for net total debt to adjusted EBITDA is 2.30 to 2.50.
“Kroger delivered a solid second quarter, with adjusted EPS growth of 5 percent. I am pleased with the progress we are making. Our teams kept driving value for customers, improving execution in our stores, growing eCommerce profitably and managing costs with discipline. Improving sales momentum remains a top priority. While there is more work to do, I am confident in our plan to become America’s favorite grocer”, said CEO Greg Foran.
“Our second quarter results demonstrate the resiliency of Kroger’s business model and the discipline with which our teams are executing. Adjusted earnings per diluted share grew 5%, driven by cost savings, strong pharmacy and fuel performance, and improvement in the profitability of our eCommerce business. Given our first half results and the macro environment, we are updating our identical sales without fuel guidance to a new range of 0.2% to 0.8%, which includes an approximately 140 basis point headwind from the Inflation Reduction Act. We are reaffirming our adjusted FIFO net operating profit and adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance, reflecting our confidence and visibility into the same factors that drove our profitability in the second quarter. We will continue to invest in the business for growth, manage our margins with discipline and create long-term shareholder value”, said CFO David Kennerley.
Related Article: Kroger to Close 60 Stores in Next 18 Months
A rough Time?
Early this year, on July 1, Kroger announced an Agreement to acquire Giant Eagle. On February 9, it appointed Greg Foran as Chief Executive Officer. According to Ron Sargent, who has served as interim CEO since March 2025, Foran is an operator who understands how to run complex retail systems without losing sight of customers or employees.
The industry knows Foran from his six-year run as president and CEO of Walmart U.S. There, he oversaw the retailer’s largest division and helped engineer a turnaround after years of uneven performance.
During his tenure, Walmart U.S. delivered positive comparable sales growth for 20 consecutive quarters. He managed more than 4,600 stores and led a workforce of more than 1 million associates.
Before Foran’s appointment, Kroger announced in June 2025 that it plans to close 60 stores over the next 18 months.