The Maryland grocery market is in a season of change, according to Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Food Industry Council.
“New stores have opened, but many have closed this year as well,” said Locklair, who also serves as president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance and the Maryland Association of Chain Drug Stores.
“Food is a necessity category in retail, but like many states, there are many pressures such as tariffs, thin margins, regulatory costs and inflation that may result in additional consolidation.”
United Natural Foods Inc. has shuttered eight Shoppers Food & Pharmacy locations in Maryland this fall as a means of “optimizing” its stable of stores.
In October, Shoppers sites in Essex, New Carrollton, Waldorf and Westminster were closed, followed in early November by Shoppers closings in Capitol Heights, College Park, Germantown and Laurel.
A number of other stores have opened or changed hands in the state this year.
A Lidl at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda debuted July 30 in a space that formerly housed a Safeway.
Another followed at 2017 St. Josephs Drive in Bowie on Aug. 13. It’s located in the Woodmore Commons shopping center.
Lidl, which has its U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, said the openings are part of the brand’s “growing presence in Maryland.” The grocer has 22 stores in the state.
Sprouts Farmers Market opened a new store in Waldorf on Aug. 1. Located at 300 Festival Way, it is the natural/organic grocer’s seventh store in Maryland. Sprouts’ Food Rescue program will donate edible-but-unsellable groceries to the Maryland Food Bank.
A new Wegmans in Rockville opened June 25. The 80,000-square-foot store is located at 1590 Rockville Pike in the Twinbrook Quarter development. The store is Rochester, New York-based Wegmans’ ninth in Maryland.
Weis Markets opened a store in Lake Linganore June 19. The new 65,000-square-foot location at 10122 Old National Pike is the first new Weis store since 2022.
Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based Weis followed Aug. 21 with a 60,000-plus-square-foot store in Charlotte Hall. The location at 30015 Three Notch Road marked Weis’ 51st store in the state.
“We are very proud to bring Weis Markets to the Charlotte Hall community and welcome local families to experience our commitment to quality, value and convenience,” said Jonathan Weis, chairman, president and CEO.
He added that the store reflects the company’s latest design, with “a true front porch for the community: welcoming and familiar.”
Weis’ 52nd Maryland store followed Oct. 16 with the grand opening of the Leonardtown location at 40845 Merchants Lane. The 43,000-square-foot store took over space once occupied by Shoppers and McKay’s, according to local news reports.
International grocery store LA Mart opened in May in a Baltimore neighborhood where a Giant Food store formerly operated. Local reports say a food desert was created on Edmondson Avenue that LA Mart filled less than a year later.
LA Mart describes itself as “a small family run international supermarket chain serving the DMV (District – Maryland – Virginia).” According to its website, its weekly deals are printed in English, Korean, Vietnamese and Hindi.
The former Angel’s Food Market on Mountain Road in Pasadena was purchased by Green Valley Marketplace earlier this year.
According to the Green Valley website, the store at 4681 Mountain Road will be renovated and updated, including the addition of a full-service seafood department. While there will be “other exciting developments,” there will be “no change to your favorite Angel’s items, including salads!”
Green Valley is owned by B. Green & Company in Baltimore, which has been family operated for more than 100 years. Lithuanian immigrant Benjamin Green founded the company in 1915.
A new Trader Joe’s opened June 12 in the downtown area of Rockville that was rebranded “The Square” after being known as Rockville Town Square. The store is at 225 N. Washington St.
Economic and other impacts
Locklair noted that Maryland’s unemployment rate is around 3.6 percent, a low figure that reflects “strong labor demand and a relatively stable population that provides a solid consumer base and workforce foundation.
“However, Maryland’s close proximity to the nation’s capital means the state’s economy is heavily influenced by federal employment and contracting activity, leaving it vulnerable to shifts in the federal workforce and related budget changes which have yet to be fully realized.”
Last year, the state was able to close a $3.3 billion budget deficit through new taxes, one-time transfers and budget cuts, yet projections for fiscal 2027 are indicating a potential $1.4 billion shortfall, she said.
“This growing structural gap is deeply concerning to the business community, as the prospect of tax increases looms large in upcoming policy discussions,” Locklair said.
The recent federal shutdown, finally resolved in mid-November, as well as continuing uncertainty around SNAP funding, “have recently caused sharp declines in sales for many grocers, particularly those operating in underserved communities across the state,” she said.
On hopefully a more positive note, Maryland’s new organized retail crime law took effect this October, “finally enabling law enforcement to aggregate thefts across jurisdictions, define ORC in statute and collect critical data to better combat these crimes,” Locklair said. Maryland is not unlike a lot of markets nationwide, with labor costs continuing to be a top concern for food retailers, who operate on profit margins of about 1 to 3 percent.
“When consumers spend less, whether due to inflation, reduced SNAP benefits or rising import costs, it triggers a ripple effect throughout the economy: purchasing power declines, store viability weakens, sales drop and retailers are forced to make difficult operational decisions, including cutting labor or reducing inventory,” she noted.
For the upcoming legislative session, Locklair said her food council members are keeping a close eye on a number of issues, including beer and wine sales in food retail stores, tax increases, bans and warning labeling, a bottle tax and labor mandates.
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