Grocery Outlet eyes Maryland for new store growth

Discount grocers, wholesalers and extreme-value retailers are shaking up the grocery retail industry as they continue to capture market share from traditional supermarkets. Grocery Outlet is one of these retailers leading the pack.

The West Coast-based retailer has not only experienced increased traffic growth with shoppers, but the company has caught the attention of Wall Street with its latest performance.

Grocery Outlet, which is still on track to open 25 to 28 new stores this year, is continuing to penetrate new markets, including Maryland.

This week, Maryland’s Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones posted on Facebook that a new Grocery Outlet is coming to the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, Maryland.

“As you know, I announced in November 2022 that Grocery Outlet Bargain Market will replace the former Giant Food at the Milford Mill Shopping Center on Liberty Road," Jones posted. "This national grocer with over five-hundred locations across the nation sells quality, brand-name groceries. Today, however, I am proud to announce that another Grocery Outlet Bargain Market will replace the former Shoppers on 1120 Reisterstown Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117.”

Last year, Grocery Outlet opened its first Maryland store in Hagerstown, marking the extreme-value grocer's entrance into its eighth state. 

CEO RJ Sheedy told analysts on a quarterly earnings call last Tuesday that the retailer is “pleased with the performance of our newer stores, with sales levels and growth in line with our historical performance and underwriting model,” according to a transcript from financial services site Senteio. “We continue to see positive momentum in our newer markets particularly in the East, where we are increasing awareness in our customer base through targeted marketing investments, strong IO execution and expanding store count."

Bicoastal brick-and-mortar expansion is keeping Grocery Outlet busy as it grows its store portfolio. Next month, Grocery Outlet is slated to open in Ceres, California, a suburb of Modesto.

For the quarter ended July 1, net sales increased 12.5% to $1.01 billion, the Emeryville, California-based retailer reported.

Comparable-store sales rose 9.2% during the period, driven almost entirely by traffic growth, while average transaction size remained flat. Net income jumped 21.8% to $24.5 million, or $0.24 per diluted share.

The extreme-value grocery retailer operates over 445 locations in California, Idaho, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Maryland.