Grocery Outlet's Expansion into Central Ohio Captured in Exclusive Snaps
Grocery Outlet Expands in Ohio and West Olentangy Opens
Grocery Outlet, a popular discount grocery chain, has continued its expansion in Ohio with the opening of a new store in West Olentangy. This marks the company's first store in Central Ohio.
Leonel Galeano and Wendy Tabora-Galeano, independent operators, run the West Olentangy store. The store, located at 749 Bethel Road in Columbus, is part of Grocery Outlet's strategic growth plans, although specific details about the store were not explicitly mentioned in the sources.
During its Q1 reporting period, Grocery Outlet opened 11 new stores and closed one, ending the quarter with 543 stores in 16 states. This expansion is balanced with the company's ongoing restructuring efforts, aimed at improving long-term profitability, cash flow, and return on invested capital.
The restructuring plan involves terminating leases for unopened stores in suboptimal locations, cancelling certain capital-intensive projects, and reducing headcount. This restructuring, which cost about $63 million, was substantially completed by Q2 2025.
Grocery Outlet is ranked No. 65 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2025 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. The company's headquarters are in Emeryville, Calif.
In addition to the West Olentangy store, Grocery Outlet is also expanding in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, with a new store independently operated by Michael Weber and Melissa Walsh.
Meanwhile, Food City has opened a 4th location in Huntsville, Alabama, and Trader Joe's has announced new store openings without specifying locations. Save A Lot has also opened a new-format store designed for Hispanic shoppers in St. Louis.
To celebrate the West Olentangy store's opening, customers received one free reusable bag with their purchase during the store's opening week. The first 100 shoppers also received a Bliss Buck gift card for mystery amounts ranging from $5 to $500. Customers can enter to win $1,000 in free groceries from July 10 through Aug. 8. However, there are no ongoing promotions or giveaways for the store.
The West Olentangy store is just one example of Grocery Outlet's commitment to strategic growth and restructuring, balancing cost-cutting with scaling private-label and e-commerce efforts. This approach has boosted investor confidence, with significant earnings beats and improved guidance for 2025, showing the company’s shift towards execution and cost optimization alongside growth.
In the context of Grocery Outlet's strategic growth, the new store in West Olentangy is a part of the company's expansion not only in Ohio but also in the retail industry. Beyond the financial implications of this growth, such as the opening of 11 new stores in Q1, the restructuring plan aims to improve business profitability, cash flow, and return on invested capital in the long term.
