10 of the Biggest Food Retailers Countdown

Aldi USA

Aldi, which already operates about 1,375 stores here, plans to open 650 new locations over the next few years. By year-end 2018, company executives hope to have a fleet of 2,000 U.S. stores. Aldi's average store size is approximately 15,000 sq. ft.

Walgreens Corp.

As of December, Walgreen Co. operated 8,330 locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The company opened 29 new drugstores in 2014, and seems to be in an expansion mode going forward.

Bi-Lo Holdings

Regional player Bi-Lo Holdings operates 802 stores in Southern and Southeastern United States under Bi-Lo, Harveys and Winn-Dixie banners. There is speculation some of its holdings might be acquired by national rival Kroger this year.

Trader Joe’s Co.

Trader Joe's currently operates a 450-store portfolio. The chain is privately held (by the owner of Aldi Nord), so its opening plans are not publicly available, but there are plenty of new locations coming up in 2015, including in Texas, Utah and Pennsylvania. Trader Joe's stores range between 8,000 and 12,000 sq. ft.

7-Eleven

Convenience store operator 7-Eleven has about 7,800 stores in the United States, and has been growing in recent years. It takes locations from 2,400 to 3,000 sq. ft. in size.

Whole Foods Market

Dollar General Corp.

Wakefern Food Corp.

Wakefern Food Corp. is a retail cooperative that operates approximately 250 supermarkets and owns 89 corporate stores. Wakefern's brands include ShopRite and Price Rite chains. The company's holdings are concentrated in Northeastern United States.

2. Physical Stores Will Come Out of the ‘Shadows’

“Retail bricks-and-mortar will really begin to come into its own from what I call the shadows,” says Gerald S. Divaris, chairman/CEO of real estate brokerage firm Divaris Real Estate Inc., based in Virginia Beach, Va.

There’s been anxiety on the part of traditional retailers that online retail was going to “really adversely impact their business,” Divaris notes.

“But the truth of the matter is, retail is a vehicle of conveying manufactured products that the consumers want through various channels of distribution,” he says. Online is one channel and bricks-and-mortar is another. Catalogs and direct sales are other channels. Retailers that can harness all of those various channels of distribution successfully are the ones that will win out in the end, Divaris says.

“We’ve seen how many have succeeded in doing that—guys like Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Williams-Sonoma,” he notes. “Those retailers that haven’t been able to harness that concept—the faltering Sears and Toys ‘R’ Us of the world—are likely to disappear over the next 12 to 24 months. We will see a strengthening of the good retailers and the elimination of those that are weak.”

Meijer Inc.

Meijer is a regional supermarket chain based in the Midwest (its headquarters is in Walker, Mich.). It currently operates 213 stores.

Top 10

The full list of Supermarket News' Top 75 Food Retailers, including the Top 10, is available free with registration here: http://supermarketnews.com/2015-top-75-retailers-and-wholesalers.