Foot traffic data found that overall visits to Kroger stores held steady in 2024, with yearly visits 1.3% lower than in 2023, reported research firm Placer.ai. “Kroger and its variety of banners play a key role in the U.S. grocery landscape, with the company receiving around 16% of all visits to grocery stores nationwide (excluding non-traditional grocers such as superstores and wholesale clubs),” the research firm said.

At the beginning of the month, the grocery chain announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen resigned from the company “following a board investigation of his personal conduct that, while unrelated to the business, was inconsistent with Kroger's Policy on Business Ethics,” the company said in a letter. The letter stated that the board appointed Lead Director Ronald Sargent to serve as chairman of the board of directors and interim chief executive officer.

Industry analysts said they don’t expect Kroger to immediately change its strategy, which has involved building up its private-label products to cater to consumers looking for ways to lower their grocery bills, reported the Wall Street Journal.

“Keeping prices low is critical to Kroger’s effort to maintain its market share and fend off bigger competitors such as Walmart and Amazon.com. Consumers feeling the effects of years of persistent food inflation—from eggs to beef—have been flocking to Walmart and Aldi,” wrote WSJ.

Last month, Kroger internally announced that it was eliminating as many as 200 positions across three office sites at its headquarters in Cincinnati. This came after the merger between Albertsons and Kroger fell through at the end of 2024 and Albertsons sued Kroger in December.