Number of supermarket stores in the U.S. 2011-2018, by format

This statistic depicts the number of supermarket stores in the United States from 2011 to 2018, by format. In 2018, there were 3,507 U.S. supermarket stores offering natural and/or gourmet foods. The total number of U.S. supermarket stores amounted to 38,307 that year.

Supermarkets

The terms supermarkets and grocery stores are often used interchangeably to refer to retail food stores. Industry experts offer more specific guidelines about the different store formats in the retail landscape, based on size and scale and products offered. According to the Food Marketing Institute, supermarkets fall under the traditional grocery segment. They are defined as full-line, self-service grocery stores with generated sales of 2 million U.S. dollars or more per year. Within the category, conventional/traditional supermarkets accounted for the largest share of dollar sales. A conventional supermarket is defined as a store format offering a full-line of groceries, meat, and produce with at least 2 million U.S. dollars in sales. This store format typically carries about 15,000 product items, provides a service deli and frequently offers a service bakery. In addition, up to 15 percent of sales stem from general merchandise (GM)/health and beauty care (HBC). Most of the supermarket dollars were generated from dry grocery food products in 2016. Fresh meat/fish/poultry and fresh produce rounded off the leading product categories within a U.S. supermarket. But how many supermarkets are listed in the United States exactly? The total number of supermarkets amounted to 38,307 in 2018. The Kroger Co., Albertsons and Ahold USA/Royal Ahold were listed among the leading supermarkets in the United States in 2017.