What is the Current State of the Top 50 Grocery Stores in North America?
The grocery stores industry accounts for the largest food retail channel in North America, with e-commerce altering customer shopping behaviors and transforming the North American landscape to a more pick up and go and delivery industry. The top 50 grocery stores in North America are driving this transformation in a fast-growing segment that witnessed sales increasing 5.7% to USD 1.869 trillion from USD 1.768 trillion the prior year. The top grocery stores in North America are Walmart U.S., Amazon, and The Kroger Co. This is BizVibe’s breakdown of the top 50 grocery stores in North America ranked by last year’s sales numbers. Before we get to the full list of grocery store rankings, here are a few trends to look out for in 2020 in the global grocery store industry.
- Large grocery players are expanding e-commerce offerings. Amazon is leading this change with products being offered on Prime in 75+ metropolitan areas.
- In-store restaurants have helped grocers bring in new customers and add meal dollars to their bottom lines.
- Grocers are all adopting retail apps for product browsing, select and pick, and even deliveries.
Top 50 Grocery Stores in North America 2020
what is the best grocery store? The following is a list of top 50 grocery stores ranked by sales generated in the most recent fiscal year by USD millions. The grocery store rankings breakdown also includes the number of stores operated by each grocery retailer and the year-over-year increase in sales as a percentage to figure out the fastest-growing companies on this list.
1. Walmart U.S.
Walmart ranks number one on BizVibe’s list of the top 50 grocery stores in North America ranking. Last year Walmart US generated USD 341,004 million in sales with a year-over-year percentage increase of 2.82% in sales. Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is the largest company in the world by revenue and based on pure numbers when it comes to sales of foods and consumables, Walmart is number 1 on BizVibe’s grocery store rankings 2020. Walmart U.S. is the company’s largest division, accounting for USD 331.666 billion, or 65 percent of total sales, for fiscal 2019.
- Founded: 1950
- Walmart Headquarters: Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
- Walmart Food and Consumable Sales: USD 341,004 million
- Walmart Number of Grocery Stores: 4,756
2. Amazon
With a year-over-year percentage gain of 24.52% in sales, Amazon is the fastest-growing grocery store retailer on this list. Amazon generated USD 154,581 million last year and is considered one of the best grocery providers in the USA. With no physical stores, the grocery portion of Amazon is seeing immense success with deliveries and leading the digital landscape.
- Founded: 1995
- Amazon Headquarters: Seattle, USA
- Amazon Food and Consumable Sales: USD 154,581 million
- Amazon Number of Grocery Stores: 0
3. The Kroger Co.
Ranking 3rd on this grocery store rankings is The Kroger Company, an American retail company founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Last year Kroger generated USD 122,286 million in sales of food of consumables, with and year-over-year growth of 0.36%. The company currently operates 2,757 stores and is also the fifth-largest overall retailer in the world. Kroger operates hypermarkets, supermarkets, superstores, department stores, and many other types of retail stores.
- Founded: 1883
- Kroger Headquarters: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Kroger Food and Consumable Sales: USD 122,286 million
- Kroger Number of Grocery Stores: 2,757
4. Walgreens Boots Alliance
Walgreens Boots Alliance ranks 4th on our list of the top 50 grocery stores in North America. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that owns Walgreens, Boots, and several pharmaceutical manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution companies. Last year, the US retail segment of Walgreens Boots Alliance generated USD 104,532 million in sales with 6.24% year-over-year growth in sales.
- Founded: 2014
- Walgreens Boots Alliance Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Walgreens Boots Alliance Food and Consumable Sales: USD 104,532 million
- Walgreens Boots Alliance Number of Grocery Stores: 9,277
5. Costco (U.S.)
One of the most popular and notable grocery store chains in the USA is Costco. Costco ranks number 5 on our list of the top grocery stores in North America with US sales of the grocery store company reaching USD 103,694 million last year and year-over-year growth increasing 8.31%. Costco is so large, it has over 98.500 million members worldwide.
- Founded: 1976
- Costco (U.S.) Headquarters: Issaquah, Washington, USA
- Costco (U.S.) Food and Consumable Sales: USD 103,694 million
- Costco (U.S.) Number of Grocery Stores: 543
6. CVS Health
CVS Health is an American healthcare company that last year generated USD 86,608 million sales in the grocery segment. CVS Health saw its sales increase 3.12% from the past year making it a highly profitable company on this grocery store rankings list.
- Founded: 1996
- CVS Health Headquarters: Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA
- CVS Health Food and Consumable Sales: USD 86,608 million
- CVS Health Number of Grocery Stores: 9,900
7. Target
Target’s grocery segment generated sales of USD 77,130 million last year with a 3.62% increase in year-over-year sales. Target Corporation is an American retail corporation and is one of the largest retailers in the USA. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and operates 1,868 stores worldwide.
- Founded: 1902
- Target Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Target Food and Consumable Sales: USD 77,130 million
- Target Number of Grocery Stores: 1,868
8. Albertsons Cos.
Albertsons Cos. Ranks 8th on this list of the top 50 grocery stores in North America with sales generated of USD 62,455 million last year and a 3.17% year-over-year increase in sales — making it one of the top grocery store chains in the world.
- Founded: 1902
- Albertsons Cos. Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Albertsons Cos. Food and Consumable Sales: USD 77,130 million
- Albertsons Cos. Number of Grocery Stores: 2,252
9. Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club ranks 9th on this list of the top 50 grocery stores in North America. The company generated USD 58,792 million in sales last year and is saw its year-over-year sales increase by 1.65%. Operating over 599 grocery stores, Sam’s Club is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc.
- Founded: 1983
- Sam’s Club Headquarters: Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
- Sam’s Club Food and Consumable Sales: USD 58,792 million
- Sam’s Club Number of Grocery Stores: 599
10. Alimentation Couche-Tard
Rounding out BizVibe’s list of the top 50 grocery stores in North America by sales is Alimentation Couche-Tard. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. Last year the company generated USD 46,189 million in sales with a year-over-year sales increase of 15.97% — making it one of the faster-growing grocery store chains in the world.
- Founded: 1980
- Alimentation Couche-Tard Headquarters: Laval, Quebec, Canada
- Alimentation Couche-Tard Food and Consumable Sales: USD 46,189 million
- Alimentation Couche-Tard Number of Grocery Stores: 9,866
Complete List of the Top 50 Grocery Stores in North America
Rank |
Company |
Year End Sales (USD millions) |
YoY Change |
Number of Stores |
| 1 | Walmart U.S. | $341,004 | 2.82% | 4,756 |
| 2 | Amazon | $154,581 | 24.52% | 0 |
| 3 | The Kroger Co. | $122,286 | 0.36% | 2,757 |
| 4 | Walgreens Boots Alliance | $104,532 | 6.24% | 9,277 |
| 5 | Costco (U.S.) | $103,694 | 8.31% | 543 |
| 6 | CVS Health | $86,608 | 3.12% | 9,900 |
| 7 | Target | $77,130 | 3.62% | 1,868 |
| 8 | Albertsons Cos. | $62,455 | 3.17% | 2,252 |
| 9 | Sam’s Club | $58,792 | 1.65% | 599 |
| 10 | Alimentation Couche-Tard | $46,189 | 15.97% | 9,866 |
| 11 | Ahold Delhaize USA | $44,756 | 6.96% | 1,973 |
| 12 | Publix Super Markets | $38,116 | 5.60% | 1,239 |
| 13 | Loblaw Companies Ltd. | $36,759 | 2.88% | 2,431 |
| 14 | C&S Wholesale Grocers | $28,500 | 2.15% | 7,000 |
| 15 | Walmart de Mexico y CentroAmerica | $27,891 | 5.65% | 2,571 |
| 16 | Dollar General | $27,753 | 8.30% | 16,278 |
| 17 | H-E-B | $26,300 | 12.39% | 353 |
| 18 | Rite Aid | $21,928 | 1.34% | 2,461 |
| 19 | Meijer Inc. | $20,350 | 2.48% | 248 |
| 20 | Costco (Canada) | $19,097 | 5.12% | 100 |
| 21 | Sobeys | $18,728 | 3.83% | 1,974 |
| 22 | Walmart Canada | $18,420 | -1.04% | 408 |
| 23 | 7-Eleven Inc. | $16,990 | 1.19% | 8,495 |
| 24 | Whole Foods Market | $16,955 | 4.66% | 501 |
| 25 | Wakefern Food Corp. | $16,600 | 0.61% | 354 |
| 26 | Aldi U.S. | $15,208 | 6.66% | 1,988 |
| 27 | BJ’s Wholesale Club | $13,190 | 1.41% | 217 |
| 28 | Trader Joe’s Co. | $13,000 | 4.14% | 503 |
| 29 | Metro | $12,647 | 16.58% | 1,600 |
| 30 | Dollar Tree | $12,510 | 6.81% | 7,505 |
| 31 | Wawa | $12,500 | 12.61% | 891 |
| 32 | Family Dollar | $11,102 | -0.08% | 7,783 |
| 33 | Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc. | $10,800 | 5.88% | 265 |
| 34 | Southeastern Grocers LLC | $10,450 | -1.25% | 550 |
| 35 | RaceTrac | $9,800 | 12.39% | 600 |
| 36 | Wegmans Food Markets Inc. | $9,700 | 5.43% | 101 |
| 37 | Associated Wholesale Grocers | $9,666 | 0.54% | 3,000 |
| 38 | Casey’s | $9,352 | 11.45% | 2,146 |
| 39 | Giant Eagle Inc. | $9,350 | 5.06% | 474 |
| 40 | SpartanNash Co. | $8,540 | 5.96% | 155 |
| 41 | Soriana | $8,234 | 0.26% | 810 |
| 42 | Marathon Petroleum | $7,800 | 1.96% | 3,900 |
| 43 | Costco (Mexico) | $7,448 | 5.12% | 39 |
| 44 | WinCo Foods Inc. | $6,858 | 0.79% | 127 |
| 45 | Sprouts Farmers Market | $5,634 | 8.20% | 340 |
| 46 | Big Lots | $5,323 | 1.62% | 1,404 |
| 47 | Demoulas Super Markets Inc. | $5,300 | 1.92% | 80 |
| 48 | EG America | $5,100 | 45.71% | 2,042 |
| 49 | Save Mart Supermarkets Inc. | $4,800 | 0.57% | 207 |
| 50 | Stater Bros. Markets | $4,507 | 2.55% | 170 |
This is BizVibe’s list of the top 50 grocery stores in 2020 ranked by sales generated in the most recent fiscal year.
- Walmart U.S. is the largest grocery store chain in the world, generating USD 341,004 million in food and consumable sales.
- Alimentation Couche-Tard is the largest grocery store in Canada by sales.
- With year-over-over sales growing 24.52%, Amazon is the fastest-growing list among the top 10 grocery stores in the list and behind only the much smaller EG America in overall sales increase from last year among the top 50 grocery stores on this list.
50 More Grocery Stores Ranked by Sales
Here are 50 more grocery stores ranked by sales for perspective on the companies that are also making strides outside of the top 50 grocery stores.
Rank |
Company |
Year-End Sales (USD millions) |
YoY Change |
Number of Stores |
| 51 | Save-On-Foods | $4,368 | 6.02% | 168 |
| 52 | Ingles Markets Inc. | $4,202 | 2.69% | 198 |
| 53 | Grupo Comercial Chedraui | $4,076 | 7.69% | 316 |
| 54 | Save-A-Lot/Onex Corp. | $4,014 | -26.29% | 1,115 |
| 55 | Golub Corp. | $3,860 | 13.53% | 133 |
| 56 | Defense Commissary Agency | $3,700 | -5.13% | 177 |
| 57 | Smart & Final Inc. | $3,601 | -1.93% | 255 |
| 58 | Weis Markets | $3,543 | 0.97% | 197 |
| 59 | Raley’s Supermarkets | $3,470 | 1.46% | 127 |
| 60 | Brookshire Grocery Co. | $3,258 | 6.82% | 181 |
| 61 | United Natural Foods Inc. | $3,179 | 19.15% | N/A |
| 62 | Alex Lee Inc. | $3,050 | 32.61% | 135 |
| 63 | Tops Markets LLC | $2,937 | 4.41% | 166 |
| 64 | Dollarama | $2,861 | 6.75% | 1,291 |
| 65 | Bodega Latina Corp. | $2,712 | 17.91% | 125 |
| 66 | Grocery Outlet Inc. | $2,559 | 11.75% | 347 |
| 67 | Schnuck Markets Inc. | $2,541 | -5.89% | 112 |
| 68 | Brookshire Brothers | $2,440 | 6.09% | 122 |
| 69 | 99 Cents Only | $2,405 | -0.58% | 386 |
| 70 | Associated Food Stores | $2,400 | 2.13% | 400 |
| 71 | The Fresh Market | $2,241 | -0.58% | 159 |
| 72 | Big Y Foods Inc. | $2,190 | 5.29% | 83 |
| 73 | Bashas’ Markets Inc. | $2,185 | 4.05% | 115 |
| 74 | K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. | $2,133 | -0.79% | 132 |
| 75 | Giant Tiger | $2,099 | 6.12% | 260 |
| 76 | Bozzuto’s Inc. | $2,010 | 2.03% | N/A |
| 77 | Houchens Industries Inc. | $1,950 | 4.33% | 355 |
| 78 | Village Super Market | $1,643 | 1.92% | 30 |
| 79 | Fareway Stores Inc. | $1,600 | 0.88% | 122 |
| 80 | Rouse’s Enterprises LLC | $1,408 | 1.59% | 64 |
| 81 | H Mart | $1,402 | 1.52% | 65 |
| 82 | Coborn’s Inc. | $1,400 | 1.82% | 114 |
| 83 | Piggly Wiggly Midwest | $1,384 | 0.87% | 98 |
| 84 | Woodman’s Food Markets Inc. | $1,381 | 5.82% | 18 |
| 85 | Marc Glassman Inc. | $1,230 | 4.33% | 60 |
| 86 | Lowe’s Pay-N-Save Inc. | $1,223 | 2.77% | 145 |
| 87 | 99 Ranch Market | $1,209 | 6.15% | 52 |
| 88 | HelloFresh | $1,148 | 39.70% | N/A |
| 89 | Vallarta Supermarkets | $1,115 | 6.19% | 50 |
| 90 | Sedano’s | $1,050 | 6.06% | 35 |
| 91 | La Michoacana | $1,040 | 3.75% | 140 |
| 92 | Festival Foods | $976 | 1.67% | 32 |
| 93 | Fresh Thyme Farmers Market | $940 | -4.95% | 74 |
| 94 | Natural Grocers | $903 | 6.36% | 849 |
| 95 | Superior Grocers | $787 | 4.65% | 45 |
| 96 | Lidl U.S. | $779 | 58.33% | 95 |
| 97 | Farmacias Benavides | $721 | -1.50% | 1,164 |
| 98 | Northgate Gonzalez Market | $656 | 2.66% | 41 |
| 99 | Blue Apron | $454 | 31.93% | N/A |
| 100 | Sendik’s | $433 | 1.88% | 17 |
The Future of the Grocery Industry
Grocers are all aware of the need for digital transformation in 2020. Pick up and go, deliveries and services like Instacart are getting more popular and post-COVID-19 expect this to be even more accelerated. The top 50 grocery stores in the world are already migrating to e-Commerce for their offering with Amazon leading the way.
