Grocery store sales in the U.S. 1992-2018

Grocery store sales have grown dramatically since the 90’s. Since 1992, sales have nearly doubled. The total sales generated by grocery stores in the United States in 2017 amounted to 674 billion U.S. dollars.

Top Supermarket Chains

The U.S. grocery retail market is dominated by chain supermarkets. In 2018 there were around 31,669 chain supermarket locations in the United States, compared to only 6,638 independent supermarkets. The leading American supermarket in terms of sales is the Kroger Company, which owns and operates several smaller supermarket chains across the United States. In 2017, Kroger’s total retail sales reached 105.1 billion U.S. dollars. The runner-up, Albertsons, generated some 57.4 billion U.S. dollars in sales that year.

Americans at the Grocery Store

Going to the grocery store is a familiar and comforting ritual for many Americans. In 2017, a survey of American households found that 40 percent of Americans make a weekly trip to the grocery store, while some six percent went to the grocery store four to seven times in a week. Although many products on the shelves of U.S. supermarkets claim to have various health benefits or that they were produced or sourced ethically, American consumers are most drawn to food products that claim to be fresh or farm-fresh.