Grocery Outlet to close 36 stores, one Stanislaus County location. Which one?
California-based retailer Grocery Outlet will close 36 stores it has identified as “financially underperforming.” One of the stores identified for closure is in Stanislaus County, at 2900 Sperry Ave. in Patterson.
The action is part of an effort to “strengthen long-term profitability and cash flow generation, improve operational execution, optimize our existing store footprint and align with our disciplined new store growth strategy,” according to a company press release.
In a March 6 Facebook post, Patterson franchise owners Sarah Kumar and Frank Quiroga wrote, “It is with great sadness that Frank, our family, and I (Sarah) announce that we’ll be closing our doors on April 25, 2026. We were just as shocked as you, and it’s not what we chose, but corporate decisions, like many of you have seen in the news. We’re grateful for the opportunity to have served our customers and community. This store was our dream, and it’s been an honor. We thank our team, customers, and community partners for their love and support. We look forward to seeing you all until we close and beyond.”
Opened in August 2023, the store is the only Grocery Outlet in Patterson. Hundreds of shoppers and community members flooded the store’s Instagram and Facebook accounts with messages of support and disappointment following the announcement.
Patterson Mayor Michael Clauzel reacted to the news in an Instagram post on March 7, writing, “The closing of Patterson’s Grocery Outlet is a deeply heartbreaking moment for our community. Sarah and her team have become like family to so many of us. Their kindness, their service, and their commitment to Patterson have touched countless lives, and it is crushing to see this chapter end — not because of anything they did, but because of a corporate decision made far from the community they faithfully served.”
He followed the post with a video asking people to shop at the store in an effort to reverse the decision. It’s part of Clauzel’s “$26 in 26” campaign, which asks residents to spend at least $26 a month at a locally owned business. He encouraged residents to spend $26 a week at the store to make an impact and change the minds of the corporation.
In a call with The Bee, Clauzel added, “It’s really about the family atmosphere that Sarah and Frank bring to the table. They live in Diablo Grande. They are Patterson residents, and we as a community really rally around that when our fellow citizens need help, and they need help, and I know our citizens are going to show up in a big way,” he said.
This was the only location affected in the region. There are seven others in Stanislaus County: two in Modesto, two in Turlock, and one each in Ceres, Oakdale, and Patterson. It was announced last year that an eighth location is coming to Riverbank.
The discount grocery store was founded in 1946 and operates over 500 stores across 16 states. Grocery Outlet calls itself “the nation’s largest extreme value retailer,” and the stores are independently owned and operated.
A petition has been started in an effort to “show support and let corporate know how much [the local owners] mean to Patterson.”
