King Kullen has closed nine stores since 2019, and every closure brings the same wave of concern from Long Island shoppers: is the chain finally done?
The short answer is no. But the longer answer explains something more useful — why specific stores are closing, how many locations are still open, and what this pattern of contraction actually means for shoppers, employees, and the communities these stores serve.
King Kullen Is Not Closing Entirely — Here Is Where Things Stand
King Kullen is still operating as a regional supermarket chain. Its corporate headquarters remain in Hauppauge, New York, and the business continues to run grocery stores across Long Island.
After the Hewlett location closed in May 2026, the chain had 24 King Kullen stores and four Wild by Nature natural food markets still in operation. King Kullen also stated publicly that, at that time, there were no additional store closings scheduled.
It is worth drawing a clear line here: closing individual store locations is not the same as shutting down a company. These are two very different events, and confusing them leads to unnecessary alarm.
A Pattern of Gradual Store Closures Since 2019
The closures are real, and the pace has been noticeable. Here is a straightforward timeline of what has happened:
- As of 2021, King Kullen operated 27 stores across Long Island.
- The Levittown location closed on October 3, 2024, after 30 years in operation. That left 26 stores.
- The Middle Island location closed in 2025, after approximately 34 years. It was the fourth King Kullen to close since 2022.
- The Hewlett location at 1765 Peninsula Boulevard closed on May 21, 2026, after 45 years. That brought the count down to 24 stores.
- Newsday confirmed the Hewlett closure was the ninth King Kullen store to close since 2019.
Nine closures over roughly seven years is a meaningful reduction. In 2021, the chain had 27 stores. Today it has 24, not counting the Wild by Nature locations.
That is gradual contraction — not a sudden collapse. The difference matters, both for how you interpret the news and for how you plan around it.
Why These Specific Locations Closed
Not every closure has the same cause, and that is an important detail to understand.
In the case of Hewlett, the closure came down to a lease dispute. The store’s lease options had expired, and King Kullen could not reach favorable renewal terms with the landlord. When a landlord and a tenant cannot agree on rent or lease conditions, the tenant often has no practical choice but to leave — regardless of how the store was performing.
This is a routine part of commercial real estate. Companies make these decisions regularly. Think of a business that closes one office location because the rent became unsustainable, while keeping its other offices running without issue. That is a site-level decision, not a company-wide crisis.
Lease terms, location performance, and local competition all factor into these decisions. Attributing a closure to any single cause oversimplifies what is usually a combination of pressures.
Competitive Pressure From Discount and Specialty Grocers
Lease issues aside, King Kullen is also operating in a much more crowded grocery market than it faced decades ago.
Newsday has directly linked King Kullen’s recent closures to increasing competition from discount retailers and specialty grocers. Chains like Aldi and Lidl have expanded their presence on Long Island, offering lower prices that regional supermarkets often struggle to match. At the same time, specialty grocery options and online delivery services have pulled customers in a different direction.
Mid-size regional chains like King Kullen can find themselves squeezed from both sides. They are not as cheap as the discounters, and they are not as differentiated as the specialty stores. That is a difficult position to hold long-term in any retail category.
Supermarket News has framed several King Kullen closures as deliberate business decisions rather than signs of distress. That framing is significant. It suggests the company is choosing to manage its footprint — closing locations that no longer make strategic sense — rather than simply reacting to financial trouble.
This pattern is not unique to King Kullen. Traditional supermarket chains across the United States have been dealing with the same pressures for years. What King Kullen is experiencing is part of a broader shift in how Americans shop for groceries.
The Stop & Shop Acquisition: What You Should Know
There is another layer to this story that often gets overlooked in local coverage: Stop & Shop announced plans to acquire King Kullen, including its Wild by Nature locations. However, as of the most recent reliable reporting, that transaction had not yet closed and remained subject to regulatory approvals.
Some of the store closures during this period occurred while the acquisition was still in progress. It is important not to conflate the two stories. Closures and an acquisition are related but separate events — one does not automatically explain or cause the other.
Until a credible source confirms the deal is finalized, it should be treated as pending. Shoppers and employees should follow local news sources for updates specific to their area.
What This Means for Local Communities
Store closures have real consequences for the people who live nearby, and that deserves to be said plainly.
When the Middle Island location closed, residents raised concerns about grocery access — particularly those without reliable transportation. A neighborhood loses something concrete when a full-service grocery store closes, and not every community has easy alternatives nearby.
The Hewlett and Levittown closures carried similar weight for longtime customers who had been shopping at those locations for decades. These are not just business statistics. They represent changes to daily routines and, in some cases, meaningful access to affordable food.
For business owners and community leaders tracking these kinds of shifts, resources like OurBizPoint provide context on how retail changes affect local economies and neighborhoods.
What Happens to King Kullen Employees When a Store Closes?
This is one of the most practical questions people have, and King Kullen has addressed it directly.
In the case of the Hewlett closure, the company stated that all employees would be offered positions at other stores. That is a meaningful commitment. It means the workforce is being redeployed rather than simply cut, at least in that instance.
This approach aligns with the broader picture of a company that is shrinking its footprint, not dismantling itself entirely. If King Kullen were truly winding down operations, it would be far less likely to be reassigning staff to other locations.
What Shoppers Can Expect Going Forward
If you shop at a King Kullen and you are wondering whether your local store is at risk, here is practical guidance:
- Monitor local news. Closures have typically been announced several weeks in advance. Local outlets like Newsday, News 12, and the LI Herald tend to cover these announcements promptly.
- Check the company’s statement. King Kullen has said there are no additional closings scheduled as of the Hewlett announcement. That can change, but it is the most recent official word.
- Identify alternatives in your area. If your location does close, knowing your nearby options in advance — other grocery chains, smaller markets — is practical preparation, not panic.
The remaining 24 King Kullen stores and four Wild by Nature locations are currently operating. The company has not announced a shutdown. The closures that have happened are real, but they reflect a business managing its real estate portfolio and responding to a competitive market.
The Bigger Picture
King Kullen has an important place in American grocery history. It was founded on August 4, 1930 by Michael J. Cullen and is widely recognized as one of the first supermarket chains in the United States — a 90-plus-year-old institution on Long Island.
That history does not make it immune to the pressures every grocery retailer faces today. But it does help explain why closures draw such strong reactions from the community. People have strong connections to stores that have been part of their neighborhoods for decades.
What the data shows is that King Kullen is a smaller chain than it was five years ago, and it may continue to adjust its footprint based on lease renewals, competition, and the outcome of the pending Stop & Shop acquisition. None of that equals a company going out of business.
It equals a long-running regional chain navigating a harder market — the same challenge facing traditional supermarkets across the country.
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