The U.S. grocery retail market generated approximately $1 trillion in total supermarket sales in 2024 (the most recent full-year figure from the Food Marketing Institute), with the at-home food retail market projected to surpass $864 billion in 2025 and continue growing at a 4.06% CAGR through 2029. Behind that staggering number sits a distribution infrastructure of roughly 550 distribution centers operated by the top food retailers, spanning over 300 million square feet across North America. For CPG brands, food distributors, and supply chain professionals trying to get products onto grocery shelves in 2026, one document matters more than almost any other: the approved warehouse list grocery retailers maintain for their supply networks.
An approved warehouse list is the gateway to doing business with America’s biggest grocery chains in the US. It dictates which distribution centers, third-party logistics providers, and warehouse facilities are authorized to receive, store, and ship products into a retailer’s store network. Without access to this data, brands operate blind, unable to efficiently route shipments, onboard with new retail partners, or optimize their distribution strategy.
This blog provides a comprehensive look at how the approved warehouse list grocery retailers rely on functions within the grocery retail ecosystem, profiles the largest supermarket chains in the US and their distribution networks, and explains how grocery data scraping can help businesses build, maintain, and act on warehouse and retailer intelligence at scale.
Approved Warehouse List Grocery Retailers: 2026 Data Guide
What Is an Approved Warehouse List for Grocery Retailers?
An approved warehouse list grocery retailers publish is essentially a master directory of distribution centers, cross-dock facilities, and third-party warehouses that are authorized to handle products within a retailer’s supply chain. When a CPG manufacturer or food brand wants to supply products to a chain like Kroger, Albertsons, or Publix, they need to know exactly where to ship those products. The approved warehouse list provides that information, typically including facility addresses, warehouse codes, receiving requirements, and sometimes specific product categories each facility handles.
These lists are not static documents. Retailers continuously update them as they open new distribution centers, close older facilities, switch third-party logistics providers, or restructure their supply chain operations. For example, Kroger recently opened a 350,000-square-foot automated distribution center in Dallas and has additional centers coming online in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona. Ahold Delhaize, which operates Food Lion, Stop & Shop, and Giant, recently confirmed plans for a new distribution center in North Carolina to support store expansion. Each of these changes triggers updates to the approved warehouse lists that vendors must track.
For suppliers, staying current with these lists is not optional. Shipping to an unauthorized or decommissioned facility results in rejected deliveries, chargebacks, and strained retailer relationships. This is why accurate, up-to-date warehouse data has become a strategic asset for any company selling into the grocery channel.
Why Approved Warehouse Lists Matter for the Biggest Grocery Chains in the US
The scale of the U.S. grocery distribution network makes manual tracking impractical. The biggest grocery chains in the US operate vast, multi-tiered supply chains that span coast to coast. Walmart alone runs more than 200 distribution and fulfillment centers across the country. Kroger operates more than 2,750 stores under two dozen banners, each supplied through a network of regional distribution hubs. Albertsons Companies manages roughly 2,300 stores under banners including Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons, and Acme, all fed through separate distribution networks.
The complexity multiplies when you factor in cooperative models. Wakefern Food Corporation, which supports the ShopRite and Price Rite banners, operates as a retailer-owned cooperative with its own wholesale distribution infrastructure. Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler, runs nine distribution centers totaling more than 9 million square feet, supplying independent grocery retailers across more than half the states in the country.
For CPG brands supplying multiple retailers simultaneously, the challenge becomes exponential. Each retailer maintains its own approved warehouse list with unique facility codes, receiving windows, labeling requirements, and compliance standards. A brand supplying products to Kroger, Publix, and H-E-B simultaneously must manage three entirely separate warehouse routing systems.
Top Grocery Chains in the US: 2026 Warehouse Networks
Largest Supermarket Chains in the US by Store Count and Revenue
Understanding the top grocery chains in US markets is essential context for anyone working with approved warehouse lists, since the size and geographic spread of each chain directly determines the complexity of its distribution infrastructure. Here is a snapshot of the leading U.S. grocery retailers based on the most recent available financial data:
Each retailer on this list maintains its own network of approved distribution centers and warehouses. The larger the chain, the more facilities appear on its approved warehouse list, and the more frequently that list changes as new centers open and older ones are consolidated or closed.
Most Popular Grocery Stores by State: Regional Footprints Shape Warehouse Networks
The most popular grocery stores by state vary dramatically depending on geography. Publix dominates the Southeast, with 873 of its 1,390 stores located in Florida alone. H-E-B is virtually synonymous with grocery shopping in Texas. Kroger’s various regional banners (Ralphs in California, Harris Teeter in the Carolinas, Fred Meyer in the Pacific Northwest) mean the company’s warehouse infrastructure is organized regionally rather than nationally.
This regional concentration directly impacts approved warehouse lists. A CPG brand expanding from the Southeast into the Midwest cannot simply reroute its Publix shipments through a Kroger distribution center. Each chain operates independently, with distinct authorized facilities, vendor compliance requirements, and receiving protocols. The east coast grocery chains like Food Lion, Giant, and Stop & Shop (all under Ahold Delhaize) share a parent company but often maintain separate regional distribution networks.
For brands tracking the top grocery stores in USA markets, understanding these regional dynamics is just as important as knowing the national rankings. A product may sell well in Texas through H-E-B but require an entirely different distribution strategy to reach Wegmans stores in the Northeast or WinCo Foods in the Western states.
Major Grocery Stores and Their Distribution Infrastructure
How Many Grocery Stores Are in America?
The scale of the U.S. grocery market is immense. According to FMI’s most recent data, there were 45,575 supermarkets operating in the United States in 2024 (full-year 2025 figures are expected later in 2026). This count includes conventional supermarkets, limited-assortment stores, supercenters, warehouse grocery formats, conventional club stores, and natural/gourmet outlets. When you expand the definition to include all grocery stores of every size, the total reaches approximately 305,156 locations, according to GourmetPro’s industry analysis.
The food retail sector employs 6.3 million people, and the average supermarket carries 31,795 items. Average weekly sales per supermarket reached $711,806 in 2024, with net profit margins averaging 1.7%. These grocery store statistics underscore both the opportunity and the razor-thin margins that make supply chain efficiency, and by extension accurate warehouse routing, absolutely critical for every participant in the value chain.
Grocery Store Market Share: Who Controls the Shelves?
The grocery store market share breakdown in the United States is top-heavy. Walmart commands approximately 23.6% of the total U.S. grocery market, a position built on over 4,600 stores and an everyday low pricing strategy supported by one of the world’s most sophisticated supply chain operations. Kroger follows with just over 10% market share, and Costco ranks third by revenue despite operating far fewer locations than traditional supermarket chains.
Together, the “Big Four” retailers (Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Albertsons) account for a substantial share of all grocery sales. However, the competitive landscape also includes fast-growing discount chains like ALDI, which was the fastest-growing U.S. grocery chain by both new store openings and total square footage in 2024, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. ALDI is on track to reach nearly 2,800 U.S. locations by the end of 2026 and is targeting 3,200 stores by 2028.
The US grocery store market share picture matters for warehouse list analysis because it reveals where distribution infrastructure is expanding. Chains gaining market share are adding distribution centers. Chains losing ground may be consolidating or closing facilities. Both scenarios create data-driven opportunities for suppliers and logistics providers.
Key Insight: The U.S. food retail market for at-home consumption surpassed $864 billion in 2025 and continues growing at a CAGR of 4.06% through 2029. In 2026, the top grocery retailers in the US are investing heavily in automated distribution infrastructure to support this growth, making approved warehouse list data more dynamic and valuable than ever.
How Data Scraping Powers Approved Warehouse List Intelligence
Building a Complete Grocery Retailer Database Through Web Scraping
Approved warehouse lists are scattered across retailer vendor portals, EDI documentation, supply chain guides, and publicly available logistics directories. Manually collecting and updating this information across dozens of supermarket chains is time-consuming and error-prone. This is where grocery data scraping transforms the process.
Web scraping enables automated, systematic collection of warehouse and distribution center data from publicly available sources. Retailer websites, logistics partner directories, job posting sites (which often reveal new facility locations before official announcements), regulatory filings, and commercial real estate databases all contain valuable warehouse intelligence. By scraping these sources continuously, businesses can build and maintain a living database of approved warehouse list grocery retailers operate across the country.
Xwiz Analytics specializes in building exactly this type of structured dataset. The team collects verified distribution center addresses, facility types (ambient, refrigerated, frozen), associated retailer banners, third-party warehouse operators, and receiving specifications. The result is a comprehensive grocery distribution map that updates as the industry evolves.
Key Data Points for Warehouse and Distribution Tracking
When combined, these data fields create a detailed picture of how products flow from manufacturer to shelf. For brands evaluating where to expand distribution, this intelligence is invaluable. For logistics companies, it powers more efficient routing and capacity planning. For investors analyzing major grocery stores, it provides operational visibility beyond what quarterly earnings reports reveal.
Use Cases: Who Needs Approved Warehouse List Data?
CPG Brands, Distributors, and Supply Chain Teams
Consumer packaged goods brands are the primary users of approved warehouse list grocery retailers maintain. Every time a brand secures a new retail placement, the first operational question is: “Where do we ship?” The approved warehouse list provides the answer. For emerging brands entering their first major retail accounts, this data determines initial supply chain setup, freight partner selection, and inventory allocation.
Established brands managing distribution across multiple top grocery chains in US markets use warehouse list data to optimize logistics costs. Knowing the exact facilities serving specific store clusters allows brands to consolidate shipments, negotiate better freight rates, and reduce transit times. When a retailer opens or closes a distribution center, brands that detect the change quickly can adjust shipment routing before compliance issues arise.
Third-party distributors like C&S Wholesale Grocers (the largest grocery distributor in the U.S.), UNFI, and KeHE (which operates 19 distribution centers across North America) serve as intermediaries between manufacturers and retailers. These distributors need comprehensive warehouse data across the entire retail landscape to manage their own receiving and outbound logistics efficiently.
Real Estate Developers, Investors, and Competitive Analysts
Commercial real estate developers track grocery distribution center openings and expansions to identify emerging logistics corridors. A new Kroger DC in a particular metro area signals population growth, increased retail activity, and demand for supporting infrastructure like cold storage and last-mile delivery hubs.
Equity analysts covering publicly traded grocery companies use warehouse and distribution data to assess operational efficiency and capital allocation. A chain investing heavily in automated distribution (as Kroger and UNFI have done) signals a long-term commitment to e-commerce fulfillment, while a chain closing facilities may indicate contraction or strategic consolidation.
Technical Deep Dive: Building a Grocery Warehouse Intelligence Pipeline in 2026
Data Sources and Architecture for Approved Warehouse Lists
A robust tracking system for the approved warehouse list grocery retailers maintain requires multiple data inputs. Retailer vendor portals and supply chain documentation are the most authoritative primary sources. However, these are often behind login walls and not publicly accessible at scale. Supplementary public sources include retailer “About” and “Supply Chain” pages, USDA SNAP Retailer Locator data (which provides downloadable CSV files of all authorized SNAP retailers with location coordinates), state-level WIC authorized vendor lists, commercial real estate transaction databases, and news/press release monitoring for new facility announcements.
The USDA’s SNAP Retailer Locator alone contains data on thousands of authorized retail locations, with historical data available as of December 2025. While this is store-level rather than warehouse-level data, it provides a verified foundation for mapping which retailers operate in which geographies, which can then be cross-referenced against distribution center databases to build a complete supply chain picture.
A well-designed data schema for tracking approved warehouse lists would include fields for retailer name, parent company, warehouse facility ID, full address with ZIP code, GPS coordinates, facility type (ambient, refrigerated, frozen, multi-temp), square footage, third-party operator (if applicable), banners served, product categories handled, and last verified date. This schema enables queries like: “Show all refrigerated distribution centers serving Albertsons banners within 200 miles of Denver” or “List all new grocery DCs announced in the Southeast in the past six months.”
Automating Warehouse Data Collection and Change Detection
The U.S. has approximately 305,156 grocery store locations and over 550 major distribution centers operated by top food retailers. Monitoring changes across this infrastructure manually is simply not feasible. Automated web scraping builds the foundation for continuous change detection: new facility announcements captured from news feeds, job posting surges at specific ZIP codes indicating facility ramp-ups, and retailer website changes reflecting updated warehouse codes or decommissioned facilities.
Xwiz Analytics builds these automated pipelines for clients across the grocery and retail sectors. The process involves scheduled scraping of identified sources, data cleaning and deduplication, geocoding for precise location mapping, change detection algorithms that flag additions, removals, and modifications, and structured output in CSV, JSON, or direct API delivery. For organizations that need to stay synchronized with the top grocery stores in us distribution networks, this continuous monitoring replaces the outdated practice of manually checking vendor portals every quarter.
Why Xwiz Analytics for Grocery Retailer Data Scraping
Grocery distribution data sits at the intersection of supply chain operations, competitive intelligence, and market analysis. Building a reliable, comprehensive dataset requires scraping infrastructure that can handle thousands of sources, data quality processes that eliminate duplicates and outdated records, and domain expertise to interpret what the data means in context.
Xwiz Analytics has built deep expertise in grocery data scraping, delivering structured datasets that cover store locations, distribution center networks, market share indicators, and supply chain infrastructure for the largest supermarket chains in the US. Every project is tailored to client specifications, whether that means building an approved warehouse list database for a single retailer or mapping the entire U.S. grocery distribution landscape across all major chains.
All data collection follows GDPR-compliant and DMCA-protected practices, scraping only publicly available information. Xwiz delivers data in client-preferred formats with flexible update schedules, from one-time extractions to ongoing monitoring feeds. For CPG brands, distributors, and analysts who need reliable grocery retailer intelligence, Xwiz Analytics provides the accuracy, scale, and speed that this industry demands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an approved warehouse list for grocery retailers?
An approved warehouse list is a directory of distribution centers, cross-dock facilities, and third-party warehouses authorized to receive, store, and distribute products within a grocery retailer’s supply chain. CPG brands and distributors use these lists to route shipments correctly and comply with retailer logistics requirements.
Which are the biggest grocery chains in the US by store count?
By store count, the largest U.S. grocery chains include Walmart (4,605+ stores), ALDI (2,624+), Kroger (2,750+), Albertsons (2,300+), and Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. banners (2,000+). By revenue, Walmart leads with approximately 23.6% market share, followed by Kroger and Costco.
How many grocery stores are in America?
As of 2024, the United States had approximately 305,156 grocery store locations of all sizes. This includes 45,575 supermarkets specifically (conventional supermarkets, supercenters, warehouse grocery stores, and specialty formats), according to the Food Marketing Institute.
How can web scraping help track approved warehouse lists?
Web scraping automates the collection of warehouse and distribution center data from retailer websites, logistics directories, job boards, and press releases. This enables continuous change detection, so businesses can identify new facility openings, closures, or operator changes before they impact shipping operations.
What is the grocery store market share breakdown in the US?
Walmart leads with roughly 23.6% of the U.S. grocery market. Kroger holds just over 10%. Costco, despite fewer locations, ranks third by revenue thanks to its high-volume warehouse club model. Together, the top retailers account for close to two-thirds of total industry market share, according to Statista’s latest 2025 data.
Which top grocery stores in America are expanding their distribution networks in 2026?
Kroger is investing in highly automated DCs in Dallas, Charlotte, and Phoenix. Ahold Delhaize is building a new distribution center in North Carolina. ALDI continues its aggressive expansion, targeting 3,200 U.S. stores by 2028, which requires proportional growth in its warehouse infrastructure. Walmart plans to build or convert more than 150 stores over five years while expanding distribution capabilities.
Where can I get accurate grocery retailer datasets for business intelligence?
Xwiz Analytics provides custom grocery retailer datasets through systematic web scraping of publicly available sources. Datasets cover store locations, distribution center networks, market share data, and approved warehouse list intelligence. Data is delivered in structured formats like CSV and JSON with flexible update schedules.
Conclusion
The approved warehouse list grocery retailers maintain is far more than an administrative document. It is a critical piece of supply chain infrastructure that determines how products reach shelves across America’s $1 trillion grocery market. With the top grocery stores in America continuously expanding, consolidating, and automating their distribution networks, the data landscape is shifting faster than manual tracking methods can keep pace.
From Walmart’s 4,600+ stores and 200+ distribution centers to ALDI’s rapid expansion toward 3,200 U.S. locations, the supermarket chains driving the industry in 2026 are investing billions in warehouse infrastructure. For CPG brands, distributors, investors, and analysts, having access to accurate, current warehouse and retailer data is not a luxury; it is a competitive requirement.
Xwiz Analytics helps businesses turn scattered, siloed grocery distribution data into structured, actionable intelligence. Whether you need a complete dataset covering the approved warehouse list grocery retailers publish for specific chains, a comprehensive store location database, or ongoing monitoring of distribution network changes across the top grocery chains in US markets, the Xwiz team is ready to build a custom solution. Reach out today to discuss your grocery data needs.
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