Kings Food Markets, the Albertsons-owned grocery chain, will close its stores in Hillsdale and Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, no later than January 2, 2027, and 122 workers are affected. A company spokesperson gave the date to NJBIZ. The closures were disclosed in an October filing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
NJBIZ reported that the affected workers are covered by labor unions and collective bargaining agreements. The company has not given a breakdown of jobs by store, and the 122 figure covers both locations together.
What Kings says it will do for the workers
The spokesperson told NJBIZ the company’s goal is “to place as many associates as possible in other stores.” Human resources and labor relations teams “will be working diligently with each affected associate and his or her labor union” to find other work. Workers who cannot find another job are eligible for severance under applicable law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson was not named in the report. NJBIZ, which published the story on October 3 and updated it October 5, did not report what the severance amounts would be, which unions represent the workers.
The question for anyone who shops at or works in either store is the date. The company says the wind-down will be complete no later than January 2, 2027. NJBIZ did not report separate closing dates for Hillsdale and Whitehouse Station, so January 2 is the only firm date. The report gives no per-store job counts.
January 2, 2027 is the latest date either Kings store can still be open, and the 122 affected workers are working against it.
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A chain that has shrunk since 2020
Hillsdale and Whitehouse Station are the latest in a run of closings. NJBIZ places them within an Albertsons effort to reevaluate its store footprint.
Kings was founded in 1936 in Summit, New Jersey, by the Bildner family and once had roughly two dozen stores across New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2020, and Acme Markets bought it for $96.4 million, a deal that also included Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market. Acme is an Albertsons subsidiary.
Since then, Kings has closed stores in Chatham, Maplewood, Long Hill, Hoboken, Bernardsville, Warren and Ridgewood. After these two closings, 16 Kings stores remain in New Jersey, plus one on Long Island, New York, and one in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Balducci’s has gone from eight stores to six, in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Virginia.
Albertsons is reviewing its store map
The closings come as the parent company reshapes its store base. Nothing in the NJBIZ report ties the Hillsdale and Whitehouse Station decisions to a single cause, and the company’s statement focuses on the workers rather than the stores’ sales.
Albertsons, based in Idaho, operated 2,240 stores under 22 banners as of June 2026, according to NJBIZ. The company is reevaluating its footprint after its planned merger with Kroger, valued at about $25 billion, fell apart in late 2024. NJBIZ reports Albertsons has closed about 45 stores since then.
In New Jersey, Acme closed locations in Edgewater and Sussex, and still operates 67 stores in the state. The former Edgewater Acme has reopened as a ShopRite owned by Inserra Supermarkets. The vacant 48,762-square-foot former Acme space in Sussex is still being marketed by RIPCO Real Estate.
If a job is ending at a Kings store
The federal Department of Labor says the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as WARN, “helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs.” The department’s WARN page links to a guide for workers, a guide for employers and the regulations at 20 CFR Part 639. It says federal court alone enforces the law, and it lists warn.inquiries@dol.gov for questions.
New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development runs the state’s job help. Its career services page links to unemployment claims at myunemployment.nj.gov, to One-Stop Career Centers, which say they serve people by appointment and walk-in for career support, and to Job Source for job openings. It also lists SkillUp NJ, which offers more than 7,000 free online courses, and says remote and in-person reemployment services are available to people who receive a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment letter. A nearby center can be found from the page’s contact list.
New Jersey has its own, broader layoff law. Greenberg Traurig’s summary says amendments that took effect April 10, 2023 apply to employers with at least 100 employees nationwide, require 90 days of notice and mandate one week of severance for each year of service, plus four more weeks when notice falls short. A covered mass layoff means 50 or more terminations within 30 days. NJBIZ did not say whether either closing meets those triggers.
Workers at the two stores can ask their union representative or store management in writing about the date their job ends, severance under their contract, and whether a transfer to another Kings or Acme store is offered. Those answers set the date by which a household needs a plan for income and health coverage.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
