Updated 1/28/2020: This article has been updated to include the announcement of Lucky’s Market’s filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and store purchase agreements.
Boulder, Colorado-based grocery store chain Lucky’s Market is closing 32 of its 39 stores in nine states. Two Ohio stores in Cleveland and Columbus have posted online that they will remain open.
The news comes after Lucky’s Market stores across the country made the announcement Tuesday on individual store pages on Facebook.
The natural food store was founded in 2003. In 2016, Kroger invested in the chain, more than doubling the number of stores nationwide. However, Kroger later announced it would divest in December of last year.
The decision to divest came out of Kroger’s struggle to make returns on its capital investment, according to information reported by B2B media company Winsight.
On Monday, Jan. 27, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with grocery chain Aldi that would give the company five leased properties and one owned property. It is not yet known which stores this agreement would affect.
The company has also agreed to sell various Florida stores to supermarket chain Publix, according to Progressive Grocer.
For more information, visit Lucky’s Market Columbus’ Facebook page.