(Reuters) -Kroger on Tuesday announced laying off corporate associates, as detailed in a memo, with a source familiar with the reduction stating that fewer than 1,000 employees will be impacted.
The source added that staff working in stores, manufacturing facilities or distribution centers were not laid off.
The company, as of February, employed over 409,000 staff, with most of them working in stores. The grocer had said in June it would close about 60 underperforming stores over the next 18 months.
"In the past few months, we have all looked for ways to simplify the organization, shift resources closer to our customers, and focus on work that creates the most value," said Kroger's interim CEO Ron Sargent, in a memo seen by Reuters.
Kroger will reinvest savings into other areas, such as lowering prices, opening new locations and creating store-level jobs, the memo added.
Bloomberg News had reported layoffs of nearly 1,000 corporate workers earlier on Tuesday, citing the memo from Sargent.
"With the Kroger-Albertsons merger off the table, Kroger is moving to reset its cost base and streamline operations," said Arun Sundaram, analyst at CFRA Research.
"Many decisions were put on hold during the merger process, so it makes sense that we're seeing more major business decisions in recent months," he added.
Kroger and Albertsons had proposed a $25 billion merger, which was blocked by a U.S. judge in December, leading to a legal battle between the companies.
Kroger had bumped up its annual sales growth forecast after posting upbeat first-quarter results in June and said it would invest in lowering prices to attract budget-conscious consumers amid tariff-induced uncertainty.
(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
