The Sunbury, Pa.-based company unveiled the plans as it reported an 11.6% decrease in net income for the first quarter, to $20.5 million. Shutterstock

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Weis Markets on Wednesday said it plans to open three new stores in 2025 and one in early 2026, marking its first new-store construction since 2022.

The Sunbury, Pa.-based company unveiled the plans as it reported an 11.6% decrease in net income for the first quarter, to $20.5 million, compared with the first quarter of a year ago. Revenues were up 1.6%, to $1.2 billion, and comparable-store sales rose 1%. Adjusting for the Easter holiday, which took place in Q1 last year but in Q2 this year, the company estimated that Q1 sales rose 2.7% and comp-store sales rose 2.1% in this year’s first quarter.

“During the quarter, our net sales benefited from significant regional weather events, continuing product price investments, and the increased tempo of our loyalty marketing rewards program,” said Jonathan H. Weis, chairman, president, and CEO.

The company did not disclose specific reasons for the profit decline relative to a year ago, although Weis noted that the company was making “strategic cost investments” in its workers and in technologies aimed at improving efficiencies and enhancing the customer experience.

Although Weis Markets’ gross profit as a percent of sales was about even with the year-ago first quarter, its operating, general, and administrative expenses (OGA) rose about 3%, to $276.5 million. Investment income was also down about $1.1 million in the most recent quarter.

A spokesman for the company declined to elaborate on the profit decline.

New Weis Markets stores all over 60,000 square feet

The company said all four of the new stores in construction will measure more than 60,000 square feet, well above the 49,000 average square footage for a Weis supermarket. The planned openings for this year are in Lake Linganore and Charlotte Hall, Md., and Middletown, Del. The fourth store is slated to open early next year in Waldorf, Md., the Weis spokesman told Supermarket News.

Each of the new locations will include new features, expansive fresh departments, fuel centers, and sustainable technologies, the company said.

In its 2024 annual report, Weis said several construction projects from recent years had been delayed due to labor and supply chain disruptions.

Last year Weis completed six major remodels, nine minor remodels, and opened two new fuel centers. The company also acquired two former Sunnyway Food stores in Pennsylvania last year and ended fiscal 2024 with 198 locations.

In their own words: “An uncertain macroenvironment”

“Our first quarter 2025 results, adjusted for the year-over-year Easter holiday shift, are in line with our expectations despite the challenges of an uncertain macroeconomic environment.”—Jonathan H. Weis, chairman, president, and CEO, Weis Markets

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