Independent grocers across California have faced sustained pressure from shifting shopping habits, labor costs and the long tail of pandemic-era disruption. In Modesto, that pressure is ending one of the city’s longest-running grocery names: O’Brien’s Market is preparing to shut its final two stores after nearly 50 years in business.
O’Brien’s Market has filed to close its final two stores
O’Brien’s Market, the family-owned grocery chain based in Modesto, has filed two California WARN notices covering the permanent closure of its last remaining stores and 117 workers in total. According to the WARN filings dated July 27, 2026, the Roseburg Avenue store is scheduled for closure effective September 26, 2026, and the Dale Road store is scheduled for closure effective September 27, 2026. The filings identify the two sites as 839 West Roseburg Avenue in Modesto and 4120 Dale Road in Modesto.
The worker count is split between 50 employees at the Roseburg Avenue location and 67 at the Dale Road location, according to the state-tracked WARN records. Coverage of the filings by regional outlets including the Modesto Bee and other news reports has described the closures as permanent. O’Brien’s own website also signals the end of operations, stating on its contact page that the Dale Road location will permanently close about October 4, 2026, “but no sooner,” reflecting a final wind-down period after the public-facing closure.
The decision marks the apparent end of O’Brien’s retail footprint. The company’s website lists the Dale Road and Roseburg Avenue stores as its active Modesto locations, while its Riverbank store was sold in 2024, according to prior reporting by the Modesto Bee. Founded in 1978, O’Brien’s grew into a familiar local banner in Stanislaus County before shrinking back to the two Modesto stores now slated to close.
The shutdown is centered in Modesto, with confirmed impacts at two addresses
The confirmed impact is concentrated entirely in Modesto, where both remaining O’Brien’s stores are located. State WARN data shows the affected facilities are the Roseburg Square-area store at 839 West Roseburg Avenue and the north Modesto store at 4120 Dale Road. No other California cities are named in the available WARN records tied to this closure action.
For local workers, the numbers are specific even if the company’s broader transition plans are not. The Roseburg Avenue filing covers 50 jobs and lists September 26 as the effective date, while the Dale Road filing covers 67 jobs with an effective date of September 27. The notices have been described in public reporting as permanent-closure filings, and there has been no public indication in those filings that additional O’Brien’s locations elsewhere in California remain open.
What is less clear is whether every part of the Roseburg site will go dark on the same timeline. Reporting cited a possible sale of the Roseburg Avenue store, and public records reviewed by local media show a pending transfer tied to that location’s liquor license. Even so, no final sale agreement had been publicly confirmed at the time of the closure reporting, and the company has not released any comprehensive public list showing which employees, if any, could be retained by a future operator.
Retirement, pandemic fallout and a difficult grocery climate are driving the closure
The reasons cited publicly point to a combination of owner retirement and difficult operating conditions. News reports drawing from the company’s statements said founder and president Chuck O’Brien is preparing to retire, making leadership transition a central part of the decision. O’Brien’s history stretches back to 1978, when Chuck O’Brien opened the business after starting out in grocery work while still in high school, according to prior local reporting.
The company has also pointed to business conditions that never fully normalized after the pandemic. In a farewell message cited by coverage of the closures, O’Brien’s said the COVID-19 period brought major changes and that the business was unable to fully recover. The company also cited the current business climate as a reason for closing, aligning its explanation with broader reports of stress across California’s grocery sector.
For customers in Modesto, the practical outlook is straightforward for now: the two remaining O’Brien’s stores are still expected to close in late September unless the Roseburg property changes hands before then. The company has not announced replacement plans for the Dale Road site, and it has not publicly confirmed a buyer for Roseburg. Unless that changes, Modesto residents should expect the O’Brien’s name to disappear from local grocery storefronts after the scheduled closure dates.