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Kroger to buy Albertsons?

Started by elsmere241, October 13, 2022, 03:36:57 PM

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kkt

Some mergers result in the things you don't like being spread around, rather than the ones you do like.


bing101


WillWeaverRVA

Kroger is going to divest 413 Kroger and Albertsons (and affiliated) locations to C&S Wholesale Grocers as part of the merger agreement. C&S is best known as the owners of a Piggly Wiggly franchise in North Carolina, but they also have a history of taking over smaller, failing grocery chains.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kroger-and-albertsons-companies-announce-comprehensive-divestiture-plan-with-cs-wholesale-grocers-llc-in-connection-with-proposed-merger-301921933.html

WA: 104 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
CA: 66 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
CO: 52 Albertsons Cos. stores
OR: 49 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
TX/LA: 28 Albertsons Cos. stores
AZ: 24 Albertsons Cos. stores
NV: 15 Albertsons Cos. stores
IL: 14 Kroger stores
AK: 14 Albertsons Cos. stores
ID: 13 Albertsons Cos. stores
NM: 12 Albertsons Cos. stores
MT/UT/WY: 12 Albertsons Cos. stores
DC/MD/VA: 10 Harris Teeter stores
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Ted$8roadFan

I would love to see Piggly Wiggly in the DC Area.......

Bruce

104 stores in Washington? That's going to devastate so many communities. Kroger and Safeway don't have that much overlap, even in urban areas.
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-- US 175 --

The article says that as many as 237 additional stores may be spun off to C&S if Kroger/Albertsons is required to as part of the merger.  Either way, no locations were specified besides the list of states.  There are 3 store banners getting spun off also: Carrs (Albertsons), Mariano's, and QFC (Kroger).

bing101

https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-safeway-to-close-its-doors-after-40-years.amp

Safeway one of the Albertsons owned supermarket brands to close one of their stores in San Francisco.

Takumi

Quote from: Bruce on September 08, 2023, 02:05:00 PM
That's going to devastate so many communities.

By...changing brands?
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

Bruce

Quote from: Takumi on January 05, 2024, 06:22:25 PM
Quote from: Bruce on September 08, 2023, 02:05:00 PM
That's going to devastate so many communities.

By...changing brands?

The spun-off stores will quickly close and bring about more food deserts. We saw this happen during the Albertsons/Safeway merger (where the stores were spun off to Haggen, which couldn't handle the uptake and itself nearly died) not too long ago. Lack of competition hurts the consumer.
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Brandon

Quote from: Bruce on January 05, 2024, 11:57:43 PM
Quote from: Takumi on January 05, 2024, 06:22:25 PM
Quote from: Bruce on September 08, 2023, 02:05:00 PM
That's going to devastate so many communities.

By...changing brands?

The spun-off stores will quickly close and bring about more food deserts. We saw this happen during the Albertsons/Safeway merger (where the stores were spun off to Haggen, which couldn't handle the uptake and itself nearly died) not too long ago. Lack of competition hurts the consumer.

I'm going to call bunk on this.  When competitors like this merge, it opens the playing field for newer, smaller competition to emerge and grow.  We've seen it here around Chicago with the demise of Dominick's at the hands of Safeway.  Other, smaller, local players such as Pete's Fresh Market, Tony's Finer Foods, and others have taken a number of the stores (those that aren't Mariano's under the Kroger umbrella) to grow.

Urban food deserts are pretty much a myth.  People can travel, *gasp* a extra mile to a store there easily.  Rural food deserts on the other hand exist all over the place, but are hardly acknowledged by the press or politicians.  It's rural areas that lack choice as they typically might have a Walmart and that's it.
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Rothman

Meh.  I was agreeing with that post up until the statement that urban food deserts are a myth.  I've certainly seen others experience them.  To say they're a myth is just a base form of classism.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

thenetwork

In the Cleveland market, because of issues with grocery unions a few decades back, Kroger has refused to return to the area and Safeway was never here.

There was Fisher Fazios, Stop & Shop, and Pick N Pay.

Giant Eagle came in and bought out most of the Fisher-Fazios and Stop & Shops, while Tops came in and bought up the PnP chain.   They were pretty much the big dogs in town, aside of the Walmart & Kmart Super Centers.

Tops pulled out in the mod-late 00s, but there really was no other large national or regional chain to fill those closed stores.   However two local chains stepped up to the plate:

Dave's Market, which was previously a smaller urban area grocer and

Marcs, which up to that point was more of a Big Lots store selling more non-grocery than grocery items.

Dave's filled the "grocery desert" in the urban areas of Cleveland, covering what areas Tops abandoned.  Marc's did the same in the suburban areas and pretty much flip-flopped the ratio of non-grocery/grocery products.  Marc's is now widely known as a supermarket rather than a "discount store".

So even if the Kroger/Albertsons merger goes through, and some storefronts are abandoned, if the need is still there someone will step up to provide shoppers an alternative choice.  May not be a national or regional chain, but perhaps a local operation that will further invest in their town.

Bruce

Quote from: Brandon on January 06, 2024, 09:35:31 AM
I'm going to call bunk on this.  When competitors like this merge, it opens the playing field for newer, smaller competition to emerge and grow.  We've seen it here around Chicago with the demise of Dominick's at the hands of Safeway.  Other, smaller, local players such as Pete's Fresh Market, Tony's Finer Foods, and others have taken a number of the stores (those that aren't Mariano's under the Kroger umbrella) to grow.

Urban food deserts are pretty much a myth.  People can travel, *gasp* a extra mile to a store there easily.  Rural food deserts on the other hand exist all over the place, but are hardly acknowledged by the press or politicians.  It's rural areas that lack choice as they typically might have a Walmart and that's it.

Law professors and retail nonprofits say it'll create food deserts and hurt competition. The Safeway-Albertsons merger did create food deserts, which yes do exist in cities. People could travel, but they might not have the means to do so (lack of cars, lack of safe walking/cycling routes, lack of transit, etc.). Would you want to be forced to travel double or triple the time for groceries every week?
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thenetwork

Quote from: Bruce on January 06, 2024, 03:50:52 PM
Quote from: Brandon on January 06, 2024, 09:35:31 AM
I'm going to call bunk on this.  When competitors like this merge, it opens the playing field for newer, smaller competition to emerge and grow.  We've seen it here around Chicago with the demise of Dominick's at the hands of Safeway.  Other, smaller, local players such as Pete's Fresh Market, Tony's Finer Foods, and others have taken a number of the stores (those that aren't Mariano's under the Kroger umbrella) to grow.

Urban food deserts are pretty much a myth.  People can travel, *gasp* a extra mile to a store there easily.  Rural food deserts on the other hand exist all over the place, but are hardly acknowledged by the press or politicians.  It's rural areas that lack choice as they typically might have a Walmart and that's it.

Law professors and retail nonprofits say it'll create food deserts and hurt competition. The Safeway-Albertsons merger did create food deserts, which yes do exist in cities. People could travel, but they might not have the means to do so (lack of cars, lack of safe walking/cycling routes, lack of transit, etc.). Would you want to be forced to travel double or triple the time for groceries every week?


Out here in Western Colorado, at least, aside of the occasional Target and Walmart supercedes, It's all Krogers and Safeways, and even a couple of rogue  Albertsons-branded stores. 

Many stores post-merger will overlap greatly in some cities, and it sounds like the company that runs Piggly Wiggly is ready to come into the region. 

kphoger

Quote from: Rothman on January 06, 2024, 09:51:25 AM
Meh.  I was agreeing with that post up until the statement that urban food deserts are a myth.

Same here.
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Male pronouns, please.

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Big John


Plutonic Panda

Good they need to block this merger. It's like anti-monopoly sentiments don't exist anymore in this country.

bandit957

Might as well face it, pooing is cool

hbelkins

Quote from: bandit957 on January 15, 2024, 07:05:07 PM
Quote from: Big John on January 15, 2024, 06:47:27 PM
State of Washington AG sues to block merger: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/15/1224401179/kroger-albertsons-merger-grocery-lawsuit-washington

Kentucky needs to get off its duff instantly.

Why? Albertsons doesn't have a footprint in Kentucky. And with Meijer, Target, Walmart and Publix in the state, it's not like Kroger has a monopoly on the grocery market.



Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Hobart

Quote from: hbelkins on January 15, 2024, 07:50:30 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on January 15, 2024, 07:05:07 PM
Quote from: Big John on January 15, 2024, 06:47:27 PM
State of Washington AG sues to block merger: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/15/1224401179/kroger-albertsons-merger-grocery-lawsuit-washington

Kentucky needs to get off its duff instantly.

Why? Albertsons doesn't have a footprint in Kentucky. And with Meijer, Target, Walmart and Publix in the state, it's not like Kroger has a monopoly on the grocery market.

There are markets where Albertsons and Kroger are the only two shops in town. Heck, downtown Milwaukee is pretty much exclusively Kroger unless you want to cough up at an organic foods store.

The further we can get away from a monopoly, the better. Any reduction in the amount of national grocery stores is a concern. Having the two largest grocery store chains in the country merge is just asking for trouble, especially considering Kroger tends to inflate prices, and has inferior produce.
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Avalanchez71

Albertson's exited the Middle Tennessee market many years ago.  They have largely been supplanted by Publix.  I find Publix to be a far superb shopping experience to Kroger.  Publix workers are consistently stocking the shelves and rearranging as well.  I don't remember much about Albertson's but they seemed to be nicer stores at the time then Kroger.

kphoger

Quote from: Hobart on January 15, 2024, 08:36:41 PM
especially considering Kroger ... and has inferior produce.

For what it's worth, my wife and I buy almost all of our fresh produce at Dillon's/Kroger.  Their pears and avocados never seem to be anywhere near ripe but, other than that, we've hardly had any issues at all.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

bandit957

Bananas at Kroger have been getting worse and worse.
Might as well face it, pooing is cool

kphoger

Quote from: bandit957 on January 16, 2024, 10:03:55 AM
Bananas at Kroger have been getting worse and worse.

They tend to do that, and not just ones at Kroger.  But once they turn black, you can either freeze them and use them later in banana bread, or else you can blend them up with milk and ice cream for a cool treat.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

JoePCool14

Quote from: bandit957 on January 16, 2024, 10:03:55 AM
Bananas at Kroger have been getting worse and worse.

Now that's just bananas.

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