On July 9, the super chain supermarkets Kroger and Albertsons announced the list of 579 underperforming food and miscellaneous stores that will be sold post-merger, with 63 of them located in California, the majority in Southern California, including 11 in San Diego.
According to Bloomberg, Kroger’s CEO sent a memorandum to all affected employees of these stores, informing them that if the merger is successful, these stores will be divested to C&S Wholesale Grocers, and it is expected that all employees will be able to continue working with C&S.
Founded in 1918, C&S Wholesale Grocers is a giant food and grocery wholesaler in the United States.
As early as October 2022, Kroger and Albertsons announced their merger plan. Both companies stated that the merger is necessary to better compete with Walmart, Amazon, and other competitors.
In February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission and eight states, including Colorado, filed lawsuits to block the deal. The FTC stated that the proposed $24.6 billion merger would decrease market competition, leading to higher grocery and food prices and potentially negative impacts on employees.
These legal battles are ongoing, with hearings scheduled to begin at the end of July and expected to continue until September.
Kroger denies the FTC’s claims, asserting that post-merger, no stores, distribution centers, or production facilities will be closed, stating that “through this acquisition, customers will benefit from lower prices and more choices.”
In an effort to secure regulatory approval for this merger, Kroger and Albertsons announced in April that they were expanding their plans to sell 579 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers after the merger, an increase of 166 stores from the original agreement.
Representing grocery store workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union released a statement on July 9 expressing continued opposition to the merger. The union stated, “This merger is far from a done deal. We remain focused on stopping this super-merger because we know it will harm workers, shoppers, suppliers, and communities.”
Below is the list of 63 Kroger or Albertsons stores in California that are proposed to be sold (those marked with *) are stores in San Diego County:
– Vons – 5671 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills
– Pavilions – 9467 W Olympic Blvd, Beverly Hills
– Pavilions – 1110 W Alameda Ave, Burbank
– Vons – 301 N Pass Ave, Burbank
– Vons – 820 Arneill Road, Camarillo
– Vons – 6951 El Camino Real, Carlsbad (*)
– Vons – 3439 Via Montebello, Carlsbad (*)
And so on…