Kroger buys Albertson’s

[bcla]

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/14/kroger-agrees-to-buy-albertsons-for-24point6-billion.html

Kroger’s only presence in my area is Foods Co, which is a low frills, discount supermarket chain. Albertson’s is gone (went in and out over the years when they bought then renamed Lucky Stores, but bought out Safeway without really changing anything. I go into a Safeway and they have all Safeway house brands. Wondering what’s going to happen. They might be forced to sell off Safeway.

 

[barkley]

our only presence is via Fred Meyers. i don't shop there often b/c they can be kind of pricey but the kroger brand canned shelf stable stuff is well priced (and when on sale a pretty good deal). albertsons is just not convenient to me but when i've stopped there on occasion it reinforces how when they bought out safeway, at least in our area-the safeway stores became the neglected stepchildren of the company. the combo ads will list items on sale and safeway will never have it while the nearby albertsons are stocked (well before the pandemic it was a major issue that contributed to me ceasing most safeway shopping). they pulled many of the delis out of the safeways and the pharmacies are grossly understaffed. maybe kroger can improve things.

 

[fly girl]

I have shopped at Kroger's for years (Fry's in AZ is Kroger too).

Now I am in Cincinnati, home of Kroger. Kroger Marketplaces are the best, hopefully yours will be a Marketplace (along with clothing and home goods, they have an extended specialty deli/cheese counters, sushi, Home Chef, and generally more selection of international products.)

Kroger rewards are pretty good. I get monthly coupons "made just for me" with products I buy all the time, plus my favorite $20 off $200 coupon. Overall, I think Kroger prices beat a comparable Meijer in my area (which I know you don't have, but a chain I still love because of my Michigan roots). Hopefully your prices will be good.

Their in store Private Selection line is very good. I buy a lot of their products.

I hope you end up being happy with the end result. Always hard to switch when you have a routine with the grocery store you know and prefer.

 

[starry_solo]

Kroger's presence in California is Ralph's
Albertson's presence is Albertson's & Vons (Safeway)

Seems like a big monopoly...

 

[tvguy]

i used to shop at Albertson's before they left Sacramento. I have a Safeway about a mile from my house, but I have Smart and Final and Bel Air the same distance. The Safeway is odd. They closed and the building sat vacant for about five years. Then they came back. I do buy gasoline at Safeway, but Walmart Neighborhood Market and Bel Air are my weekly grocery stops.

 

[RangerPooh]

Where I lived in CA and WA we had Safeway. I prefer Safeway over Albertson's. When we moved to TN our options were Kroger or Walmart, or some regional stores in sketchy parts of town. We shop at Kroger. If I'm traveling and there's a Safeyway I'll eagerly shop there.

 

[Meriweather]

We have Fry's as our Kroger store
Albertsons and Safeway are both here......they merged. Have the same ads and brands

 

[kathyk2]

Albertsons owns Shaws and Star Market in New England so I'm curious to see what will happen.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When Lucky made their California debut in the 80's they got their start as Alpha Beta but when American Stores Corporation sold Alpha Beta they rebranded all the Alpha Beta stores in California as Lucky and Alpha Beta was my mom's favorite store when we lived in Texas and if you are from Texas you probably remember Texas had Alpha Beta stores too known by the name Skaggs Alpha Beta and they were good supermarkets that had great sales. But in my town we seem to get new grocery stores and as soon as new grocery stores arrive the familiar grocery stores seem to go broke and close. For instance I have lots of Grocery Outlet Bargain Markets but I have the only surviving Lucky in my town and directly right across the street is another grocery store and another grocery store too. And I don't know how the Lucky in my town gets so much competition from those two grocery stores in my town. I think when Albertson's first brought Lucky they were showing signs of going downhill because Lucky used to be a great place to get groceries really cheap but then they were bought by Save Mart and continued to go downhill but ever since Safeway bought Albertsons they still are downhill. I also have Food 4 Less and it was my favorite store because when they opened it was in walking distance of my old house and Mom and I would get candy and snacks there sometimes but then it went downhill too. I think they will turn the Safeways into Kroger's and the Luckys will be rebranded back to Albertsons but I can't figure out why FoodsCo is so popular because I have one myself but their store's alright. But I think this means we will see a new updated version of Kroger and Albertsons and they will make the stores even bigger and better than ever
Dodger

 

[ronandannette]

I hate it when that happens. Here in Canada we had one national change (Sobey's) buy another (Safeway). They both still operate under separate names but a lot of Safeway stores did close. The house-brand products are all the same at both now, and there's very little difference in the prices or what's on sale any given week. Our largest grocery chain (Loblaw's/Superstore) also bought the iconic Canadian pharmacy chain Shopper's Drug Mart. Not only did that result in the loss of the Shopper's house-brands (which were very good) but they also merged loyalty programs, ending an era of Shopper's Optimum points and benefits.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I do not know very much about the business end, but I like shopping at Kroger.

 

[bcla]

When Lucky made their California debut in the 80's they got their start as Alpha Beta but when American Stores Corporation sold Alpha Beta they rebranded all the Alpha Beta stores in California as Lucky and Alpha Beta was my mom's favorite store when we lived in Texas and if you are from Texas you probably remember Texas had Alpha Beta stores too known by the name Skaggs Alpha Beta and they were good supermarkets that had great sales.

Lucky has a much longer history than that. It’s a California institution really, and I remember my local store in the mid-70s, although it was older than that. The history says 1935 in Alameda County. They also owned Gemco. It started off with various names, but the owner coalesced with the Lucky name.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Stores#Beginning

The current Lucky is really Save Mart licensing the name from Albertson’s. Maybe some other company in other markets outside of Northern California, but I think that’s a separate operation with a separate logo.

As far as what they’re going to do with Safeway, I can really imagine tossing the name, which just has too much history to it. It was once the largest supermarket brand in the world, and is licensed in other countries. I see stores where it says how long they’ve been serving a particular city.

 

[easyas123]

We have Acme & Safeway around here they are pretty much interchangeable - I think they are owned by Albertson's?
Well - either way, I hope not much changes. Acme & Safeway are the most decent places around to shop. We have a Harris Teeter about 45 minutes away though.

 

[tvguy]

Lucky has a much longer history than that. It’s a California institution really, and I remember my local store in the mid-70s, although it was older than that. The history says 1935 in Alameda County. They also owned Gemco. It started off with various names, but the owner coalesced with the Lucky name.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Stores#Beginning

The current Lucky is really Save Mart licensing the name from Albertson’s. Maybe some other company in other markets outside of Northern California, but I think that’s a separate operation with a separate logo.

As far as what they’re going to do with Safeway, I can really imagine tossing the name, which just has too much history to it. It was once the largest supermarket brand in the world, and is licensed in other countries. I see stores where it says how long they’ve been serving a particular city.

I grew up with Luckys in the 1960's and continued to shop there into the 1990's until the Lucky by me closed. Actually, the Lucky store I grew up with became Bonanza for a couple of years as Lucky experimented with "discount" grocery stores in the 1960's. They went back to Lucky.

 

[tcufrog]

We have a fancy Tom Thumb and an Albertson's near us. They both have great rewards programs. We used to live close to Tom Thumb and Kroger but there's no Kroger near here. I really hope they don't close the Albertsons because it's the closest grocery store.

 

[GreatLakes]

We have neither close to me, unless one owns another brand I'm not aware of near me, but it is rare when these mergers happen that the consumer wins.

 

[ncc1701]

We have Acme & Safeway around here they are pretty much interchangeable - I think they are owned by Albertson's?
Well - either way, I hope not much changes. Acme & Safeway are the most decent places around to shop. We have a Harris Teeter about 45 minutes away though.

Yes Acme & Safeway are both Albertson's. We live in a New Jersey (Philadelphia suburbs)we have Acme & the other major one is ShopRite (part of Wakefern). Any Kroger owned stores are 1 or 2 in Philadelphia or Delaware.
I shop most at Acme because it is closest ( same town)& their rewards programs is good. ShopRite is 2nd along with Wegman's. We only have 2 Wegman's in my area of South Jersey but fortunately one is 2 miles from my home.

 

[easyas123]

We only have 2 Wegman's in my area of South Jersey but fortunately one is 2 miles from my home.

I’d love to have a Wegmans in our area…I think there is one in northern DE, so not close enough for regular grocery shopping.

 

[ncc1701]

I’d love to have a Wegmans in our area…I think there is one in northern DE, so not close enough for regular grocery shopping.

I wish we had a few more just to ease the crowds. Especially if you go on a weekend . A plus of being retired is I can go in the morning on weekdays. Even then there are "wandering aimless people" as my DH referes to some fellow shoppers.

 

[HopperFan]

Kroger was my place for 50 years. When I lived out of state and would visit, Kroger was on my list of people to see. I bought my house partly because a couple miles away was a Kroger Coming Soon sign. My bro did work in it and I had a picnic on the floor before it opened. I went to opening day event 30 years ago and shopping every since. I loved it.

The last two weeks they have raised the prices at incredible and obvious amounts. Coke 12 pack went from $4 to $8. How do you think they can afford to make this big merger/buyout? By gouging their customers.

My Aldi across the street from Kroger - prices have not changed except for a few random things like eggs. But even they are still much less than others. I'm tired of this corporate greed.

12 pack Seltzer store brand - Kroger $4.29 Aldi $2.99
Carton of OJ store brand - Kroger $4.99 Aldi $2.99
Quart of Milk store brand - Kroger $2.69 Aldi $1.25 (more than double!)

Except for specific items like dog food I'm not going back to Kroger. I am finding generic OTC drugs and other items Aldi doesn't have cheaper elsewhere. I'm at point my allegiance is now only to finding the best prices on items.

Our area is Kroger & Publix, random few and far between Ingles, Whole Foods and Fresh Market. Most Walmarts & Targets have groceries. Targets are expensive, Walmart has been good but now creeping up as well.