Kroger is the second-largest grocer by market share in the United States, behind Walmart, and Albertsons is fourth, after Costco.
Source: Kroger agrees to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion
This means less competition and higher prices for many of us.
When Albertsons bought Safeway, there were both a Safeway and an Albertsons store in my town, less than 1/2 mile apart. As part of the deal, Albertsons had to shut down the Albertsons store, leaving only the Safeway store. It was thought another vendor would open another grocery store there, but they did not. The result is: We now have one less grocery store in town and less competition.
With this deal, Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer, will now have the remaining Safeway store less than 1/2 mile away. And like before, they will be required to close or sell the Safeway store.
And if like last time, we will lose one additional grocery store, leaving us with just 4 grocery stores in the entire city.
- Walmart
- Fred Meyer
- M&W (small regional chain)
- Grocery Outlet (low end)
From six to 4 stores. The next competitive stores would be about 25 miles away, in another town.
For small and mid-size cities, this acquisition by Kroger is bad for consumers.
