Kroger-Albertsons merger: Full list of 579 stores to be divested and sold 18 states and D.C.

In 2022, two of the largest grocery store owners, Albertsons Companies and The Kroger Company, announced their intentions to merge. The combination would create a supermarket juggernaut and its announcement immediately drew harsh scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the attorneys general of Colorado and Washington.

Besides the anti-competition concerns, there are fears that the merger, should it be allowed to proceed, could have negative consequences for the two unions representing the more than 700,000 workers employed by both companies, weakening their bargaining positions if only one company existed where before there were two.

To help alleviate these fears, Albertsons and Kroger have said they will divest of some of their stores by selling them to competitor C&S Wholesale Grocers, owner of the Piggly Wiggly brand of supermarkets.

And now Albertsons and Kroger have released a list of which stores will be divested should the merger be allowed.

In total, 579 stores will be divested across 18 states and Washington, D.C.. These planned divestitures include stores from multiple brands, including Albertsons, Carrs, Eagle, Haggen, Harris Teeter, Jewel-Osco, Lucky Store, Marianos, Market Street, Pavilions, QFC, Randalls, Safeway, Tom Thumb, and Vons.

Here are the number of store divestitures planned for each state:

• Alaska: 18
• Arizona: 101
• California: 63
• Colorado: 91
• Deleware: 1
• Idaho: 10
• Illinois: 35
• Louisiana: 2
• Maryland: 4
• Montana: 2
• Nevada: 16
• New Mexico: 9
• Oregon: 62
• Texas: 28
• Utah: 4
• Virginia: 3
• Washington: 124
• Washington, D.C.: 1
• Wyoming: 5

As you can see, the majority of the planned store divestitures comprise only a few states: Washington with 124 stores, Arizona with 101 stores, Colorado with 91 stores, and California with 63 stores.

You can see a full list of individual stores marked for divestiture here.

In addition to the above stores, Albertsons and Kroger have stated they will also divest nine distribution centers in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Washington, and one plant in Colorado.

The release of the planned divestiture list comes about six weeks before a federal judge in Oregon will hold a hearing on whether to grant an FTC request to obtain a temporary restraining order to block the merger, reports Grocery Dive. That hearing is scheduled to take place on August 26, 2024.