Yahoo Finance Morro Bay Albertsons could be sold as part of grocery store ‘mega-merger.’ Would it close?
A San Luis Obispo County Albertsons may soon be sold, along with 62 other grocery stores across the state, if a massive merger is approved later this summer.
The Albertsons in Morro Bay would be one of hundreds of supermarkets offloaded as a side effect of the chain’s pending megamerger with grocery giant Kroger Co.
The nearly $25-billion merger was first announced in October 2022, but the Federal Trade Commission sued to block it over concerns of creating a market monopoly that could drive up prices and negatively impact workers.
In 2022, Kroger was the third largest grocer in the country by market share, according to Axios.
The FTC said if the merger goes through, Kroger and Albertsons would collectively operate more than 5,000 stores and around 4,000 retail pharmacies, making it the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.
Merging grocery chains would sell hundreds of stores
In an attempt to secure antitrust approval, the merging grocers proposed to sell 579 of their stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers — including the Morro Bay spot at 730 Quintana Road.
But don’t worry. Even if the merger goes through, the Morro Bay location would not likely be closed as a result.
“Both C&S and Kroger have each committed that no frontline workers will lose their jobs and no stores will close as a result of the merger,” an Albertsons spokesperson said in a statement to Noozhawk. “Furthermore, associates will also continue to receive the competitive wages and benefits that they do today, maintaining their pay, health, and wellness plans, and all collective bargaining agreements where they are in place.”
Kroger also committed to investing $500 million to lower food prices and $1 billion to raise wages and benefits for workers if the deal goes through.
The Albertsons store name would even likely stay the same, according to a C&S press release on the merger in 2023.
According to that release, C&S would acquire “the exclusive licensing rights to the Albertsons brand name in Arizona, California, Colorado and Wyoming.”
A C&S spokesperson told The Tribune in a statement that the transaction was not yet final and was still subject to the resolution of Kroger and Albertsons’ pending court cases.
Moving forward, the grocer hopes to expand its retail footprint to become “one of the leading grocery retailers in the United States,” the spokesperson wrote. To do so, it plans to keep on current workers whose “skill and knowledge, along with our leading wholesale and supply expertise will undoubtedly ensure that these stores continue to successfully serve their communities for many generations to come.”
When reached for comment, an employee of Albertsons in Morro Bay said the store director was unavailable to speak as of Thursday.
Union protests Kroger, Albertsons ‘mega-merger’
Meanwhile, local unionized workers continue to raise concern over the merger and are working to block it from happening.
In a news conference Thursday, Jessica Crowley, a member of the United Food Commercial Workers 770 union chapter and an Albertsons pharmacist, said the “mega-merger will negatively impact retail workers, smaller suppliers, independent chains and communities already facing challenges with food and medication access.”
The 770 union chapter represents grocery store workers across Southern California.
“History shows we can’t take merger promises at face value,” said Crowley.
The trial deciding the fate of the merger is expected to start in August.
