These six Whatcom County grocery stores would be sold off in Kroger and Albertsons merger

Multiple Whatcom County grocery stores would change ownership as part of an agreement between The Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc., and C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC.

The Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc. on Tuesday released a list of 579 stores nationwide that they intend to divest to a third party as part of their proposed merger, which faces a legal battle from the state of Washington.

Tuesday’s list of stores includes a high of 124 in Washington, 101 in California and 62 in Oregon. Most of the Northwest stores affected currently are under the brand of Safeway, Haggen or QFC. All 579 stores would come under the ownership of C&S Wholesale Grocers based in Keene, N.H.

Kroger and Albertsons proposed a merger in 2022 and released a new and expanded divestiture plan on April 22 that includes 579 stores that would be sold to C&S, including Haggen, Fred Meyer, Safeway and QFC banner names.

New ownership is proposed for these Whatcom County stores:

▪ Haggen — 2814 Meridian, Bellingham

▪ Haggen — 1401 12th St, Bellingham

▪ Haggen — 210 36th St, Bellingham

▪ Haggen — 2900 Woburn St, Bellingham

▪ Safeway — 1275 E Sunset Dr, Bellingham

▪ Haggen — 1815 Main St, Ferndale

No grocery stores will close, no workers will be laid off, and the merger originally was set to close in early 2024. Kroger CEO and Chairman Rodney McMullen and Albertson’s CEO Vivek Sankaran addressed the latest news in a video announcement.