Effect on Washington of Kroger-Albertson Merger (Bellingham: how much, camping, taxes)

[CalWorth]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I know a person that works for QFC.
I hope this sale doesn’t have a negative impact on him or any of his co-workers.

With the way this economy has been going life hasn’t been a “bowl of cherries” for a good portion of us.
I just have that feeling these hardships that we are facing are not going to go away anytime soon.

Shame really that it seems to have to be this way.

I think I know which one you’re talking about. It will be a problem if that one closes as a lot of very old, limited-mobility people shop there. Safeway is too expensive & Costco not an option for many.

WinCo& Aldi, where are you?.

[FrankNSense]

Originally Posted by DallasYankee

Does anyone have any guesses or inside knowledge of what will happen to local Fred Mayer, QFC and Safeway stores after the merger takes place?
Will C&S (the purported buyer of the many Washington stores) bring in grocery chains like Piggly Wiggly or any of their brands here or is it likely they will continue to operate under their current names? Or more perversely, will this company shut down all of the stores they acquire in the sale?
I haven't seen any discussion on here about what is expected to happen to these existing stores if this transaction and thus the proposed merger goes forward and is not stopped by the powers that be.
What do you guys and gals think?

We had a similar merger in CA back around 2015.

They ended up closing several stores that were "near" to each other.

There was an outside buyer for those stores that converted them to their brand name. In fact, it was a PNW chain called Haggen came in to take over more than 150 of the stores. Haggen declared bankruptcy about 6 months later. Several of the stores they took over and closed after the BK are still sitting empty close to a decade later.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...0R92DL20150909

So if history repeats itself I wouldn't count on much help from the purported buyer, or that you will see all of the stores remaining open. If you are near a couple of stores that are affected by the merger, expect at least one of them to close.

[jabogitlu]

Maybe if the QFC at Broadway and Pike (Seattle) closes, that gross mall can be redeveloped into housing and new retail opportunities.

But it's also likely that this merger/sell-off will affect the redevelopment timeline of the 15th Ave Safeway and QFC sites, which is unfortunate.

[Wile E. Coyote]

I can tell you what happened in my neighborhood in Oregon. I am in Beaverton a foot away from having a Portland address. I have lived here for 21 years and the Albertson's 1/2 mile from my house was my store when I first moved here. It was clean, freshly remodeled and well stocked. The prices were okay. Later I grew accustomed to using the QFC which is 1 mile from my house (North, the Albertson's is 1/2 mile West). Finally, I threw in the towel on the astronomical prices there and went full Costco (supplemented by various other stores like Winco, Whole Foods, Fred Myers, etc.).

There is also a Safeway about 1.5 miles South of the Albertsons (that is 1/2 mile West of my house). I'm in a nice suburban location where the demographics lend to every business and it's brother wanting to be located in a 2 mile radius. At one point I counted all the Starbucks in a 1-2 mile radius of my house and it is a lot.

Sorry for the novel...

After the merger, the Albertson's is now another Safeway (it had been Albertsons for at least 21 years). QFC is being renovated. I haven't been over to the Safeway 1.5 miles away to see if it is being renovated (yet again). They get renovated around here about every 7 years or so. They repainted the Corporate Safeway colors (inside and out) put new floors in, a new ceiling, the new Safeway sign, the Safeway carts, and they made some structural repairs outside. It looked like all new refrigerators, etc., etc. They spent a lot on that location.

So, yes, they are going to the expense of renovating and rebranding. As far as I can tell QFC will stay QFC. We'll see. It's not hard to understand how they can afford to do that with all the price gouging we have been living through.

[jertheber]

Prices are high in the local Fred Meyers stores, and this merger appears to be a buyout and closing of a competitor and has no other obvious strategy to it. Kroger wants to monopolize the grocery bizz to the extent that they have the Lion's share of the market. The most annoying aspect of this has to do with the fact that there is little value in this for the general public and it should have been shot down but money and politics will have their way..I'll continue to shop Winco.

[rkcarguy]

B'ham groceries run 20-30% higher than national avg. The Canadian factor means our stores are always swarming with people. I was at Costco at 8pm, 30 minutes to closing, and there was waves of people hitting the checkouts in a rhythm as the chickens came out. No reason to close stores unless they aren't ~competitive and simply don't have the traffic.
Don't forget that wages influence grocery prices. When a checker has to make $25/hour to squeak by in a $2,000/month 450sq/ft studio, you're going to pay more for groceries....or get used to handling all your groceries 8 times through the self- checkout.

I'm with you there jertheber, we have the best gov't money can buy!

[MechAndy]

There is also that pesky little thing that happens when you think printing money is the answer to all of our problems .

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

B'ham groceries run 20-30% higher than national avg. The Canadian factor means our stores are always swarming with people.

Groceries in Canada are more expensive than in B'ham, which you say i 20-30% higher than the US national average?


How can Canadians afford to live? Their RE values are going sky-high, rents ditto, groceries apparently are unaffordable to them (??), and I doubt they get higher wages than their US counterparts, but I wouldn't know. One thing I've observed in Canada is, that retirees are squeezed for cash, unless they had very high-paying jobs. Retirees were struggling back in the 90's, even if they had a rental unit in the house. I can't imagine how they're getting by now.

[rantiquity]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Groceries in Canada are more expensive than in B'ham, which you say i 20-30% higher than the US national average?
How can Canadians afford to live? Their RE values are going sky-high, rents ditto, groceries apparently are unaffordable to them (??), and I doubt they get higher wages than their US counterparts, but I wouldn't know. One thing I've observed in Canada is, that retirees are squeezed for cash, unless they had very high-paying jobs. Retirees were struggling back in the 90's, even if they had a rental unit in the house. I can't imagine how they're getting by now.

Taxes on everything including gas make prices are high because that is how the Canadian government pays for "Free" (hint, hint) health care.

[jabogitlu]

I don't think any rational adult thinks Canada just ****s out free healthcare. But, I know your intent was to make some kind of joke, so whatever. At the same time, we know that places like Canada spend far less per capita on healthcare (and have done so for at least 20 years) and achieve far better outcomes.

Regardless of one's position on taxes, food prices, etc., we should look to emulate countries that have lower costs and better outcomes in healthcare. Since we all use healthcare, I think that would be fairly obvious.