Effect on Washington of Kroger-Albertson Merger (Republic: sale, co-ops, credit card)

[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?

[Diana Holbrook]

I'd think they'll keep operating under their current, familiar names. I don't see a lot of reason to go to the expense of converting branding.


But what do I know?

[rantiquity]

Kroger and Fred Myers has combined and they will now be call Freddy Kroger. Wait that name is already taken.

[jabogitlu]

It will definitely depend on how the deal is structured. The buyer may purchase the going concern value (land + improvements + fixtures/stock + business value of the name) of a specific segment (e.g., the QFCs) of the portfolio. Or, they might just buy the real property (land + improvements) in which case if they don't have those name rights, they'll likely be rebranded.

This is a wild guess but I'm assuming Kroger sold QFC (as going concern). It has a much smaller footprint and quantity of stores over the Safeway brand. So, depends on how the C&S folks can run the ship, but we might see a lot of QFC closures if they really can't pull it off. Unfortunately there's nothing in the anti-trust language (that I know of) from preventing the third-party purchaser from closing stores later on.

[jabogitlu]

Oops, didn't realize more info/news had been posted.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/...ivestment.html

As part of the deal, Kroger will no longer use the QFC brand name. Stores the company will retain that carry the QFC brand name will be rebranded to a different company-owned brand. The company will also no longer use the brand names Mariano's (located in the Chicago area) or Carrs (an Albertsons' subsidiary based in Alaska).

In Arizona, California, Wyoming and Colorado, C&S will take on the Albertsons name. For Albertsons locations Kroger is keeping in those states, the stores will be renamed Kroger.

Some of the private label brands Kroger will no longer use include: Debi Lilly Design, Primo Taglio, Open Nature, ReadyMeals and Waterfront Bistro.

The deal could be expand to include as many as 237 additional stores if regulators require Kroger to sell off a greater number of locations in order to get the green light for its Albertsons deal.

[Ruth4Truth]

Kroger killed QFC when it acquired Fred Meyer/QFC. The situation couldn't possibly get worse. It's probably a good thing, that Kroger will let the QFC name go, and will rebrand the store, since for decades now, it's been a cruel joke of its former self.

Why does Kroger need to get any bigger? I'm glad someone filed a lawsuit against them, but that's not going to solve the problem of the growing nearly-monolithic control of grocery outlets in the US. Thank heaven for regional co-ops, and yes--Whole Foods and Sprouts. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Sprouts were eventually acquired by Kroger. The problem, though, is, that co-ops and Whole Foods are significantly more expensive than Safeway, Albertson's, Aldi's, etc., so most people will no longer have a choice outside of Kroger's.

[CrazyDonkey]

Like living in one big Company Town with one big Company Store: Kroger + (Albertson + Safeway) = KRAS.

[jjbnum3]

Here is some interesting info on the Merger.
The Oregon Live article says 49 stores in Oregon and over 100 in Washington will be affected.
This can not be good for the consumer. Freddies are already way too expensive and only go in there once in a while to
see what discounted items they have in the deli and other departments. Even the discounts got way smaller last time I checked.

I'm in Albany, Oregon, After the Safeway and Albertsons merger went through many years back, they just closed the Albertsons in town that was very close to Safeway, and now it is a gym.
Freddies(being remodeled right now) and Safeway are a few blocks apart in Albany, so one of them should be closed or sold.

I already do most of my shopping at Winco, Grocery Outlet, Costco, and a few other smaller grocery stores.
After reading how Safeway screwed Haggen, they fudged the numbers on many of the stores they sold and also broke many promises, like leaving the stores Haggen bought looking like warehouses and many with rotting food.
I'm surprised there were no lawsuits. Doubt I will give one cent to either store in the future.





https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/co...49plus_oregon/

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...-approved.html

[jabogitlu]

Not sure that most QFCs will be rebranded. The Biz Journal article notes Kroger will no longer use that name, which (almost assuredly) means it was transferred as intellectual property to the buyer, who will continue to operate the stores under the QFC banner. At any point though, the new buyer could rebrand, close down, remodel, etc.

I like Winco but I can't use my credit card to get 12x grocery points, which kinda sucks. I mostly use Costco these days, supplemented by produce and other niche items from Whole Foods (since it's a few blocks away)... I don't really use the Cap Hill (Broadway) QFCs at all. The upper one has a terrible layout and the entire store makes you feel like a criminal. The lower one is gross.

The QFC on Mercer in LQA is really nice though. So is the Met Market. Never been to the Safeway up there (1st & Republican).

[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.