Safeway Confirms Sale Talks...

[marshd1000]

Albertson's isn't going sell off its "crown" Jewel, they are the dominant chain in Chi-town.

If anything, Kroger would snap up Safeway's DC/Balto stores to beef up Harris Teeter.

Also, the Osco name is still attached to most of the AZ Albertsons, however the Osco name is rarely used in their ads anymore.

I was looking to see what overlap there is in the Mid Atlantic Division of Safeway, there really isn't much. But if there was a division that Kroger would want it the DC and Baltimore Safeways. But at the same time, Safeway Mid Atlantic would be a logical extension for Albertsons since it is adjacent to Acme territory, with only about 2 or 3 Safeway stores overlapping including the one lone Gunardi's that Safeway could not unload.

[Alpha8472]

Analysts are now suggesting that Kroger bid on Safeway.

http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-f ... id-safeway

I despise the Albertsons name and all that it stands for. Many customers around the country also hate Albertsons for its history of high prices and poorly run stores. Even if only some of the people who ran the old Albertsons are running the new Albertsons, we might be seeing some of the same awful practices that the old Albertsons practiced.

I'd rather have Kroger take over Safeway. Even if it means divesting some stores to other chains, I believe that Kroger will bring lower prices and better customer services. Kroger knows how to run a supermarket and Kroger knows how to give customers good deals.

Albertsons, LLC has a history of closing down stores and selling them for real estate or selling them to other chains. Kroger's goal is to run a well run supermarket chain. I would hate to see this country taken over by Albertsons. Albertsons is taking on too much. Trying to take over Safeway could result in a train wreck. Safeway and Albertsons are both flawed companies. Safeway is known for high prices and a lack of cashiers and employees. Even if Safeway ends up running the new combined chain, they will still be worse than Kroger.

[klkla]

I'd rather have Kroger take over Safeway.

The problem is that regulators would't allow them to take even a third of the stores/ Kroger is interested in certain assets, not the entire company

Let's look at major markets:
SEATTLE - Safeway #1, Fred Meyer #2 - FTC Will not allow
PORTLAND - Fred Meyer #1, Safeway #2 - FTC Will not allow
ALASKA - Minimal Fred Meyer operations - FTC would allow most stores
HAWAII - No Kroger operations - FTC would allow
SPOKANE - Safeway #1, Fred Meyer small player - FTC would allow some stores
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - Safeway #1, Kroger minimal operations - FTC would allow entire division to be purchased
LA/ORANGE/IE - Ralphs/Food For Less #1, Vons/Pavilions #2 - FTC would not allow
SAN DIEGO - Vons #1, Ralphs #3 - FTC would allow some stores
LARGE CITIES IN AZ - Frys #1, Safeway #2 - FTC would not allow
SMALL CITIES IN AZ - FTC would along as long as they won't have a monopoly in those towns
COLORADO - King Soopers and Safeway are by far the dominant chains in Colorado - FTC would not allow
TEXAS - Kroger is already #1 in Houston and #2 in Dallas - would only be able to buy a few stores at best
WASHINGTON/BLATIMORE - Minimal overlap with Harris-Teeter - Kroger would be allowed to buy entire division

So for their trouble Kroger would only be able to keep:
EASTERN DIVISION
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DIVISION
HAWAII STORES
ALASKA STORES
and maybe 25-50 stores in other markets where they don't currently compete.

[KingU8ol0Soopers]

For Colorado, I believe that you mean King Soopers/City Market and Safeway.

[klkla]

For Colorado, I believe that you mean King Soopers/City Market and Safeway.

You're right! my bad

[marshd1000]

For Seattle, Fred Meyer and sister Kroger division QFC are # 2.

[CalItalian]

No more bidders for Safeway...the 21 day window has closed...so this deal is now etched in stone.
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-finan ... ge-safeway

[Alpha8472]

Now for the details of who will be in control of this company. My guess is that the Safeway headquarters will close and control will go to the corporate office of Albertsons in Boise, Idaho.

This is going to cost tons of jobs in California as Safeway employs many corporate people at various locations in California.

Then there will be issues of combining these two flawed and misguided companies. The new Albertsons is relatively new to the supermarket industry and Safeway has been going downhill steadily for years. Which decor will new stores get? Will the stores look more like Albertsons newest decor or will they look more like Safeway Lifestyle stores?

How about all of those new Safeway stores that are planned? Will those be put on hold? Safeway has been aggressively replacing old stores and opening new stores. Albertsons, LLC has hardly even opened a new store in the past few years. They are interested in closing stores and selling real estate. Safeway has tons of real estate that is just waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.

Also, I can see Kroger eagerly waiting to snatch up stores that need to be divested. We may see Kroger entering areas that it has not yet reached.

Of course, we all want to know which stores will be rebranded and which banner will win in each area. I have a suspicion that Albertsons will favor using the Albertsons name in as many regions as possible. This might be a very entertaining train wreck of a situation.

Consumer Reports issued a list of the worst supermarkets in the country. At the bottom of the list are several chains owned by Albertsons including Acme and Shaw's. They were almost as poorly ranked as Walmart. That says a lot. The top of the list included Wegman's, Trader Joe's, Costco, Sprouts, Stater Brothers, Raley's, etc. Safeway was in the middle.

[klkla]

No more bidders for Safeway...the 21 day window has closed...so this deal is now etched in stone.
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-finan ... ge-safeway

I don't know about etched in stone... The FTC will still have to weigh in on this.

As for which branding they use I would assume it will depend on how many stores they have in each overlapping market (The fewer stores that have to be rebranded the more money they save):

Seattle - Many more Safeways than Albertsons - Probably keep Safeway name

Portland - Same as Seattle

Los Angeles - Will probably keep Pavilions as is and there's about the same number Vons as Albertsons so that could go either way. Vons has been around longer and has generally been bigger over the years so I would put my money on the Vons name being retained.

San Diego - Vons is already #1 in market share so I assume that name will be kept.

Las Vegas - Albertsons is twice as big as Vons so probably Albertsons name is kept.

Phoenix - Safeway is much bigger, keep Safeway name

Tucson - Safeway is #1 in market, will probably keep the name

Dallas/Fort Work - Toss up. Could go either way. More Tom Thumb stores have been remodeled and are generally in better shape but not sure that would matter.

Denver - Safeway is much bigger, will probably keep Safeway name.

[storewanderer]

Or they will keep both names and just go for combined distribution, advertising, private label, etc.

Phoenix and Denver are a bit tricky. Anyone want to weigh in on how many of Safeway's Stores in metro Phoenix and metro Denver are actually profitable? My guess: not many. Albertsons may be few and far between in those markets but I believe their remnants are very profitable. Once the house cleaning of unprofitable Safeways is done in some of these markets, the store count of Safeway may not be much higher than that of Albertsons...

Albertsons should be retired in Oregon/Washington; terrible operations and pricing, and poor performance. Safeway clearly does better there and the customers like Safeway better.

Albertsons still holds some real estate in northern California. It is my understanding they may own some of the properties that Save Mart is operating, in addition to some closed stores. Then there is the Safeway real estate in Chicago.

Recall in 1999 when ASC/Albertsons merged, they looked at real estate and there was some real estate divested. Same for the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger. This may get very interesting.