They are paying a flat rate per store which is insane. Do the math from first to second deal. It's $5M a store and change. C&S is stealing these stores if they get the highly profitable ones.storewanderer wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 10:17 pmThey are going to divest whatever FTC and CA AG demand they divest if they want the merger to go through. And they have an agreement to sell the stores to C&S and some sort of formula to determine the price of the stores being sold... the more profitable stores would obviously be sold for higher prices... So back to that if those parties FTC/CA AG tell them they need to divest the West Hollywood Pavilions because there is a Ralphs 1/2 mile away they're going to have to divest it. Maybe they can go to CA AG and tell them you let us have two Ralphs 1/2 mile apart nearby (Fountain/La Brea and Sunset/Fuller) so why not let us have that arrangement here in West Hollywood too but I'm not sure if that argument will help their case or hurt their case.Bluelightspecial wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 1:12 pmThere are some Pavilions they would never get rid of to C&S. Chains like Gelsons, Bristol Farms, & Whole Foods would pay top dollar. There is a crappy Whole Foods on Fairfax and Santa Monica that would pay top dollar for the Pavilions in West Hollywood. Same thing for the tine Gelsons right down the street. If you think C&S could manager Montecito or Newport Coast I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.storewanderer wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 12:53 am I think this is worthy of its own thread given the baggage surrounding the Haggen name.
Somehow I missed this before, but it is in the official release:
"Under the amended agreement, Kroger will also sell the Haggen banner to C&S. "
So they are dumping off the QFC, Haggen, and Marianos banners. Arguably these are the most "upscale" banners in the chains.
But the other thing with Haggen is how much overlap is there really? Does it appear the majority of Haggen ends up divested? I never really saw that happening; I always assumed they'd opt to divest the lower quality Safeway/Albertsons units and hold on to the nicer Haggen units.
And then what banner goes on the retained Haggen units. Safeway? Fred Meyer Marketplace? Ugh... those are NOT a fit for Haggen.
I wonder if amending the CA divest agreement and adding more stores to that will come with an agreement to divest the Pavilions banner as well...
Now I wonder if C&S would try to expand the Haggen banner outside its original territory again... that would be... funny. Very funny. Maybe the old signs are all sitting somewhere ready to use.
Of course C&S has made the claim they can manage whatever they get handed of this disjointed and likely spread far apart inconsistent group of divested stores. Just like Haggen did. Haggen thought they could manage San Ysidro and converting the Hispanic focused Lucky/Max Foods into a full price/full cost Haggen was a good idea, actually I think they had no clue what they were even buying and just did whatever. C&S is going to have to put a bit more thought into this since they have multiple banners they can apply.
On Newport Beach I expect the San Miguel Pavilions to be divested and nothing else. Something will get divested in Newport Beach. It should probably be two stores but I expect them to argue it to one store.
Marina Del Rey Pavilions and La Jolla Pavilions I also see as likely divests, but maybe they'll agree to divest a Vons that is over near La Jolla on the opposite side of the freeway in San Diego instead.
Sherman Oaks is an interesting situation. Although only one mile between the Pavilions and Ralphs, you have Gelson's and Whole Foods in the middle of the two. Plus another Whole Foods not too far from the Pavilions. And that is a rather LONG mile separating Ralphs and Pavilions. I think the presence of two Whole Foods may make them argue that it is okay to keep both stores there.
I think the two Malibu stores are far enough apart for both to be kept.
I am sure none of the stores we are naming here are on the C&S list. They can wheel and deal with the FTC one by one but I suspect they'll manipulate it to get rid of less desirable units.
La Jolla has been expanded and redone at top expense all after the merger announcement. It is nowhere near the Ralphs and can take 20 minutes or more to get between those two sites in traffic which is frequent. They are not stupid and would not begin to sink millions into a project of that scale if there was any chance of it being divested. It wasn't new paint and a sign change, it was a full scale remodel the likes of which we rarely see from ACI these days although I wish they did more especially raising the ceiling and a better concrete floor job. The Ralphs is on top of the border of 3 zip codes by a matter of feet by the map I saw so they would have a winning argument the much closer Vons on Regent needs to go. By drive time, demographics, market area the Vons and Ralphs are competitors, the Pavilions stands alone.