By Jaewon Kang and Leah Nylen | Bloomberg
Kroger Co. released the full list of stores, distribution centers and plants — including 63 supermarkets in California — that it plans to divest to secure approval for the proposed merger with Albertsons Cos.
The companies have started notifying staff at affected locations, Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday.
Workers, a majority of them in Southern California, will become employees of C&S Wholesale Grocers after the transaction closes, McMullen wrote, and will remain as Kroger and Albertsons staff until then. C&S has committed to transferring pay and health plans and assuming all collective bargaining agreements, he added.
Related: Kroger-Albertsons merger could upend 164,000 workers in Southern California
The grocers, which announced their $25 billion merger in October 2022, are sharing the list ahead of a trial expected in August that will decide the outcome of their deal.
Kroger and Albertsons agreed to sell a package of stores and other facilities to C&S, boosting the number to 579 from 413 in April after the Federal Trade Commission blocked the tie-up. The divestment sale was valued at $2.9 billion in April.
The list also includes 124 stores in Washington state, 101 in Arizona and 91 in Colorado, among others. Most of the California stores are in Southern California.
See also: Kroger and Albertsons CEOs give details on controversial $25 billion merger
The divestment package also includes a dairy plant in Colorado, as well as six distribution centers across four states.
Together, Kroger and Albertsons have nearly 5,000 stores across the country, including banners like Kroger, Ralphs, and Harris Teeter as well as Albertsons, Safeway, Acme and Jewel-Osco.
Kroger and Albertsons say they need the merger to compete with larger, non-unionized rivals Amazon.com, Walmart and Costco. The companies have pledged to invest $500 million to cut prices and $1 billion to raise worker wages and benefits, in addition to $1.3 billion to improve Albertsons stores.
The FTC’s complaint alleges the deal would harm consumers by eliminating competition on prices and quality, making the combined firm less likely to improve its services by offering flexible hours and pickup services. It also would give the grocers increased leverage over workers, slowing wage growth and worsening benefits, according to the complaint.
Union workers in California also are protesting the planned merger, saying their jobs could be in jeopardy in any divestiture.
The FTC has also alleged that C&S would face significant challenges stitching together the various stores acquired from the grocers, and deems the grocers’ proposed divestiture package inadequate. In 2015, the agency allowed Albertsons to buy Safeway after it sold 168 stores, the bulk of them to Washington state grocer Haggen Holdings LLC. Less than a year later, Haggen filed for bankruptcy and Albertsons bought back a number of the stores.
The list of stores to be sold to C&S includes dozens of locations that Albertsons reacquired, including 12 Haggen stores in Washington.
The Haggen brand will spark the many memories among Southern California shoppers, who saw 70 grocery stores in the region convert to the Pacific Northwest banner nine years ago.
The grocer bought 146 stores in the Albertsons-Safeway divestiture in 2015.
Haggen’s concept, which touted itself as Albertsons meets Whole Foods, didn’t take with shoppers who complained of high prices. The banner would be gone in just six months.
The vacant properties left behind in Haggen’s exit languished for years, only recently updating to new names such as Rivera Food Service or familiar chains like Gelson’s and 99 Ranch Market.
Here is the list of California stores that Kroger and Albertsons said would be sold to C&S Wholesale:
15 Albertsons changing banners
Albertsons — 33601 Del Obispo St., Dana Point
Albertsons — 7201 Yorktown Ave., Huntington Beach
Albertsons — 16600 Bolsa Chica St., Huntington Beach
Albertsons — 804 Avenida Pico, San Clemente
Albertsons — 200 E Sepulveda Blvd., Carson
Albertsons — 3901 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles
Albertsons — 9022 Balboa Blvd., Northridge
Albertsons — 541 S Reino Road, Newbury Park
Albertsons — 543 Sweetwater Road, Spring Valley
Albertsons — 42095 Washington St., Palm Desert
Albertsons — 1751 N Sunrise Way Ste 1, Palm Springs
Albertsons — 2899 Jamacha Road, El Cajon
Albertsons — 23893 Clinton Keith Rd, Wildomar
Albertsons — 1500 N H St., Lompoc
Albertsons — 730 Quintana Road, Morro Bay
31 Vons stores changing banners
Vons — 5671 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills
Vons — 301 N Pass Ave, Burbank
Vons — 500 E Manchester Blvd., Inglewood
Vons — 3233 Foothill Blvd, La Crescenta
Vons — 3118 S Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles
Vons — 3461 W 3rd St., Los Angeles
Vons — 1430 S Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles
Vons — 6571 W 80th St., Los Angeles
Vons — 2039 Verdugo Blvd., Montrose
Vons — 17380 Sunset Blvd, Pacific Palisades
Vons — 410 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach
Vons — 25850 The Old Road, Stevenson Ranch
Vons — 4033 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City
Vons — 18439 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana
Vons — 7789 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga
Vons — 6040 Telegraph Road, Ventura
Vons — 1440 W 25th St., San Pedro
Vons — 185 E 17th St., Costa Mesa
Vons — 11322 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos
Vons — 1820 Ximeno Ave., Long Beach
Vons — 78271 Hwy 111, La Quinta
Vons — 6951 El Camino Real, Carlsbad
Vons — 3439 Via Montebello, Carlsbad
Vons — 2606 Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar
Vons — 4733 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Vons — 11986 Bernardo Plaza Drive, San Diego
Vons — 1702 Garnet Ave., San Diego
Vons — 2495 Truxtun Road, Suite 100, San Diego
Vons — 9643 Mission Gorge Road, Santee
Vons — 820 Arneill Road, Camarillo
Vons — 163 S Turnpike Road, Santa Barbara
16 Pavilions changing banners
Pavilions — 600 N Pacific Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach
Pavilions — 2660 San Miguel Drive, Newport Beach
Pavilions — 1000 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach
Pavilions — 989 Avenida Pico, San Clemente
Pavilions — 1101 Pacific Coast Hwy., Seal Beach
Pavilions — 4365 Glencoe Ave, Marina del Rey
Pavilions — 29211 Heathercliff Road, Malibu
Pavilions — 9467 W Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills
Pavilions — 1110 W Alameda Ave., Burbank
Pavilions — 11030 Jefferson Blvd., Culver City
Pavilions — 7 Peninsula Center, Palos Verdes Peninsula
Pavilions — 14845 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks
Pavilions — 6534 Platt Ave., West Hills
Pavilions — 8969 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood
Pavilions — 3850 Valley Centre Drive, San Diego
Pavilions — 7544 Girard Ave., La Jolla
One lone Safeway at 1499 Washington Ave. in the Bay Area city of San Leandro is switching banners.
Staff writer Samantha Gowen contributed to this report.
